LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John William James BUCKLAND
Service No: 429495
Born: Toowoomba QLD, 6 June 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 October 1942
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Spilsby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM436), Germany, 31 March 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Emily Phyliss Buckland, of Toowomba, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Toowoomba QLD
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2211 hours on the night of 30 March 1944 Lancaster LM436 took off from Spilsby detailed to bomb Nuremberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. When outbound the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Freiensteinau, a small town 12 kms north west of Schluchtern, Germany. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LM436 were:
Sergeant David Angus Anderson (1317943) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John William James Buckland (429495) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant George Frederick Clulow (1391077) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Stanley Jones (2211337) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Frederick Keightley (994243) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer John Larsenius Larsen (151852) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Bertram Challis Riddle (424547) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
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, 166/6/467