In memory of

Flight Lieutenant

David Buchanan

who died on 27 Mar 1945


Service details
  Conflict WWII
  Service RCAF
  Unit Ferry Command, Royal Air Force
  Rank Flight Lieutenant
  Service number J11854
  Date of death 19450327
  Cause of death killed in action
Narrative history
  R58102 Flight Sergeant (No. 102 Ceylon Squadron RAF wireless air gunner) Alexander Gibson Buchanan (b.1918) of North Battleford was KIA 19420106 and is buried at Rose Hill cemetery, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Buchanan's Halifax was returning from a raid on Cologne when an engine failed. Only two of the crew died: Buchanan when his parachute failed to open, and the Australian pilot who rode her down to a quarry at Creswell St., Pogmoor, Barnsley. Alexander had served in the Battlefod Light Infantry but was mining at Bralorne, British Columbia, when he enlisted at Vancouver in 1940.

And his brother J11854 Flight Lieutenant (RAF Ferry Command navigator/flight engineer) David (Buck) Buchanan (b.1915) who died 19450327 and is commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial for airmen from the western hemisphere who died with no known grave. Buchanan's Liberator failed to arrive at Dorval on a flight from London via the Azores, and twelve passengers and two other crewmen also died. The passengers were dignitaries coming to Canada for the ceremonies marking the closing down of the BCATP. Buck had spent eight years with the Prince Albert & Battleford Volunteers and was the goaltender for the world champion Trail Smoke Eaters in 1939. He was working as a fireman for Cominco when he enlisted at Calgary in 1941, leavung a wife Sylvia Mae (Russell) at Winnipeg.
Buchanan Island in Mynarski Lake, Manitoba (64B3), has also been named in his honour.

Alexander and Buck were the sons of Dugald and Marjorie (Gibson) Buchanan who came to North Battleford from Glasgow, Scotland. The war was not kind to Mrs. Buchanan. Not only did she lose two sons, but Dugald had also passed away not long after the war began.
       A Glossary of abbreviations to help understand the terms used is available.
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Memorial information
  Saskatchewan rural municipality for commemoration 437 - North Battleford
  Cemetery or memorial location Ottawa Memorial, Ontario    

Please click here to view the cemetery/memorial information on Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  Honour roll location(s) North Battleford
  Geo-memorial Buchanan Lake, Saskatchewan     
  Geo-memorial location 55.9667°N / 104.0333°W
  Geo-memorial NTS map reference 73P16
  Geo-memorial details East of McLennan Lake. David has a second geo-memorial, Buchanan Island in Mynarski Lake, Manitoba (64B3).
Personal information
  Date of birth 19150415
  Place of birth North Battleford    
  Date of enlistment 19410805
  Place of enlistment Calgary, Alberta    
  Residence on enlistment Trail, British Columbia    
  Occupation smelter worker
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