Francis Herbert CROOK

Francis Herbert CROOK Update Details

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CROOK, Francis Herbert

Service Number:	1360
Enlisted:	25 August 1914
Last Rank:	Sergeant
Last Unit:	1st Field Artillery Brigade
Born:	St Arnaud, Victoria, Australia, 18 April 1892
Home Town:	Bacchus Marsh, Moorabool, Victoria
Schooling:	Not yet discovered
Occupation:	Bank Clerk
Died:	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 January 1973, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery:	Springvale Botanical Cemetery, Melbourne
Memorials:

World War 1 Service

25 Aug 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Driver, 1360, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade
5 Apr 1918:	Embarked AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1360, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, ex England to Melbourne per HT A30 Borda
23 Dec 1918:	Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1360, 1st Field Artillery Brigade
Date unknown:	Involvement Driver, 1360, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: '' embarkation_ship: HMAT Marere embarkation_ship_number: A21 public_note: ''
Date unknown:	Embarked Driver, 1360, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade , HMAT Marere

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Sergeant Francis Herbert Crook (Driver; Service No:1360) enlisted in the AIF on 25 August 1914 and was attached to 2nd Field Artillery Brigade Ammunition Column on 21 October 1914 when he embarked from Melbourne on board HMAT A21 Marere for Egypt. In April 1915 he was at Gallipoli - near Gaba Tepe, attached to Mediterranean Expedition Forces. Promoted to Bombardier in March 1916, he served with 23rd Battery and on 11 October 1916 was with the 21st Field Artillery Brigade in France when he was WiA - GSW to arm and shoulder. By 1917 he had been promoted to Sergeant and was serving with 1st Field Artillery Brigade in Belgium when he was WiA again - this time suffering a GSW to his foot and severe gas burns. Sergeant Crook was hospitalised in England, embarked for Melbourne on board HT A30 Borda on 5 April 1918 and was Discharged in December that year. The Bacchus Marsh Express of 1 June 1918 reports 'He (Francis) was wounded and gassed, but is now able to get about with the aid of a stick. Three other brothers are still on service ...'.

Born in St Arnaud, Victoria in 1892, Francis was the fifth of nine children (and one of four brothers to serve in WWI) of Francis (Frank) Harbottle Crook (b1855 in Hobart, Tasmania) and first wife Hannah Elizabeth McCausland (b1859 at Kilfern Station in Benalla, Victoria). Frank (a Stock and Station Agent) and Hannah married in 1882 at Bacchus Marsh, Victoria where they settled and raised their family. Frank was Stock and Station Agent, Auctioneer, Farmer, Clerk of Petty Sessions, and Secretary of the Mechanics Institute and Free Library, and of the Bacchus Marsh Raing Club.

In August 1914 Francis (a Bank Clerk with the National Bank in Omeo in Gippsland, Victoria) married Estelle Tribolet (b1890 in Geelong, Victoria) - Estelle was a Teacher at Bairnsdale, Victoria. Following his return from WWI, Francis worked as a Bank Clerk/Official and he Estelle lived in Bright and Seymour, Victoria before settling in Melbourne in the 1930s. Francis died in 1973 and Estelle in 1976.

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