Sir Francis Brooks "Bob" Purchas, PC (19 June 1919 – 9 September 2003) was a British judge who sat on the Court of Appeal.
Early life
Francis Brooks Purchas was the son of Captain Francis Purchas of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. As a child, Francis was taken for a short time to India, where his father was posted. It was there that he acquired the nickname "Bob", a shortened version of the Hindi for baby. He was educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Hawks' Club.
His time in Cambridge was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Commissioned into the Royal Engineers, he served on General Eisenhower's general staff in the North Africa Campaign as a cartographer where he was awarded the Africa Star. Later in the war, he would also win the Italy Star during the advance into Italy. He later served at the Allied Military Commission in Vienna, and was eventually demobilised as an honorary lieutenant colonel.
