Balcombe Quick was born on 12 May 1883 in Dunedin, New Zealand. His father, William Hichens Quick (1850-1921) became a banker having emigrated to New Zealand in 1876, the fourth son of Dr James Quick of Penzance, Cornwall. Quick's mother, Lucia Emily Balcombe (1855-1942) was the daughter of Alexander Beatson Balcombe and the grand-daughter of Captain William Balcombe who played host to Napoleon for two months on St Helena before being banished to Sydney in 1824. The Balcombes were direct descendants of the artist Van Dyck. William Quick had two children a son, Balcombe and a daughter, Ruth Emma. The family left New Zealand in the early 1880's and Quick set up as a stock-broker in Collins Street, Melbourne, Australia. Balcombe was sent to a private school of good standing, Cumloden, and then enrolled in medicine at the University of Melbourne. He was a member of Trinity College and after graduating MB BS in 1905, was appointed as resident medical officer at Alfred Hospital, thus beginning a professional relationship with that hospital of fifty-seven years. He was attracted to surgery and did his post-graduate training in London, gaining his FRCS in 1910. On his return to Melbourne he was appointed an out-patient honorary surgeon in 1912 at Alfred Hospital. Quick was commissioned as a Captain in the Militia (1912), enlisted in the AIF on 20 August 1914, and was gazetted a Captain in the Australian Army Medical Corps. He embarked on 19 October in the 2 Field Ambulance which had a number of officers to become notable in the AAMC and in civilian practice, including Victor Hurley and Roy Chambers. He landed at Gallipoli on 30 May 1915. The primitive conditions and constant challenge of the Peninsula saw the beginnings of his distinguished surgical career. Transferred to Egypt in December 1915 and promoted to Major in 1 Australian General Hospital, he was with his unit when they disembarked in France 6 April 1916. By September 1917 he was a Lieutenant-Colonel and posted as surgical specialist to 2 Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Rouen where, with his large experience in the surgery of wounds, he played an influential role in the treatment of casualties in the forward areas. Quick was one of the earliest exponents of the early treatment of wounds by debridement and the development of resuscitation teams. His valuable work on the treatment of wounds of joints was highly praised in the official history of the AMC and led to an authoritative publication in the *Medical journal of Australia*, June 1918. His unit '... claimed the distinction of being the first in the British Army to use an x-ray apparatus in the field'. Quick was mentioned in dispatches (May 1918) and awarded the DSO (June 1918), the citation stating that he '... has consistently done most excellent work with Field Imperial Units at the front'. His service ended on 1 June 1919. Returning to Melbourne his long association with Alfred Hospital continued with his appointment as an in-patient surgeon in 1919, rising to consultant rank in 1945. He was Dean of the Clinical School, 1938-1945, member of the board of management, 1934-1962, (Vice-President 1958-1960) and a member of the board, Baker Medical Research Institute, 1942-1965. Other appointments included visiting surgeon to the Caulfield Repatriation Hospital, and Stewart Lecturer in surgery at the University of Melbourne. He practiced as a general surgeon augmented by his earlier training in plastic surgery. He became a foundation Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons in 1928, was a member of Council, 1933-48, and Honorary Treasurer, 1937-49. Quick was a tall and handsome man, somewhat aloof and fastidious but highly regarded by his colleagues and students. Sartorially impeccable down to his spats, he spoke with precision and wrote concisely. He was a keen and highly successful photographer, a trout fisherman and perhaps consequently an early conservationist, being a committee man on the National Park of Wilson's Promontory. In 1927 he married Hilary, daughter of J Temple and Elsie Gertrude Stephens. They had one son Nigel. Quick died in Melbourne on 5 September 1969 in his 87th year from a cerebral haemorrhage and was cremated at Springvale after a service at the Toorak Presbyterian Church.