Geoffrey Drake-Brockman MC (1885 - 1977)

Born 2 Nov 1885 in Guildford, Western Australia, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Alice Annie Wardlaw (Milne) Drake-Brockman — married 17 May 1917 (to 1918) in New Barnet, Hertfordshire, England

Husband of Henrietta Frances (Jull) Drake-Brockman OBE — married 3 Aug 1921 in Anglican Chapel of St Mary and St George, Guildford, Western Australia, Australia

Died 27 Dec 1977 at age 92 in Victoria Park, Western Australia, Australia

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Biography

• Visit : VWMA Virtual Memorial Geoffrey Drake-Brockman MC . . . and photo . .
  

  Geoffrey Drake-Brockman MC is an Anzac who served in World War One.
  
  

Geoffrey Drake-Brockman ^[1] (1885-1977), civil engineer and army officer, and Henrietta Frances York Drake-Brockman (1901-1968), author, were husband and wife.

Geoffrey was born on 2nd November 1885 at Guildford, Perth, Western Australia (Australia), fourth of seven children of Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman, surveyor, and his wife Grace Vernon, née Bussell, both Western Australian born. Major General Senator Edmund Drake-Brockman and (Lady) Hackett were Geoffrey's brother and sister.
Educated at Guildford Grammar School, in 1903 he was employed as a cadet in the engineering branch of the Public Works Department and studied part time at Perth Technical College. He worked on railway survey and construction, and was seconded to the Commonwealth in 1908 to map a rail route from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta, South Australia.

In 1907 he walked across the Nullabor to survey the first railway route and later supervised the construction of the Eyre Highway.

Five ft 11¼ ins (181 cm) tall, with grey eyes and dark hair, Drake-Brockman enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 5 October 1914 and was posted to the 10th Light Horse Regiment A Squadron S/N 106.

He sailed with the 10th Light Horse to Egypt on the Mashobra, leaving Fremantle on 8/2/1915.

On 21/5/1915 the 10th Light Horse landed at Gallipoli, without horses to fight as infantry. His engineering skills were then put to good use supervising the construction of trenches and saps an well surveying and drafting plans of various defences.

On 6/8/1915 he participated in the charge to capture Lone Pine.

Brigadier Geoffrey Drake-Brockman MC was wounded in action at Gallipoli during The Great War.

Wounded next month, he recuperated in England before rejoining his unit in Egypt. In May he arrived in France. He was awarded the Military Cross for his devotion to duty at the front between December 1916 and January 1917 . . . more . . adb.anu.edu

He was an Engineer with the West Australian State Government.

He also served in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force during the Second World War; transferring from the militia on 28th April 1941, and was placed on the retired list on 16th April 1944, at 58 years of age.^[2]

He had a daughter Julia and son Paris who was also an Engineer. He had nine grandchildren.

Marriage (1841-1936) ^[3]
Surname Given Names Sex | Spouse Surname | Spouse Given Names Spouse Sex | Registration District | Number | and Year
Brockman Geoffrey Drake- Male | Jull | Henrietta F Y Female | Swan | 63 | 1921 |

• KC00056259 Karrakatta Cremation

Links

Project:Anzacs Link
Western Australia Links:
| | | and Cenotaph in King's Park

• Second row: Lieutenant (Lt) Dennis Duggan, 3rd Pioneers; Lt Thomas Kenafick, Australian Veterinary Hospital; unknown; Major Geoffrey Drake Brockman, MP, 3rd Divisional Engineers

Sources

1. ↑ Peter Cowan, 'Drake-Brockman, Geoffrey (1885–1977)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University,
   published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 30 April 2018.
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: WX29243 (W105) Colonel Geoffrey Drake-Brockman; accessed 6 Jan 2019
3. ↑ Pioneers Index wa.gov format change 1906/1954

• The three Australian branches of the Drake-Brockman family

• Brigadier Geoffrey Drake Brockman, distinquished Western Australian Soldier . . photo . . NAA
• Austrakian Dictionary of Biography. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/drakebrockman-geoffrey-10047
• https://www.myheritage.com/names/geoffrey_brockman
• Obituary. https://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/drakebrockman-geoffrey-10047