Geoffrey Austin Street (21 January 1894 – 13 August 1940) was an Australian army officer and politician. He was a member of the

United Australia Party The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four Elections in Australia, federal elections in that time, usually governing Coalition (Australia), in coalition ...

(UAP) and served as Minister for Defence (1938–1939), the Army (1939–1940) and

Repatriation Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

(1940) in the early years of Australia's involvement in the Second World War. Street enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He served in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front, winning the

Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level until 1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) Other ranks (UK), other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth of ...

and ending the war with the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

; he was later promoted to

brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

in the

reserve of officers The Army Reserve is the active-duty volunteer reserve force of the British Army. It is separate from the Regular Reserve whose members are ex-Regular personnel who retain a statutory liability for service. Descended from the Territorial Force ( ...

. Street subsequently farmed near

Lismore, Victoria Lismore is a town in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located on the Hamilton Highway west of Melbourne. It is part of the Corangamite Shire Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. At the 2016 Census in Australia, ce ...

, entering politics with the support of

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

. He won the

Division of Corangamite The Division of Corangamite () is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for Lake ...

at the 1934 federal election and was promoted to

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in 1938 by Prime Minister

Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...

. Following Lyons' death the following year, Menzies became prime minister and Street oversaw an expansion of the military. He was killed in the 1940 Canberra air disaster along with two cabinet colleagues and the head of the army.

Early life and education

Street was born on 21 January 1894 in

Woollahra, New South Wales Woollahra ( ) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. Woollahr ...

. A member of the

Street family The Street family is an Australian family, founded by the politician John Rendell Street, John Street and his wife Susanna, the daughter of Australian explorer Commandant William Lawson (explorer), William Lawson. Their son Philip Whistler Stree ...

, he was the second of four children born to Mary Veronica (née Austin) and John William Street. His father was a "prosperous city solicitor" and his mother was the niece of poet laureate

Alfred Austin Alfred Austin (30 May 1835 – 2 June 1913) was an English poet who was appointed Poet Laureate in 1896, after an interval following the death of Tennyson, when the other candidates had either caused controversy or refused the honour. It was c ...

. His maternal grandfather Henry Austin was the chairman of the Perpetual Trustee Company, which was founded by his forebear

John Rendell Street John Rendell Street, (19 October 1832 – 23 March 1891) was an Australian businessman, banker and politician. Street founded the Perpetual Trustee Company in 1886 as managing director with fellow trustees Edmund Barton and James Fairfax. ...

. Street attended

Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...

, where he was captain of the school

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

team and also represented the school in

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, swimming and athletics. He passed his senior examinations in December 1912 and enrolled in law at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, initially studying towards a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. He had an "undistinguished academic record" but continued his involvement in sport, both as a player and in administrative capacities.

First World War

In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, Street enlisted as a private in the

Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guin ...

. He was due to sail with the expeditionary force to

German New Guinea German New Guinea () consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups, and was part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , became a German protectorate in 188 ...

, but instead transferred to the 1st Brigade of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in order to go to Europe. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Battalion and left Sydney aboard HMAT ''Afric'' on 18 October 1914. Street arrived in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt, in early December. After further training his battalion sailed via

Lemnos Lemnos ( ) or Limnos ( ) is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Lemnos (regional unit), Lemnos regional unit, which is part of the North Aegean modern regions of Greece ...

to participate in the Gallipoli campaign. He participated in the

Landing at Anzac Cove The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe and, to the Turks, as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, which ...

on 25 April 1915 as

platoon A platoon is a Military organization, military unit typically composed of two to four squads, Section (military unit), sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the Military branch, branch, but a platoon can ...

commander of "D" Company. He and his men reinforced a hill named Baby 700 and succeeded in holding the position for several days. Street received a "slight" wound to the head and was evacuated back to Egypt, where he was promoted to full lieutenant with effect from 26 April. He returned a month later and led a mission on 4 June to eliminate an Ottoman machine-gun, which ended in him "unexpectedly stumbling into Turkish troops in a supposedly unoccupied 'sniper’s trench'". His sergeant on the mission Harry Freame became a lifelong friend. Street was subsequently appointed acting

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

of the 1st Battalion and in November was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. He and the 1st Battalion were evacuated to Egypt the following month. In early 1916, Street went to France with the 1st Battalion. He was soon seconded to the 14th Battalion where served as staff captain during the

Battle of Fromelles The Attack at Fromelles ( (Battle of Fromelles, Battle of Fleurbaix or ) 19–20 July 1916, was a military operation on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack was carried out by British and Australian troops and was subsidiary ...

, in charge of the 4th Brigade's report centre. He was sent to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, England, for further training in February 1917. He returned to the front in July 1917 as

brigade major A brigade major was the chief of staff of a brigade in the British Army. They most commonly held the rank of major, although the appointment was also held by captains, and was head of the brigade's "G - Operations and Intelligence" section direct ...

to Brigadier General Harold "Pompey" Elliott; he was promoted

in October. Their working relationship was poor. While Elliott described Street as "a very decent boy" and "a very lovable lad", he regarded him as constantly needing direction and overinvolved with recreational activities. He also "resented having the charming and well-connected staff officer foisted upon him" in place of one of his own men of a lower social standing. Street was finally transferred away from Elliott's staff in April 1918 following an incident in which a poorly worded order placed three battalions in danger. In early 1918 Street learned that he had been awarded the

in the

1918 New Year Honours The 1918 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were published in ''The London Gazette'' and ''The Times'' in Janu ...

. After his marriage in June he rejoined the 1st Battalion at Pradelles and was appointed

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

of "A" Company. His unit saw action in the

Second Battle of the Somme The Second Battle of the Somme of 1918 was fought during the First World War on the Western Front from late August to early September, in the basin of the River Somme. It was part of a series of successful counter-offensives in response to th ...

as well as skirmishes at Chuignolles and Hargicourt. Street was shot in the wrist by a machine gun bullet in September 1918, and after a period of sick leave joined the Demobilisation and Repatriation Branch in London. His AIF appointment was terminated on 2 August 1919. Three of his cousins were killed in the war, and his younger brother Anthony died in the 1918

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

pandemic while on active duty.

Post-war activities

Street and his wife returned to Australia in 1920 and settled on a property near Lismore in the Western District of Victoria, which had been part of his father-in-law's estate. There he raised and exhibited Polwarth sheep, becoming involved with the Australian Sheep Breeders' Association and the Lismore Agricultural and Pastoral Society. Street was elected to the Hampden Shire Council in 1924 and served as shire president from 1931 to 1932. He was a member of the

and in December 1932 was promoted to lieutenant colonel as regimental commander of the 4th Light Horse Regiment. He would later be given command of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade in 1935 and promoted to temporary

. Street was an early member of the Young Nationalists Organisation founded by

. He served as campaign secretary for Thomas Chester Manifold at the

1929 Victorian state election Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

. In 1933, his public profile was raised when Menzies, the Victorian railways minister, appointed him to the Victorian Transport Regulation Board. He was the principal author of its report into transport regulation.

Federal politics

At the request of

, Street stood for and won Corangamite in 1934. He became

Minister of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

in November 1938 and played a major role in the expansion of the military and munitions production prior to the outbreak of the Second World War and pushed the National Registration Act (1939) through parliament despite strong opposition. Following the outbreak of war he worked to put Australia on a war footing. From November 1939, Menzies abolished the position of Minister for Defence and appointed Street Minister for the Army and

Minister for Repatriation The Minister for Veterans' Affairs is an Australian Government position. In the Government of Australia, the minister oversees income support, compensation, care and commemoration programs for more than 400,000 veterans and their widows, widowe ...

. Street died in the 1940 Canberra air disaster along with two other cabinet ministers. His son,

Tony Street Anthony Austin Street (8 February 1926 – 25 October 2022) was an Australian politician. He served in the House of Representatives from 1966 to 1984, representing the Division of Corangamite for the Liberal Party. He held ministerial office in ...

, was Member for Corangamite from 1966 to 1984, and a senior minister in

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia, and is the fourth List of ...

's government.

Personal life

Street married Evora Frances "Gyp" Currie on 29 June 1918 at

St Columba's Church, London St Columba's Church is one of the two London congregations of the Church of Scotland. The church building, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, is located in Pont Street, Knightsbridge, near Harrods department store. It was given Grade II listing b ...

. He first met his future wife when he played cricket against her brother in 1912. She had arrived in England in 1916 as a volunteer and served with a

Voluntary Aid Detachment The Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) was a voluntary unit of civilians providing nursing care for military personnel in the United Kingdom and various other countries in the British Empire. The most important periods of operation for these units we ...

. Street had a lifelong love of

and had a collection of nearly 600 books on the sport. During the war he and

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

cricketer

Charlie Kelleway Charles Kelleway (25 April 1886 – 16 November 1944) was an Australian cricketer who played in 26 Test matches between 1910 and 1928. In 1911/12, he played against the MCC touring-team captained by Plum Warner. In the Test-series, he took a ...

organised games on makeshift pitches. His post-war career was hampered by his wounded wrist but he played six years of first-grade cricket for the

Melbourne Cricket Club The Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) is a sports club based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1838 and is one of the oldest sports clubs in Australia. The MCC is responsible for management and development of the Melbourne Cricket Groun ...

, bowling

leg spin Leg spin is a type of spin bowling in cricket. A bowler who uses this technique is called a leg spinner. Leg spinners bowl with their right-arm and a wrist spin action. The leg spinner's normal delivery is called a leg break, which spins fr ...

. Other Test cricketers he played alongside included

Warwick Armstrong Warwick Windridge Armstrong (22 May 1879 – 13 July 1947) was an Australian cricketer who played 50 Test matches between 1902 and 1921. An all-rounder, he captained Australia in ten Test matches between 1920 and 1921, and was undefeated, winn ...

Bill Ponsford William Harold Ponsford MBE (19 October 1900 – 6 April 1991) was an Australian cricketer. Usually playing as an opening batsman, he formed a successful and long-lived partnership opening the batting for Victoria and Australia with Bil ...

Bill Woodfull William Maldon Woodfull (22 August 1897 – 11 August 1965) was an Australian cricketer of the 1920s and 1930s. He captained both Victorian Bushrangers, Victoria and Australian cricket team, Australia, and was best known for his dignified and ...

and Jack Ryder, sometimes in charity matches.

Early life and education

First World War

Post-war activities

Federal politics

Personal life

References

Further reading