LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Norman William BUCHANAN
Service No: 425115
Born: Barcaldine QLD, 7 May 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fiskerton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JA691), Denmark, 18 August 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Aabenraa Cemetery, Denmark
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Duncan Gordon Buchanan and Ellen Buchanan, of Barcaldine, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Barcaldine QLD
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2146 hours on the night of 17 August 1943 Lancaster JA691 took off from Fiskerton to bomb Peenemunde, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0301 hours, 7kms north east of Aabenraa, Denmark. All the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of JA691 were:
Flight Sergeant Norman William Buchanan (425115) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Reginald Fowlston (1191332) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Leslie Frank Freeman (902545) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Leslie James Henley (338378) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Harry John Randall (119813) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert William Slaughter (910908) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant William John Stiles (1430814) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/6/238