Andries Brink

Andries Jacob Eksteen Brink, CBE, DTD, DSO[1]
Born(1877-07-21)21 July 1877
Somerset West, Cape Colony
Died17 October 1947(1947-10-17) (aged 70)[2]
Pretoria, Union of South Africa
AllegianceSouth Africa
Service / branchSouth African Army
RankLieutenant General
CommandsBurgher Commandos
Chief of the General Staff of the Union Defence Force
Battles / warsSecond Boer War
First World War
Second World War
AwardsCommander of the Order of the British Empire
Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst
Distinguished Service Order
Mentioned in Despatches

Lieutenant General Andries Jacob Brink, CBE, DTD, DSO (21 July 1877 – 17 October 1947) was a South African military commander. An Afrikaner veteran of the Anglo-Boer War, he joined the Union Defence Forces (UDF) as a staff officer in 1912 and served in the First World War. He was Chief of the General Staff from 1920 to 1933, initially in command only of Defence HQ but, from 1922, of the whole UDF. He was also Secretary for Defence, head of the civil service Department of Defence, from 1922 to 1937. From 1937 to 1946, he was Commandant-in-Chief of the Burger Commandos, a home defence organisation.

Awards and decorations

[edit]

On 1 January 1944 (1944 New Year Honours), Lieutenant General Brink was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. The notice in the London Gazette reads as follows:[3]

The KING has been graciously pleased, on the advice of His Majesty's Ministers for the Union of South Africa, to give orders for the following appointments to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire:

To be Additional Commanders of the Military Division of the said Most Excellent Order:

Lieutenant-General Andries Jacob Brink, D.T.D., D.S.O., South African Staff Corps (V)

Brink was also awarded the Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst and Distinguished Service Order.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Biography of Lieutenant-General Andries Jacob Eksteen Brink (1877 – 1947), South Africa".
  2. ^ Uys, Ian (1992). South African Military Who's Who 1452–1992. Fortress Publishers. ISBN 0-9583173-3-X.
  3. ^ "No. 36311". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1943. p. 57.
Government offices
Preceded by
Sir Roland Bourne
Secretary for Defence
1922–1937
Succeeded by
Albertonie Herman Broeksma
Military offices
New title
Post established
Chief of the General Staff of the Union Defence Force
1922–1933
Succeeded by