Alfred George Tuck, born in 1894, was the youngest son of James Tuck and his second wife, Mary Hannah Tuck (nee Town), making him the last of ten - six girls and four boys.

Mary was the daughter of a farming neighbour, but after seven hard years of farming, James moved into the township of Boort where he returned to his trade as a skilled sheet metal worker, tinsmith and plumber. Mary later became ill with typhoid fever and the family moved to Kyneton where Alfred was born.

Alfred was the youngest of the six children of James and Mary’s marriage. He was close to his siblings, keeping in contact with regular letters while he was overseas. Copies of letters from Alf to his sister, Ethel, and his brother, Walter, are included later within this story. The three letters give a flavour of life as a young soldier abroad.

Family legend has it that Alfred’s brother, Stanley Thomas Tuck (1891-1956), was so upset at the disappearance and apparent death of his little brother that he also enlisted. Records show that Stanley (service no 1655) signed up in Kyneton on 20 November 1916, formally enlisting from 23 January 1917. As a second air mechanic with the 3rd Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, Stanley was based at Baillieu in the Messines area close to Amiens and his squadron was involved in many of the pivotal and historic moments in the aerial war on the Western front. It is believed Stanley witnessed the shooting down of Manfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron”. Stanley kept a diary of his war service and this was later edited and self-published by his daughter, Gertrude Kirby. A copy is kept in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra (AWM C237228).

On 12th July 1915, Alfred George Tuck who had been serving in the 66th Battalion of the Citizen Forces, signed the oath of allegiance and the attestation papers to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Alfred was 21 years and two months old and passed as “Fit for Active Service” on that day.

He was assigned to the 29th Battalion which was raised in Victoria and under the command of Colonel Alfred Bennett. Initial training was at Seymour before later joining other units at Broadmeadows Camp. While at this camp, Alf took the time to write the following letter to his brother, Wally.

Alfred – with the 29th Battalion - embarked at Port Melbourne on the 10th November 1915 on board HMAT A11 Ascanius, disembarking at Port Suez, Egypt on 7th December 1915.

Whilst serving in Egypt, Alf kept up correspondence with his family. His letters to his sister, Ethel, in January 1916 and to Wally in March 1916 describe bits of his life while in Egypt – limited water, lots of sand, enjoying biscuits (despite damaging a tooth!), taking photos and singsongs in the tent – as well as sharing messages to and from home about family, friends and locals.

In Egypt, the Battalion was assigned to defensive duties to protect the Suez Canal from the Ottoman forces and they were also involved in intensive training before being transferred to Europe in June 1916. But they found time to visit the Pyramids and the Sphinx and to ride on camels. They were still young men on an adventure!

Early in 1916, the 29th Battalion was assigned to the 8th Brigade of the 5th Division, after a reorganization that saw the AIF expand from two infantry divisions to five. On 14th June, they embarked on the troop ship HMT Tunisian in Alexandria, bound for France arriving at Marseilles nine days later. The soldiers were taken from the southernmost part of France to the north by train to Hazebrouck. Alfred wrote a letter to his sister from the train, describing the French countryside. This letter is still talked of in the family, although unfortunately it was later destroyed in a fire in Timboon in Victoria’s Heytsebury Forest.

On 19th July 1916, the 32nd Battalion left the trenches at 5:53pm, and the 31st at 5.58pm, to attack and take the German front line. The battle was so intense that both the support and reserve Battalions (the 30th and 29th respectively) became embroiled in holding the positions, captured at such a high cost. The involvement of two companies of the 29th (with Alfred Tuck) was to press on and capture the German 2nd line and from there fighting to capture Delangre Farm was extraordinarily heavy.

After considerable research, Tuck family member, Vic Teasdale, describes how he believes Alf Tuck met his fate:

Trapped behind enemy lines, Alfred Tuck’s body was not recovered by his comrades and it appears that he was buried in a mass grave at Fromelles by the Germans. This was confirmed by German records and their eventual return of Alfred’s identification disc to British military authorities.

There was also evidence given by 1175 Private John E. McINTOSH, D Company, 29th Battalion to the Red Cross on 3 October 1916:

With the benefits of hindsight, the sequence of events surrounding Alfred’s death has now been largely pieced together but the family at the time had to endure months of virtually no information. What snippets they received were incomplete or conflicting and led to doubt and confusion with hopes being raised then cruelly dashed.

Below is a timeline identified through correspondence between family members and military authorities or the Red Cross. The family correspondents are Alfred’s father, James Tuck, and Alfred’s brother-in-law, J.H.V. Dale (known as Victor - husband to his sister, Ethel). Page numbers refer to the AIF Personnel Dossier for Alfred Tuck.

17 November 1916 - From James Tuck to Colonel Hawker, 3rd Military District Headquarters:

28 November 1916 - From Base Records to James Tuck:

4 December 1916 - From James Tuck to Base Records:

11 December 1916 -From Base Records to James Tuck:

25 January 1917 - From the Victorian branch of the Australian Red Cross to J.H.V. Dale:

26 January 1917 - From J.H.V. Dale to Base Records:

31 January 1917 - From Base Records to J.H.V. Dale, including the address of Private Grant's next of kin and requested:

2 February 1917 - From J.H.V. Dale to Base Records, enclosing a copy of the Red Cross letter:

6 February 1917 - From Base Records to J.H.V. Dale:

2 April 1917 - Telegram from Colonel Hawker to James Tuck advising Alfred killed in action.

3 April 1917 -From James Tuck to Colonel Hawker, 3rd Military District Headquarters:

16 April 1917 - From Base Records to James Tuck:

8 June 1917 - From James Tuck to Colonel Hawker, 3rd Military District Headquarters:

15 June 1917 - From Base Records to James Tuck:

In November 1917, Alfred’s identification disc was returned to his father as next of kin. It appears that no other personal effects were located.

Until recently the location of Alfred’s remains was unknown which caused his family considerable angst, especially as he was first reported to be a Prisoner of War. It took many months before family received positive confirmation of his death.

Thanks to Lambis Englezos’ persistence in locating the mass grave and the team at the Unrecovered War Casualties, Alfred Tuck was identified in 2012.

Margaret Kirby, a relative, travelled to France for the ceremony to unveil his gravestone in July 2012. She never knew Tuck and in fact, no family member is alive who has first-hand memories of the man. After researching, recalling oral history and putting together old letters, the family decided on the following inscription on his gravestone: