Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

01/10/1915

Date of Discharge

08/10/1917

Place of Enlistment

Goulburn NSW

Gender

Male

Other Name(s)

Also spelt "Keneaf", "Karniffe", "Carniffe"

Date of Birth

02/06/1882

Place of Birth

Kiev, Russia (now Ukraine)

Address (at enlistment)

Queanbeyan NSW

Occupation

Electrician

Next of Kin

Mrs. Jean Taylor, McCauley Street, Queanbeyan NSW

Service Number

10111

Final Rank

Private

Final Unit

5 Field Ambulance AIF

Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW
Queanbeyan District Methodist Church Honor Roll

Kanaef was a Russian subject who had previous military experience with the Russian Army. He fought at the Battle of Mukden (in Manchuria) in March 1905 when the Russians were defeated by the Japanese. He may have lived in Queanbeyan but as an electrician by trade he was working at the Power House in Canberra (Queanbeyan did not have an electricity supply until after the war). Kanaef enlisted in October 1915 at Goulburn and served on the Western Front with the 5th Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps. He left for Australia on 22 July 1917 and was discharged in Sydney on 8 October 1917 for "want of knowledge of English".

Kanaef stayed in the district, married, had two children (his son and daughter enlisted in World War 2) and continued to work at the Power House in Canberra. However, he left his family for Fiji in 1923 where he was contracted to work on the island's electricity supply. He died at Glen Cove, Nassau County in New York, USA on 2 April 1960. Kanaef's name is spelt in various sources as Keneaf, Karniffe and Carniffe. His photo on Our Queanbeyan Boys is captioned 'J. Carniffe'.

Description - height 5 feet 6½ inches, weight 150 pounds, chest 35 inches, fair complexion, blue eyes, black hair, Russian Orthodox, forefinger on the left hand was missing.

NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
AWM First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
Elena Govor, 'Russian Anzacs in Australian History', 2005 (pp.31, 156, 217, 224, 269)
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', 1980
Our Queanbeyan 'Boys', Howard & Shearsby, Yass (postcard)
Queanbeyan Age - 15 October 1915, 19 October 1917, 23 October 1917