The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (6966) Private Arthur Hart Buck, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by , the story for this day was on (6966) Private Arthur Hart Buck, 10th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

6966 Private Arthur Hart Buck, 10th Battalion
DOW: 9 October 1917


Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Arthur Hart Buck.

Arthur Buck was born on 18 May 1891 at Point Marsden, Kangaroo Island, South Australia to Samuel and Elizabeth Buck.

The youngest of six children, Buck grew up on the family farm at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island, and was privately tutored at home.

By the time the First World War began, Buck was working on his family’s property as a farmer.

Buck enlisted for service in the AIF in Adelaide on 6 October 1916, and after initial training was allotted to the 23rd reinforcements for the 10th Battalion. On 16 December he embarked with other reinforcements from Adelaide’s Outer Harbour, aboard the transport ship Berrima bound for England.

On arrival in England, Buck and the other reinforcements were sent to the 3rd Training Battalion at Durrington. Here they trained for the rigours of modern war on the Western Front.

In early May, Buck sailed from England to France. He and 50 other reinforcements joined the 10th Battalion at Bapaume on the 14th of May, and Buck was posted to C Company.

The 10th Battalion spent the next four months behind the lines, resting, reinforcing and training. On 3 August Buck was evacuated sick to hospital and did not return to the battalion until mid-September.
By this time the Third Battle of Ypres had begun and preparations were well under way for the next stage of the offensive that would become known as the Battle of the Menin Road. It was the first time during this battle that the Australians were to be employed.

Heavy mist obscured the battlefield as dawn broke of 20 September. At 5.40 am an intense artillery barrage announced the opening of the new offensive, and the infantry began their advance shortly after.

Utilising bite and hold tactics to achieve their aims, the Australians advanced in three stages along a 3-kilometre front. During the battle the 10th Battalion took part in the capture of Glencourse Wood and suffered heavy casualties in gaining their objectives. By 10.15 am the Australians had advanced some two kilometres and had taken all of their objectives. However, the cost had been high, with the two Australian divisions suffering over 5,000 casualties.

The 10th Battalion, having suffered over 200 casualties went into reserve on 23 September but played a supporting role on 4 October when the next Australian advance captured Broodseinde Ridge. Still in reserve, the 10th Battalion occupied positions on Westhoek Ridge on 5 October; but they came under German artillery fire and suffered a number of casualties. Buck, who had been evacuated sick on 3 October, was part of a small group of reinforcements who had also taken casualties as they struggled through the German artillery fire to rejoin their unit.

On the night of 7 October the 10th Battalion relieved the 12th Battalion in the front line on Broodseinde Ridge, opposite the German positions at Celtic Wood.

The next day the 10th Battalion was ordered to mount a raid on Celtic Wood as a diversion for the next Australian advance on Poelcapelle.

The task was given to C Company, and due to the casualties suffered by the battalion over the previous weeks, men from other companies were called in to make up the numbers. As orders were not issued until 6pm, it gave the men very little time to prepare.

At around 5.30 am on 9 October the raid began. Eighty-eight Australians, (85 from the 10th Battalion and three from the 3rd Light Trench Mortar Battery) made their way into the German positions.

Initially the attack was successful, but the Germans soon recovered and began their counter-attacks to drive the Australians out of their positions. During the fighting, Buck was shot and had to be left behind –along with a number of other wounded men when those raiders who were still capable, withdrew. The raid was a disaster. Of the 88 men who began the raid, 32 had either been killed or would die from wounds, and 37 men were wounded.

Corporal Frank Wood, who had also been on the raid that morning, described going out that evening to bring Buck back to the Australian lines.

“We could not go out for him until the evening. He was quite conscious… Buck died while we were carrying him back in. I assisted to bury him just behind a trench about 250 yards behind the wood. We put his burial disc on a stick and erected it on the grave, as we had no cross.”

Arthur Buck was 26 years old.

His grave was lost in subsequent fighting and his remains were unable to be identified. Today his name is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial to the missing.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Arthur Hart Buck, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section