Educated at
Wellington College, Berkshire, and the
Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Brind was
commissioned as a
second lieutenant in the
Royal Artillery in December 1897. He served in the
Second Boer War in South Africa from 1899 to 1900, where he took part in operations in the
Orange Free State, including engagements near
Vet River and
Sand River, and was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant on 23 December 1900. After the war, he was promoted to the rank of
captain on 11 April 1902, and served with the Native Mountain Artillery in India. Following the outbreak of the
First World War, which saw him attending the
Staff College, Camberley as a student, Brind was sent to France as a captain with the
Royal Garrison Artillery on 16 August 1914. He then served as a general staff officer, grade 1 with the
56th (London) Division from 6 February 1916 to 31 October 1916, for which he received the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel while employed in this role. He then became a
brigadier on the general staff of
XI Corps, part of the
Fifth Army. After the war, Brind became Deputy Director at the
War Office in 1923, colonel Royal Artillery at
Aldershot Command in 1925 and brigadier on the general staff at Aldershot Command in 1927. and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Southern Command in October 1937, serving in that role in the early years of the
Second World War before retiring in April 1941. In August 1936 he succeeded Major General Sir
George Forestier-Walker as
colonel commandant of the Royal Artillery. == Honours and awards ==