Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Private Geoffrey Carew Kneebone (Service No:2183) enlisted in the AIF on 1 April 1916 with his older brother Fred (Private; Service No:2182) with 60 Depot Battalion Ballarat. Private Kneebone was attached to 60 Infantry Battalion on 1 August 1916 when he embarked with his Unit from Melbourne for Plymouth on board HMAT A67 Orsova. Private Kneebone served in France, where he was WiA on two occasions - Gas Poisoning in 1917 and GSW to his arm in 1918. On 10 June 1919, Private Kneebone embarked from England for Melbourne on board HT Port Lyttleton, and was attached to 59 Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 19 September 1919.

Geoff was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1893, second of five children of Frederick (Fred) Thomas Sydney Lancey Kneebone (b1865 in Malta) and Constance Browning Mason (b1866 in Woods Point, Victoria). Fred studied at the Slade School of Art and in 1888 was working as a Scenic Artist with the Gaiety Theatre in London when he travelled with the Theatre Company to Melbourne. Fred remained in Melbourne and was one of the earliest members of the artists' staff of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd. Fred and Constance (a Journalist) married in 1890 in Melbourne, where they settled and raised their family and both worked - Fred as an Artist and Constance as a Journalist.

In 1912 Geoff travelled to America, where he studied Agriculture at the Leland Standford University of California - supporting himself during his studies by working on famous orchards in the region. In 1914 Geoff was a Horticulturalist in Muldura, in partnership with older brother Fred. Following his Discharge, Geoff returned to Mildura and in 1919, under the Discharged Soldiers' Settlement Act 1917, was awarded additional land for fruit growing in Mildura. In 1926 Geoff married Florence Lucy Walker (b1899 in Brighton, Victoria) - Florence was a Teacher in Brighton. Geoff and Florence settled in Mildura, where they raised their family and Geoff was a Horticulturalist. Geoff died in 1983 and Florence in 1984.