Geoffrey Drake-Brockman (engineer)
Geoffrey Drake-Brockman | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 November 1885 |
| Died | 27 December 1977 (aged 92) |
| Allegiance | Australia |
Branch | Australian Imperial Force Second Australian Imperial Force |
Service years | 1914–1920 1941–1944 |
Rank | Brigadier |
| Commands | 9th Field Company (1917–18) |
Conflicts | First World War Second World War |
| Awards | Military Cross |
| Spouses |
Alice Milne
(m. 1917; died 1918) |
| Relations | Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman (father) Grace Bussell (mother) Edmund Drake-Brockman (brother) Deborah Vernon Hackett (sister) Geoffrey Drake-Brockman (grandson) |
Brigadier Geoffrey Drake-Brockman, MC (2 November 1885 – 27 December 1977) was a Western Australian civil engineer, and an Australian Army officer in both World Wars.
Career
In 1908 he was involved in mapping the route for the railway-line from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia to Port Augusta, South Australia. In 1921 he was appointed commissioner of the Department of the North-West (of Western Australia) based in Broome; as commissioner he recommended a survey of agricultural land at the Ord River, the planting of cotton and the development of the Kimberley region. In 1946 he was appointed assistant-director of public works, and in 1949 chairman of the Western Australian Transport Board, retiring in 1952.[1]
As a soldier, in the First World War he was awarded the Military Cross, and commanded the 9th Field Company in 1917–18. In the Second World War he was posted to Army Headquarters, Melbourne; as colonel, then brigadier, he occupied senior engineering staff posts.[1]
In retirement, he wrote an autobiography, The Turning Wheel (1960).[1]
Family
His parents were Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman and Grace Bussell. He had four sisters and two brothers, including Major General Edmund Drake-Brockman (1884–1949) and Lady Deborah Vernon Hackett (1887–1965).[1]
In 1917, he married Alice Annie Wardlaw Milne in Hertfordshire, England. She died in 1918.[1]
In 1921, he married Henrietta Frances York Jull (1901–1968) in Guildford, Western Australia. She became a prolific author and also wrote several plays.[2] They had two children, a girl and a boy.[1] A grandson, Geoffrey was named after him.[3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Peter Cowan (1996) 'Drake-Brockman, Geoffrey (1885–1977)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (MUP)
- ↑ Peter Cowan (1996) 'Drake-Brockman, Henrietta Frances (1901–1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (MUP)
- ↑ Drake-Brockman, Geoffrey (24 April 2015). "Loneliness of survival at Lone Pine". The West Australian. p. 73.