The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

236995 Wing Co. Thomas MacDonald Buchanan MID. Royal Air Force 215 Squadon Thomas Buchanan was born on 14th of April 1914 and joined the RAF as a regular in 1935 or 1936 and became a pilot. He was a Pilot Officer in 1936, was promoted to F/O on 27th January 1937, then to Flt Lt on 27th January 1939. He was then promoted to Sqn Ldr on 1st September 1940, then to permanent Wg Cdr on 1st July 1947 (information from London Gazette and Flight). He became Station Commander of RAF Newton on 20th December 1954 when it was HQ of No 12 Group Fighter Command from 1946-1958. In a copy of Flight dated 15th October 1936, page 395, it shows that he was posted to No 822 (FSR) Squadron on 26th September 1936. This is a Fleet Air Arm Squadron flying Fairey Seals, then Blackburn Sharks at the time. However, he was an RAF pilot flying in the Fleet Air Arm as was the case for all aircrew until the Admiralty took control on 24th May 1939. He is shown on the Air Force List April 1938 in a Fleet Air Arm Unit list of flying officers with 822 Torpedo, Spotter Reconnaissance Sqn on 1st April 1937 on HMS Furious. He became O.C. 215 Squadron. Here is a quote: "Wing Commander T. M. Buchanan arrived to assume command over the Squadron on 28th April 1945 - coming by air in a Dakota aircraft piloted by F/Lt. Jenkins. A party was held in the Officers' Mess that night for the double purpose of extending to him a very hearty welcome, and of celebrating the Squadron's impending departure and new duties.".... The squadron was equipped with Dakotas and was stationed in Burma dropping supplies to the 14th Army until Burma was cleared of the Japanese and in October the squadron was moved to Malaya. He maintained command until February 1946. He became O.C. 110 Squadron from June 1946 to Aug 1946. Then he became O.C. 48 Squadron from February 1947 to October 1947. Add to this record.  Related Content: No. 215 Squadron Royal Air Force Burma & India Campaign Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.