Not much is known
about Arthur Buckley. He was probably born in
1919. He was the son of Arthur and Annie Buckley,
of Huddersfield.
Arthur joined the Royal Air
Force and became an air gunner with 214
Squadron, operating out of Stradishall/
On 20 June 1942 Arthur was scheduled to fly a
sortie to Emden with S/L Peter Nixey as his
pilot. His crew this evening consisted of:
214 Squadron
S/L Peter Nixey DSO, Pilot,
F/O R Mitchell, co-pilot
F/O C D Noble DFC,
Sgt Douglas Archer Melville, Wireless
Operator/Air Gunner,
Sgt Wilfred Ernest Pearson, Flight Engineer
WO L R Burgin,
Sgt Arthur Buckley, Air Gunner,
Sgt J H Bailey,
Arthur and his crew took
off in Stirling Mark I N3762 BU-C from
Stradishall in Suffolk. What happend after is
not known but BU-C was shot down by a night
fighter over Holland. It crashed near De
Driehoek, 5km NorthEeast of Ommen, Holland. Four
crew members, Nixey, Melville, Pearson and
Buckley died. The four other crew members were
taken POW.
The operation consisted of
185 aircraft of which 8 were lost. Only part of
the bomber force identified the target. Emden
reported about 100 houses damaged and 1 person
injured.
131 crews claimed to have bombed Emden. Bombing
photographs showed that part of the flare force
started a raid on Osnabrück, 80 miles from Emden,
in which 29 aircraft eventually joined. Emden
recorded only 5 high-explosive bombs and 200-300
incendiaries with no damage or casualties.
F/O Noble was later awarded the MBE for "escaping
activities":
"On 10 June 1943 26 airmen
made their escape. The timing had to be perfect,
the planning meticulous , to get so many men
through the camp gates in broad daylight. The
two 'bogus' guards played their part so well
that the real guards allowed the 'shower party'
through to the showers which were located
outside the camp. No sooner where they out of
sight then they melted into the pine trees.
A minute later 24 prisoners transformed into
workmen and commercial travellers, vanishing
quickly, leaving only a pile of discarded
clothes. Unfortunately the escape was discovered
within half an hour. Most of the 'kriegies',
including Flying Officer C D Noble DFC RCAF (whose
third attempt at escape this was) were rounded
up the following day at, or near, Sagan railway
station. Four men managed to stay clear of
recapture.
Noble's two earlier escape attempts involved,
first, hiding in the garbage wagon and the next
in a truck loaded with tree branches."
Sgt Arthur Nixey is buried at Ommen General
Cemetery, grave 6.
Ommen, The Netherlands
See also: S/L Peter Nixey
Sgt Douglas
Archer Melville
Sgt Wilfred Ernest Pearson
