Frank Ernest Brydgnes Buck was born in Islington, Middlesex, early in 1889, his mother’s name was Rosina, but his father’s details have been lost to time, the 1901 census confirming that she was a widow. The document notes that Frank was the youngest of four children, and the family had taken rooms in a three-storey house on Yerbury Road.

By the summer of 1917, Frank had emigrated to Australia. Settling in the town of Inverell, New South Wales, he took employment as a clerk. However, when war came to Europe, he was called on to play his part, and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 16th July 1917.

Private Buck’s service records confirm that he was 5ft 11.5ins (1.82m) tall and weighed 11st 4lbs (71.7kg). He was recorded as having dark hair, blue eyes and a dark complexion. He had a burn scar on his right forearm, and a third nipple on the right side of his chest.

Frank’s unit departed from Sydney on 31st October 1917, and he spent the next two months on board the SS Euripides. During that time he was promoted to Acting Corporal and, when he disembarked in Devonport, Devon, on 26th December, he marched to the ANZAC camp in Fovant, Wiltshire.

Assigned to the 5th Training Battalion, Frank seems to have taken this unexpected return to Britain as a free ticket home: on 6th February 1918 he went AWOL, and only surrendered back to his unit on 9th April. Help in detention for a day, he forfeited 63 days’ pay, and was demoted to the rank of Private for his actions.

On 13th May, Private Buck was dispatched to France. He was assigned to the 17th Battalion of the Australian Infantry, but his time overseas was not to be a lengthy one. In July he was admitted to the 5th Australian Field Ambulance with gastritis: he was then transferred to the 5th Casualty Clearing Station, then the 3rd General Hospital in Le Treport. Medically evacuated to Britain for treatment, he ended up in Reading War Hospital for ongoing treatment.

Placed on furlough on 16th September, Private Buck went AWOL again on just two weeks later. Arrested on 26th November 1918, he was hauled before a judge at Highgate Police Court: his crimes amounted to being absent without leave, but also stealing three blank cheques and forgery. Pleading guilty, he was sent to Wormwood Scrubs for nine months.

Frank would not end up serving his time, however. He was admitted to the infirmary with a perforated duodenal ulcer, and died from exhaustion on 16th May 1919. He was 29 years of age.

Frank Ernest Brydgnes Buck was laid to rest in Highgate Cemetery.

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