LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alfred William BUXTON
Service No: 406992
Born: Nedlands WA, 16 September 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB153), Leicester, 8 September 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred and Ida Pearl Buxton, of Subiaco, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Subiaco WA
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster JB153 took off from RAF Wymeswold, Leicestershire, on 8 September 1943, detailed to carry out an air test. The aircraft dived into the ground two miles from the airfield and exploded. The aircraft had appeared to be flying normally straight and level at approximately 500 feet and there was no indication of any engine failure or trouble with the aircraft. Eye witnesses stated that the aircraft commenced a gentle turn to port but the nose dropped and it hit the ground with considerable force. All on board the aircraft were killed in the crash.
These on board JB153 were:
Air Training Corps Cadet F Bond (No. 1180 Squadron ATC) Aged 14 years
Flight Sergeant Alfred William Buxton (406992) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Gordon Alfred Joffre Daldy (409668) (Air Gunner)
Air Training Corps Cadet D J Fox (No. 1180 Squadron ATC) Aged 17 years
Air Training Corps Cadet E L Hall (No. 1180 Squadron ATC) Aged 17 years
Sergeant Normand Kidd (1554620) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Leeming (1684485) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Gerald Sweeney (1367821) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Stephen Whalley (1473130) (RAF) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/6/269
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991