LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Graham George BUCKLAND
Service No: 400642
Born: Ballarat VIC, 1 June 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 October 1940
Unit: No. 250 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 250 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft AK704), Libya, 30 May 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Knightsbridge War Cemetery, Acroma, Libya
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Graham Buckland and Mary Ann Buckland, of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Ballarat VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 30 May 1942 first off were Nos. 250 and 450 Squadrons at 0650 hours, No. 250 providing close cover to No. 450 whose task was to reconnoitre and strafe in the Bir Hachiem area. They were attacked by four Bf1 09s of I/JG 27 and Obit. Marseille shot down Pilot Officer Graham Buckland of No. 250 Squadron, who baled out, but was killed in unexplained circumstances. Buckland was two days short of his 21st birthday.
Extract from Brown, R. (Russell) Desert Warriors Australian P-40 Pilots at War in the Middle East and North Africa 1941-1943, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4652, 2000 – Page 118
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/93/308
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002