William Buchanan & crew over Dieppe
The following has been adapted from the writings of James Simpson, great-grandnephew of William Buchanan.
On August 19, 1942, at 4:24 am, William Lysle Buchanan, piloting a Boston MKIII from 418 Squadron (Sqn), took off to support the Dieppe Raid. Two other MKIII crews were called on to support, but one crew was cancelled last minute and the other turned back soon after take-off because their landing gear wouldn’t retract. William (Bill) was the only RCAF bomber pilot from 418 Sqn to participate in the raid.
A short while later, he and his crew dropped four 500-pound bombs over Dieppe.
On their way back, an enemy Focke-Wulf (Fw) 190 – these planes were nicknamed Shrikes – shot up the rear of Buchanan’s aircraft despite the crew being able to return fire. The cockpit filled with smoke, and Bill, unable to communicate but still able to pilot the aircraft, brought it down closer to the ground. At an altitude of just 300 ft his rear gunner returned fire for the second time, but that would not prevent them from crashing . . . the plane was ditched into the English Channel a few moments later.
Buchanan and the navigator were unconscious, but the rear gunner was not. He grabbed the two other men and plopped them into a life raft. The three of them were luckily rescued from the cold waters a few hours later.
Terrence Scott, the rear gunner, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFC) for his efforts, and when the time came for Scott to receive his DFC during a visit to Buckingham Palace, he asked Buchanan to join him as a special guest – Bill obliged.
Douglas Boston Mark III, (Intruder) W8358 ‘TH-R’, of No. 418 Squadron RCAF flying off the French coast while heading back to its base at Bradwell Bay, Essex, after a night sortie over Europe. W8358 was eventually lost while on another night intruder sortie to Creil, France, on 8 November 1942. (Credit: Imperial War Museum, via iwm.org)
A few months later (Nov. 8, 1942), Bill was on a night intruder sortie to Creil, France, when attacked. The plane crashed back to earth in Poix, a town southwest of Amiens. His tail gunner, F/Lt Alfred Bist, lived (he was taken as a POW), but Bill and his Navigator, F/O Raymond Hamilton, were killed. Bill and Raymond are both buried in the Poix de Picardie churchyard. Buchanan’s family still has Bill’s “kit”, logbook, and the only framed picture of his airplane (provided to the family by the Imperial War Museum).
Buchanan’s attestation paper. (Credit: Canadian Virtual War Memorial, via Veterans.gc.ca)
Before he joined the war effort, Bill planted trees for the Experimental Farm on the outskirts of Ottawa. The seedlings, sowed in the early 1940’s, are now 200 ft tall (60 m) – their roots: very deep. Another sidebar about William (Bill) Lysle Buchanan: years after the war ended, he was nominated to be the next face on Canada’s $5 bill. He made it to the final list but ultimately, was not selected.
Report on the investigation of the Nov. 8, 1942, crash in Poix. (Credit: Canadian Virtual War Memorial, via Veterans.gc.ca)
Main photo: Lt- William (Bill) Buchanan, Rt- Buchanan’s grave marker, Row E, Grave 20, at the Poix-de-Picardie Cemetery. (Credit: Canadian Virtual War Memorial, via Veterans.gc.ca)