Colonel Sutherland-Brown was born in Wimbleton, England in 1917 while his father* was serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in France. He attended schools in Ottawa, in England and in Victoria, BC, prior to entering the Royal Military College of Canada in 1934. After graduating from RMC in 1938 in engineering, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers and gained a Bachelor of Science (Civil) degree from Queen's University in 1939.
In December 1939, he proceeded overseas with 1st Canadian Division as Intelligence Officer and Assistant Adjutant to the Commander Royal Canadian Engineers (CRE) and landed in France in 1940. After the Allied withdrawal from France he served in command and staff appointments until July 1944 when he returned to France to command the 7th Canadian Field Company, RCE. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for construction of the first bridge over the River Orne in Normandy. By the end of the war in Europe, he was CRE 5th Canadian Armoured Division in Holland and Germany as a Lieutenant-Colonel was instrumental in the liberation of the Friesen Islands off the coast of the Netherlands.
When the war in Europe ended, he returned to Canada to prepare for going to Japan but, when peace came early, he was appointed Command Engineer, Pacific Command in Vancouver, BC where he served until 1952. He later served in Ottawa, England and Germany and, from 1952-56 he was Senior Highway Engineer in Whitehorse with the Northwest Highway System. Subsequently, after three years at HQ Eastern Command Halifax where his duties included taking over Camp Gagetown from the contractors, he was promoted to Colonel in 1959 and appointed first Canadian Military, Naval, and Air Attache to the Middle East. In 1962 he became Director Military Survey in Ottawa, ending in 1966 with his appointment as the Army member of the Directorate of Strategic and Force Planning in Ottawa and Assistant Army Member of the Permanent Joint Board on Defence.
In 1968, Colonel Sutherland-Brown retired from the Canadian Forces and became a Director in the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). In 1982, he left government service and became an independent consultant and referee on the Advanced Light Rapid Transit project in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, BC. He was married to the former Marguerite Elkins Poe of Kingston, ON, and they have two sons, Ian and Robert. He speaks English and French and has a familiarity with six other languages. His hobbies include art, archeology, golf, history, sailing and skiing.
Colonel Sutherland-Brown died 24 January 1999.
* Brigadier General James "Buster" Sutherland Brown CMG DSO (June 28, 1881 – April 14, 1951)