Lieutenant Colonel George Frederick Braund M.L.A. Memorial, Armidale

About

The memorial is a large timber board, with a Gothic-shaped top and decorative scroll pieces attached to each side. The board is dedicated to Lieutenant Colonel George Frederick Braund M.L.A., who was accidently shot and killed in the First World War. Positioned below the board is an information panel detailing his life and service in Gallipoli, Turkey. It includes a photograph of him in uniform; however, incorrectly states he died on 2 May 1915, when the accident occured on 4 May.  The board is inscribed with a list of politicians who have served Armidale in the NSW Colonial or State Parliament from 1856 to 1999. The districts include New England and Macleay; New England; Armidale, and Northern Tablelands. Braund is listed as the Member for Amidale from 1913–1915. Braund attended Bideford Grammar School in Devon, England, and arrived in Australia aged 21 years. A married man of Wycombe Road, Neutral Bay, NSW, and a Liberal Member for Armidale, he enlisted on 15 August 1914 as a Lieutenant Colonel in the 2nd Battalion, Headquarters. Previously, he had 21 years of military service in charge of the Northern District. His unit embarked from Sydney on board Transport A23 Suffolk on 18 October 1914. He was Mentioned in Despatches and was killed on 4 May 1915 at Gallipoli. Aged 49 years, he was buried in the Beach Cemetery, Anzac, at Gallipoli. He was the first Australian Member of Parliament to enlist in the Great War and the second to die in the conflict. The memorial is located in the Armidale Folk Museum. It was dedicated on 4 May 2001 by Dean of St Peters Cathedral, Armidale, Very Reverend Lindsay Newby. Access to it is restricted by the opening hours of the museum.

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