John Geoffrey Dean played the School XV from 1926-27. He debuted for the Harlequins in the February 14 England XV v Ireland match at Twickenham London 1931. According to the match report, ‘it was a close fought game before 60,000 spectators’.  In the same year John graduated Pembroke College, Cambridge gaining his BA and shortly after was gazetted to the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR). John played for the Army XV from 1933-38 and was Captain of the Army XV from 1936-38.

John was wounded and held as a POW in 1941, his place of capture according to a Red Cross telegram received on May 7, 1941 and the August 15, 1941 list issued by the Italian authorities, stated he was captured in Barce Cirenaica Italian Libya (as it was known from 1911-1943). Nowadays the areas near Bengazhi Libya are where Barce, Cirenaica would have been located. John was detained in the Military Hospital of Caserta near Naples Italy and repatriated from C.C.N66 camp, Capua (near Caserta, Italy) in 1942 having lost a leg according to the archives at International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC) based in Geneva, Switzerland. The Italians were defeated by the allies in 1943 and Libya was placed under British control from 1943-1951. The written agreement that formalised the surrender of the German forces in Italy was signed in Caserta Italy April 29, 1945.

The Royal Tank Regiment is the oldest tank unit in the world, established by the British Army in 1916 during WW1 and ‘is known for the use of sudden violent force to overwhelm and destroy the enemy, it’s motto Fear Naught’ (Wikipedia 2022). While in the Army John Geoffrey Dean held the rank of Major. When John returned to the UK he worked as Instructor in training establishments and retired in 1949 Major (Hon. Lt.Col).