LEST WE FORGET
Aircraftman Class 1 Maxwell Henry BUCHHORN
Service No: 8594
Born: Albury NSW, 17 October 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 February 1940
Unit: Radio Installation and Maintenance Unit (RAF), Singapore
Died: Prisoner of War, (Presumed Drowned) (Tamahoko Maru, torpedoed by the submarine USS Tang), off Nagasaki Japan, 24 June 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert and Alma Gertrude Buchhorn, of Gilberton, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 444, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 24th June 1944, AC1 Buchhorn, (Radar), was a Prisoner of War on board a Japanese transport from Singapore bound for Japan. He died on the 24 June 1944, when approximately 20 miles off the coast of Japan, the ship was torpedoed and sank within two minutes of being torpedoed. There were 772 PoWs on board and of these 212 survived the sinking.
Fourteen RAAF members from various units were lost with the Tamahoko Maru:
Leading Aircraftman Neil Arlie Binnie (33659) (No. 1 Squadron)
Leading Aircraftman Ronald Edward Brown (17047) (No. 1 Squadron)
Aircraftman Class 1 Maxwell Henry Buchhorn (8594) (RAF Air Headquarters Far East)
Corporal Bruce Addison Gibbins (3353) (No. 1 Squadron)
Warrant Officer John Joseph Green (400951) (No. 36 Squadron (RAF))
Warrant Officer Dudley Reed Hooper (404280) (No. 84 Squadron (RAF))
Leading Aircraftman Robert Edmondson Joel (8814) (No. 1 Squadron)
Warrant Officer James William Landsberg (404759) (No. 1 Squadron)
Sergeant Harold Victor Lewis (406146) (Wireless Air Gunner) (No. 211 Squadron (RAF))
Corporal George Norman McKean (5651) (No. 1 Squadron)
Leading Aircraftman James Leslie Pittendrigh (15398) (No. 1 Squadron)
Aircraftman Class 1 Charles Dudley Potts (39872) (No. 8 Squadron)
Aircraftman Class 1 Ernest Frederick Stanford (27978) (No. 1 Squadron)
Warrant Officer Brian Aloysius Toohey (402758) (No. 100 Squadron (RAF))
In addition to the 14 members of the RAAF, two members of the RAN and 169 members of the Australian Army were lost.
Three RAAF members survived:
Leading Aircraftman Richard Bowie Downie (34225) Discharged from the RAAF: 8 February 1946
Warrant Officer James Dawson Barnes (405034) Discharged from the RAAF: 18 December 1945
Sergeant Frederick John Johnson (A3872) Discharged from the RAAF: 23 January 1965
In addition to the 3 members of the RAAF, eight members of the RAN and 71 members of the Australian Army survived.
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, 163/94/213
Bibliography:
Wall, Donald (NX36620), Heroes at Sea, D Wall, Mona Vale NSW 2103, 1991