Bussey, F

Captain Frank Bussey

Frank was born in Queensland, Australia, on 7^th September 1891, the eldest child of English couple Sidney and Ethel Bussey. Within five years the family were back in London, via a short stint in New South Wales, and it was here that they would remain. After leaving the College he went to Germany and was working in Hamburg in the summer of 1914 as tensions began to escalate.

Upon the declaration of War on August 4^th he at once left Germany, at first to Denmark; in little more than a week he was back in London, and on August 14^th Frank signed up. He was given a position in the Intelligence Staff, with whom he went to the continent almost straight away, serving throughout the “Great Retreat” at Mons, Le Cateau, Aisne and the Marne; for some of this period he acted as liaison between the British General Staff and the French Command led by General Gallieni. Late in 1914 he was transferred to the Army Service Corps and spent the next year working on the lines of communication, before in December 1915 being transferred once more, this time to the Royal Engineers. He was still serving with the Royal Engineers at the time of the start of the Somme battle the next summer, and he was in charge of co-ordinating the smoke and gas deployment around Thiepval. Whilst fulfilling this role he suffered the effects of gas himself, and although completing his duties, for which he was personally commended by the general in command of his sector, he soon had to be invalided home to England. He never fully recovered, and passed away due to the lingering effects of the gas on August 15^th 1917, at the Officers Hospital in Ilfracombe, Devon.