Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Elder of the two brothers (John and James) who served in WWII, Captain John Michael Bruxner (Service Nos:N9688/NX70999) served in the Army from 24 December 1940 to 23 August 1944, and was attached to 2/7 Armoured Regiment at Discharge.

John was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales in 1910, eldest of three children of Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael (Mick) Frederick Bruxner KBE DSO (b1882 at Sandilands Station via Tabulam, New South Wales) and Lady Winifred (Midge) Catherine Hay Caird (b1883 in Kiama, New South Wales). Mick and Midge married in 1908 in Kiama - Mick studied Law at Sydney University, and was a Stock and Station Agent (Bruxner & Cotton) and Grazier in Tenterfield. In 1911 he was Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant with the 6th Australian (New England) Light Horse Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Bruxner served in WWI (Gallipoli, 6th Light Horse Regiment and Australian HQ Egypt) and was awarded diverse Honours, including the French Chevalier of the Legion of Honour (1916) and Distinguished Service Order (1918). Following his Discharge in 1919, he sold his Stock and Station Agency and settled at Roseneath where he bred Hereford cattle - and was President of the local agricultural society and of the cricket and rugby clubs. From the 1920s Mick became involved in politics (well documented), and was a politican (Country Party), holding Ministerial portfolios and leading the Country Party in five election campaigns (1941 - 1958). Midge served on a number of charities (including the Far West Children's Organisation and the Adult Deaf and Dumb Soiety), and in WWII was a Red Cross worker. In 1962 Mick was made a Knight of the Order of the British Empire (KBE), and retired from the Assembly that year. Sir Bruxner said 'When I leave politics I want nothing better than to muck about with a few sheep and cattle up at Tenterfield' (1936). He was described as 'a natural politician and natural leader, who combined a cheerful smile and an approachable manner with a personal dignity which he never lost: for most of his political life he was referred to as 'The Colonel' (Australian Dictionary of Biography; 1979).

John completed a Bachelor at Laws at Sydney University and was awarded the Pitt Cobbett Prize for Constitutional Law. From 1934 to 1936 he served as Clerk Associate to the Hon Mr Justice Maxwell, and in 1935 John was admitted to practise as a Barrister of the Supreme Court of NSW. In 1936 in Sydney, John married Audrey Helen Nicholson (b1914 in London, England). John and Audrey settled in Sydney, and in 1939 John was appointed to prosecute on behalf of the Crown at Supreme Court sittings at Grafton and Broken Hill. Following his Discharge from the Army, John and Audrey remained in Sydney, where they raised their family and John was a Barrister and, from 1954, a District Court Judge. John died in 1999 and Audrey died in 2000.