BUCKBY, Ernest Middleton
| Service Number: | 426524 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 July 1942 |
| Last Rank: | Flight Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | RAF Conversion Units |
| Born: | Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia, 26 May 1924 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Roma High & Intermediate Schools, , Queensland, Australia |
| Occupation: | Coach builder/bridge carpenter |
| Died: | Accidental, Brecon, Powys, Wales, United Kingdom, 5 September 1943, aged 19 years |
| Cemetery: |
Hereford Cemetery and Crematorium, Herefordshire, England Grave No: 5598 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, International Bomber Command Centre Memorial, Roma Cenotaph, Town of Roma & Shire of Bungil WW2 Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 18 Jul 1942: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 426524 | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Mar 1943: | Embarked Royal Australian Air Force, Flight Sergeant, 426524, ex Melbourne to United Kingdom | |
| 5 Sep 1943: | Involvement Flight Sergeant, 426524, RAF Conversion Units , No. 1661 Conversion Unit, RAF |
Help us honour Ernest Middleton Buckby's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Ernest was the son of Percy Milton Buckby (born 1893 in Brisbane, QLD) and Minnie Elizabeth Schefe (born 1898 in Roma, QLD). Percy - a Carpenter - and Minnie married in 1923 in Brisbane, QLD and lived in Roma and Brisbane where Percy worked as a Carpenter.
Ernest enlisted in the RAAF (Service No: 426524) in June 1942, serving as an Aircrew II and Leading Aircraftman at No 3 ITS in Kingaroy QLD before embarking for the UK as Air Gunner/Flight Sergeant attached to the RAF No 16 OTU.
On 5 September 1943, Ernest was killed when the Lancaster 4929 in which he was on a night training flight, crashed into a mountain side during stormy weather.
On 15 September 1943, Wing Commander F G Woodward wrote to Ernest's father - 'There is little I can say, to ease the blow for you, except perhaps that your son must have been killed instantaneously and could have suffered no pain.
The accident happened during a normal night training flight, but owing to the tragic fact that all other members of the crew were also killed, we have no information regarding the actual cause.
The loss of your son is greatly felt amongst the other members of this station who knew him, as he was a popular man, whose work was a credit to him' (National Archives Australia - Service Records)
His Group Captain wrote on 11 September 1943 that 'He was known as a loyal member of the Unit, and a trusted member of the crew for whom he was an Air Gunner. He was held in high regard by his friends and the memory of him will be a strong motive to greater service for all who knew the spirit of his devotion and work' (National Archives Australia - Service Records).
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