LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Geoffrey Charles BUCKNELL
Service No: 421311
Born: Inverell NSW, 9 May 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 97 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Coningsby
Died: Air Operations (No. 97 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND840), France, 6 August 1944, Aged 33 Years
Buried: Clichy Northern Cemetery, Haute de Seine, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Norman Charles and Ruby Leah Bucknell; husband of Joan Lucie Bucknell, of Inverell, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Inverell NSW
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Tingha RSL War Memorial, Tingha NSW
At 0918 hours on 6 August 1944 Lancaster ND840 took off from Coningsby to attack a flying bomb storage site at Bois de Cassan, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and the pilot was incapacitated. The British Embassy later reported that the aircraft crashed at Eaubonne (Val D’Oise) a small town 14 kms east south east of Pontoise, France. Seven of the crew members were killed and one evaded capture.
The crew members of ND840 were:
Flight Sergeant Leonard Barlow (1603320) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Charles Bucknell (421311) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Bernard Daitz (1577121) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant George Clifford Dyke (1095605) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Leslie Desmond Farmer (2220935) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer R A V James DFC (149988) (RAFVR) (Observer) Evaded capture
Flight Sergeant Ronald McAllister (424551) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William Ronald Patience (1893740) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
In a report by Flying Officer James stated “I landed about 10 yards from the aircraft and no one baled out before me. The aircraft was in a steep spin and on fire. The intercom was unserviceable so no orders could be given. The French saw only one parachute come out, and that the Germans had extricated seven bodies from the aircraft.”
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, 166/6/644
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line