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Buchanan, Malcolm Stiernqvist DFC (Flight Lieutenant)

Killed in Action 1944-November-21

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Birth Date: 1913 (age 31)

MALCOLM AND ADA MAY BUCHANAN, OF GOOMBOORIAN, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

Decorations: DFC


Distinguished Service Cross
Service
RAAF
Unit
78 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Nemo Non Paratus Nobody unprepared
Base
RAF Breighton
Rank
Flight Lieutenant
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Pilot
Service Numbers
414641

Halifax B.Mk.III MZ810

Bombing Sterkrade Germany 1944-November-21 to 1944-November-21

(B) Sqn (RAF) Breighton

The flight was the pilot's last operational flight of his tour and he was due to be screened after the flight. The crew appear to have bombed the target area as instructed without incident and made for home. On their return to Yorkshire they joined the landing circuit for Breighton airfield and awaited their turn to land on the runway in use. In the time the aircraft took off from RAF Breighton and returned the wind direction was changing, the air pressure had also changed slightly. The wind had changed that much by the time this aircraft was into the landing circuit that all landings were delayed while the runway in use was changed. All aircraft in the circuit were told to continue circling the airfield at a height over 1,000ft and wait their turn to land. Because of the high experience of this pilot this aircraft was asked to make a dummy landing run over the new flare path to check the visibility. The Halifax flew as instructed at between 50 and 100 feet above the runway, after crossing the far end of the airfield boundary the aircraft climbed to around 300 feet and then began a turn to rejoin the airfield circuit. At 23:25 hrs while making the turn the aircraft lost height, the port wing tip clipped trees in an area of woodland called Brindleys Plantation near the village of Spaldington, around two miles South-East of RAF Breighton. It then cartwheeled, struck a small building in the wood and caught fire. Sadly all seven airmen in the aircraft were killed. An investigation could not be certain exactly what had caused the aircraft to loose height but it was thought that the pilot believed the aircraft to have been higher above the ground when he began making the turn, this was because the air pressure had changed by 6 millibars in the time the aircraft took off (when the altimeter zero was set to the ground level at RAF Breighton and the time it returned when the zero reading would have effectively been below the actual ground height. (Aviation Safety Network)

All seven members of the crew were killed

Distinguished Flying Cross. Flying Officer Malcolm Stjernqvist BUCHANAN (Aus-4i464i), R.A.A.F., 78 Sqn. Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying). 1571262 Sergeant William James BAILEY, R.A.F.V.R., 78 Sqn. One night in July, 1944, this officer and airman were captain and flight engineer respectively of an aircraft detailed to attack a target in North France. After the target had been bombed, the bomber was attacked by an enemy fighter^ and sustained severe damage. A fire broke out within the aircraft and an explosion occurred in Sergeant Bailey's compartment wounding him in both legs. Disregarding his injuries, this airman fought the fire until the flames were quelled. Meanwhile

Flying Officer Buchanan, who had been severely burnt about the face, flew the aircraft on a level course. This officer and airman have completed many sorties and have at all times displayed courage, fortitude and determination of a high order. London Gazette No. 36713, Dated 1944-09-22

Target
Google MapSterkrade Germany
Burial
Google MapStonefall Cemetery
Sec H Row C Grave 9

Halifax MZ810

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Sergeant Barron, Robert James (RAFVR)
Flight Engineer
Killed in Action
1944-November-21
cemetery unknown

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Flight Lieutenant Buchanan, Malcolm Stiernqvist (RAAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1944-November-21
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK

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Pilot Officer McCannon, James (RAFVR)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-November-21
cemetery unknown

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Pilot Officer Reddington, James Vincent (RAFVR)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-November-21
cemetery unknown

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Pilot Officer Rice, James Hedley (RAFVR)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
unknown
1944-November-21
cemetery unknown

Flt. Lieutenant Robertson, Wilbert James (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Action
1944-November-21
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK

Pilot Officer Welsh, Lawrence Albert (RCAF)
Bomb Aimer
Killed in Action
1944-November-21
Stonefall Cemetery, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, Yorkshire, UK

Handley Page Halifax

(RAF Photo, 1942)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK, being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when it was being flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.

The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia

YouTube Halifax Heavy Bomber WWII

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Halifax Bomber

Museum National Air Force Museum of Canada

last update: 2023-12-08 20:34:11

Halifax B.Mk.III MZ810



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