Albert Goossens was a Belgian baritone singer, a refugee to Australia during WWI, who appeared many times on the concert stage, raising funds for the relief of his home country, accompanied by his wife Alice Goossens-Viceroy, an accomplished soprano, who remained in Australia as a teacher and concert performer.
Goossens was born in Paris and studied singing at the Schola Cantorum and the Conservatorium at Bruges, where he was awarded the premier prix de chant avec grande distinction in 1908.
[1] He was injured in the fighting during the 1914 German invasion of Belgium, and escaped to London, where he married Alice Leontine Melanie Viceroy (born 1887),[2] a principal artist with the Royal Opera in Brussels.
In an advertisement for a concert to be held on 3 July 1915 in aid of the Belgian relief funds, his service in the defence of Belgium was described: Until he was wounded he participated in six battles.
Goossens stirred his fellow-Belgian soldiers by singing "The Brabançonne" (the National Anthem of Belgium) just as they were going into action.They appeared in numerous patriotic and fund-raising concerts with the "Belgian Band".