Frederick Ernest Pryke enlisted in the AIF in February 1916. He was born in London and was a mariner employed by the SA Harbors Board. He married Mary Elizabeth Hayter in October 1913 and the couple had a young son. Pryke played one full season for the Port Adelaide soccer club in 1911 – mainly in the reserves, but with a few first team appearances.
His military career did not get off to a good start when he was punished for being “unshaven on parade”. On the western front in 1917 he received a gunshot wound to his right foot. It was self-inflicted and may not have been accidental. He was court martialed for this but found not guilty. After a lengthy spell in hospital in England he was returned to Adelaide and discharged in 1918.
The Prykes had a second son born in 1920, and Fred Pryke died in Adelaide in 1964 aged 74.