While the Charlton Athletic Museum displays shirts, trophies and champagne bottles from the club's greatest moments it also holds an impressive archive of the club board minutes with a complete set from 1921 till 1983 - apart from one volume for 1924/25 which was mysteriously "lost" in a fire at the Valley on 1 January 1925 - The Museum's trustees explain some of the stories that can be found there.
In 1966 John Buck was added to the board of directors at Charlton Athletic but his life story is far wider and more interesting than just that.
Charlton Board Minutes August 1966 (Charlton Athletic Museum)
Born in Hove in 1915, the son of Arthur Buck, a general surgeon, and Lilian Maude Bligh, a theatre sister who was a direct descendant of the captain of the Bounty, John’s family emigrated to Vancouver Island after WWI and he enjoyed the outdoor life there until his family returned to England in 1932. After attending Lancing school, John went to Edinburgh University to study medicine, qualifying in 1938.
Prior to the outbreak of WWII John served in the Territorial Army and then joined the regular Royal Army Medical Corps in 1940. Initially posted to 180 Field Ambulance, he was then attached to various units as a Medical Officer and then to the British Military Hospital in Delhi in 1941. Shortly after this he became the Regimental Medical Officer to 151 (British) Parachute Battalion.
John Buck 2nd
Left ready to make a jump. Delhi Air landing School 1941 (Photo
from Paradata)
Later his Battalion (by now renumbered as 156th Parachute Battalion) saw service in the Middle East and took part in the capture of Taranto, part of the allied invasion of Italy in 1943.
The Battalion returned to England and, as part of the 1st Airborne Division, landed at Arnhem, the ambitious but ultimately doomed attempt to capture bridges over the Rhine in 1944 portrayed in films such as “A Bridge Too Far”. If successful the airborne landing would not only have shortened the war but stopped the V1 “doodlebug” rocket attacks on London.
As a medical offer, John stayed behind with the wounded and was captured, spending nine months as a prisoner of war until the end of the war in May 1945.
After the war, he held medical posts in Brighton and London. He was eventually appointed as a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in Woolwich and Greenwich, where he acted as a Civilian Consultant to the Military Hospitals and this is where he would have come into contact with his local football club, Charlton Athletic.
He is listed in 1960s matchday programmes as “Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon”. Orthopaedics deals with the musculoskeletal system IE bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles, so a key element for footballers and their fitness.
John Buck operated on a number of Charlton players including Bob Curtis (Ankle, Miller Hospital, Greenwich), Luciano Masiello, (Knee, Miller hospital), Keith Peacock (Metatarsal, right foot, St Nicholas Hospital) and Graham Moore (Slipped Disc).
The programme notes from the game v Bristol City in august 1970 tell us that John is stepping down as a director due to pressure of work but will continue as the club’s consulting surgeon.
Charlton Programme August 1970 . John Buck steps down as a director (Charlton Athletic Museum)
Buck was regarded within his profession as a skilful and innovative surgeon, introducing a procedure for the internal fixation of the spine, known as Buck’s Fusion, which is still in use today.
He was a life member of the United Hospitals Sailing Club and a member of the Bexley Sailing Club, only giving up at the age of 83. He remained a parachutist and skydiver until the age of 64.
John Buck in later life (Photo from Paradata)
John Buck died aged 90, in 2006
Sources:
https://www.paradata.org.uk/people/john-buck
https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/
Museum’s own archives
Colin Cameron’s Records in the Museum Archive
Thanks to Simon Walden for suggesting John Buck as a topic for research
The Charlton Athletic Museum is an independent Registered Charity who preserve and present the history of the football club.
The museum is open on Friday’s from 11 to 2.30 and on matchday Saturdays from 11 to 1.00pm
The museum is located in the Covered End and can be accessed via Harvey Gardens
Email cafchistorian@gmail.com or use @chathmuseum on twitter for any queries or donations.
Comments
Top medic and Charlton man - thanks for the article, Henners.
We might have some stats in the museum.
Inbox us your name and we can have a look if you are interested