Edward Buckley

Edward Buckley was one of the many soldiers who fought and died in WWI and whose body was never recovered. He was a phenomenal athlete and managed to attain great success as a hooker and utility forward despite possessing a rather small stature, as he was just 5 ft 5in (168cms) and 174lbs (79kgs).

Born in New Zealand in 1890, Edward was the fourth of six children. When he was aged just 12, his mother Mary died. She was just 45 years old. The bad news didn’t end there as it was just three years later that his father, James, also passed away at the age of 50.

When Edward was 18, he travelled to Brisbane and a few months later, after he turned 19, he lined up for the Fortitude Valley side in their debut season and the first season of the Brisbane Rugby League club competition.

He made his debut in the Semi-Final clash against Toombul, which Valleys won 30-0. Buckley scored a try on debut. Two weeks later he played his second match, for Queensland against the visiting Maori team. He played against them 4 days later before earning a call up to the Australian team against the Maori side.

His fifth game of Rugby League was the 1909 Brisbane Rugby League Grand Final, which his side Valley’s won, Buckley again crossing for a try.

In just five games, the 19 year old had made his Rugby League debut, won a Premiership and represented both his state and country.

1910 saw him again playing for Valleys and then Queensland against the impressive British side on their first tour of Australia. He was then named in the Australian side for the second Test against Great Britain. He then played in all 3 Interstate games against New South Wales.

He changed clubs for the 1911 season, linking with South Brisbane, who made it to the semi-finals. He also played two more games for Queensland. At the end of the year he left Brisbane and moved to the rural township of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, where he lived for just over three years.

This move signalled the end of his playing career. In mid-June of 1915, Buckley travelled to Sydney where he enlisted to serve with the Australian Army in World War I.

When Edward signed his papers, he listed his housemate from his time at Wagga Wagga, Mr Alex Rose, as his next of kin, given Edward had no mother or father. He’d also estranged himself from his brothers and sisters. He was later made to change his next of kin, where he named his brother Michael.

Much like his footballing career, Edward found himself quickly promoted in the military rising to Lance Corporal and then Corporal in quick time, however 5 months later, he requested to be demoted back to Private, which was accepted. But just 2 weeks later, he was a Lance Corporal again.

After a brief respite to recover from gunshot wounds to his legs, right shoulder, knee and right forearm in early July, 1917, Edward had a run of bad luck with viruses, suffering from Diptheria and Tonsillitis which kept him in hospital for 3 weeks. He eventually returned and spent 2 weeks with a tunnelling company before going back into the field in Belgium, engaging in the bloody and brutal battles in Ypres. It was at nearby Polygon Wood where he was killed but sadly, his body was never recovered.

It took the Army until 1922 to finally locate a next of kin for Edward. They eventually found his eldest brother James, who was living in New Zealand and had also served in WWI, but with the New Zealand Army, as well his two sisters, one of whom was living in Western Australia and the other in Adelaide.