His father was William Julius Maximilian Bruche—a corn merchant—while his mother was Elise Dorothea Henrietta Bruche (née Goetz).

[2] In 1891 Bruche took a part-time commission in the 1st Battalion, Victorian Rifles, a militia unit, before transferring to the Permanent Military Forces in 1898.

In between these appointments Bruche was married to Dorothy Annette McFarland, whom he wed in Sydney on 12 April 1904, and with whom he subsequently had twin daughters.

[2] Later he served on the staff of 5th Division in France as a temporary colonel where he worked closely with Lieutenant General John Monash.

[5] His tenure was marked by the austerity of the economic downturn of the Great Depression, and the general malaise that crept into Australian strategic thinking at the time.