October 1982 - October 1988
Malcolm Corsan Sutherland-Brown was born in wimbleton, England during the First World War while his father was serving on the Western Front. The family returned to Canada in 1919 and settled in Ottawa where his father continued his military career. After attending schools in Ottawa and Victoria, Malcolm entered the Royal Military College in 1934. He graduated from RMC in 1938 in engineering and was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers. He received a Bachelor of Science (Civil) degree from Queen's University in 1939.
In December 1939, he proceeded overseas with the 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 as CO 7 Canadian Field Company, RCE. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for the construction of the first bridge over the River Orne in ther city of Caen during the Battle of Normandy. By the end of the war in Europe, he was Commander Divisional Engineers (CFE), 5th Canadian Armoured Division in Holland and Germany as a Lieutenant-Colonel. Malcolm's brother, Flying Officer IanMcdonnell Sutherland-Brown (RMC 1937) was killed in 1941 while serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force He is buried in Victoria.
He returned to Canada to prepare for going to Japan but, when peace was obtained early, he was appointed Command Engineer, Pacific Command, in Vancouver, BC, from 1945 to 1952, Colonel Sutherland-Brown 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 as the first Canadian Military, Naval, and Air Attache to the Middle East. In 1962 he was appointed the Director Military Survey in Ottawa. It was during this time that the Army Survey Establishment moved from a domestic mapping agency to a strictly military mapping unit working closely with the United States and other NATO mapping establishments. In 1966, he was appointed 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 acted as a referee for the construction of the Advanced Light Rapid Transit project in Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster, BC. Throughout his career, he maintained a strong interest in Canadian geography and, latterly, had been an Executive and Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society. He speaks English and French and has a familiarity with six other languages. His hobbies include art, archaeology, golf, history, sailing and skiing.
Colonel Malcolm Sutherland-Brown died 24 January 1999 at St. Vincent's Pavilion SCOH, Ottawa, ON, six years after suffering a severe stroke. He was married to Marguerite Elkins Poe, known to us as Peggy from Kingston, ON. They have they have two sons, Ian and Robert.