LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert John BUCKINGHAM
Service No: 400578
Born: Port Augusta SA, 19 July 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 September 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Station Breighton, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z1383), France, 22 June 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Lorient (Kerentrech) Communal Cemetery, Morbihan, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Caleb and Ellen Millicent Buckingham, of Glen Iris, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 107, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington Z1383 took off from RAF Breighton at 2247 hours on the night of 21 June 1942 to carry out a mine laying operation in French waters off Lorient. The bomb load was Assembly 1PDM7, Assembly 22, and 2 x 250 GPTD. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Four aircraft from the squadron took part in the mission. Post war it was established that all the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of Z1383 were:
Flight Sergeant Robert John Buckingham (400578) (Pilot)
Sergeant Frederick Roy Martin (403479) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Stalker McQueen (403277) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Moores (798533) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert George Marafu Roget (400333) (Observer)
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, 163/94/239
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985