Cyril Bernard Wilson Buck was born on 1 June 1880 in West Ham, Essex (now Greater London), the youngest of the ten children of William Richard Buck (1837-1927) and Alice Emmeline Buck née Wilson (1844-1929). His birth was registered as Bernard Wilson Buck in the 3rd quarter of 1880 in the West Ham Registration District. On 8 August 1880 he was baptised as Cyril Bernard Wilson Buck at All Saints Church, West Ham.
In the 1881 census he is shown as Cyril Buck, aged 10 months and living in West Ham House, West Ham Lane, West Ham, with his parents, seven of his siblings: William Armstrong Buck (1864-1947) - a scholar; Alice Mabel Buck (1869-1944) - a scholar; Percy Carter Buck (1871-1947) - a scholar; Mary Kathleen Buck (1873-1955) - a scholar; Constance Norah Buck (1875-1955) - a scholar; Harry Allanson Buck (b.1876) and Frank Steele Buck (1878-1934), together with a cook, a housemaid and a nursemaid. His father was described as the Secretary of the Shipwreck Mariners Society. His other two siblings: Edith Beatrice Wilson Buck (1866-1883) and Charles Spencer Buck (1868-1933) were residing elsewhere.
When the 1891 census was undertaken he was shown as aged 10 years and a scholar, living at 58 West Ham Lane, with his parents, four of his siblings: Mary Kathleen Buck; Constance Norah Buck - a scholar; Harry Allanson Buck - a scholar and Frank Steele Buck - also a scholar, his maternal grandmother, Sarah Wilson née Carter (1812-1895), his cousin, Lucy B. Bailey aged 12 years, together with a cook, a housemaid and a nurse. His father was described as a retired War Office clerk and secretary to charitable societies.
He was shown in the 1901 census as aged 20 years and an insurance office clerk in the 1901 census at 1 Fernleigh Villas, Seaford, East Sussex, the home of his paternal grandmother Elizabeth Filgate Buck née Ponder (1812-1905) - who was shown as living on independent means, with his mother, his brother Harry Allanson Buck - an undergraduate, together with a cook and a housemaid.
On 15 November 1906, as a probation officer, he was appointed as a police constable in the Birmingham Police Force, collar number 7547, but resigned at his own request on 27 March 1907.
He was ordained a Chaplain in 1910 and on the 1911 census return form he was shown as Cyril Bernard Wilson Buck, aged 30 years and a Clerk in Holy Orders, boarding at Cathedral House, 71 Newhall Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire, the home of Herbert Sidney Pelham (1881-1944) - a Clerk in Holy Orders, together with Herbert Taylor Carnegie (1878-1954) - also a Clerk in Holy Orders, together with a butler, a housekeeper and their son.
During World War One he served in the Army Chaplains' Department, the London Gazette confirming his appointment with effect from 17 May 1916 and entered France later that month. He was attached to the 1st/5th Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment, when he was killed, aged 38 years, on 29 September 1918 having been hit by shrapnel when trying to rescue soldiers from a tank during operations round the St. Quentin Canal, north of Bellenglise, France. He was originally buried in the churchyard of Église Saint-Léger de Magny-la-Fosse, Rue des Violettes 9, 02420 Magny-la-Fosse, France, but in 1930 his body was exhumed and reburied in Plot 5, Row C, Grave 6 in the Busigny Communal Cemetery Extension, Rue Pasteur, 59137 Busigny, France.
Probate records confirm that his address had been Cathedral House, Newhall Street, Birmingham and that when probate was granted on 11 February 1919 to his brother Frank Steele Buck, a munitions official, his effects totalled £239-5s-11d. On 19 March 1919 his army effects totalling £57-2s-4d were sent also sent to Frank Steele Buck.
He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross, the British War Medal 1914-1918 and the Victory Medal. The citation for his Military Cross read "For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty at Pontruet during the attack on the village on 24th September, 1918. He worked all day at the R.A.P. (Regimental Aid Post) under heavy shell fire, helping the medical officer, carrying stretchers, cheering the wounded, and giving invaluable assistance. On the 29th September, 1918, he was killed during operations round the St. Quentin Canal, north of Bellenglise. He behaved splendidly”.
He is shown as 'C.B.W. BUCK' on the Shacklewell WW1 memorial on Shacklewell Green, Shacklewell Lane, London, E8. He is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website on the Imperial War Museum's Lives of the First World War website, on the A Street Near You website, on the Royal British Legion's Every One Remembered website , on the Epsom & Ewell History Explorer website and on the Royal Leicestershire Regiment's website.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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