Alister Whyte Buchanan

Alister Whyte Buchanan was a New Zealander Royal Air Force flight lieutenant, service number 1304, whose wartime career is traced through casualty and official award records. His decorations recorded here include the MiD, gazetted on 18 February 1944. The Gazette citation points to operational service that the Air Ministry judged notable for qualities such as skill, courage, leadership or sustained determination. He died on 24 December 1943, aged 32. He is commemorated or buried at Bourail Memorial in New Caledonia. For many RAF casualties the surviving official trail is brief, but the combination of service number, CWGC commemoration and Gazette notices preserves the essentials of his story. Those records show not only the bare fact of his death, but also that his service had been formally recognised during the war itself. His name is therefore carried here with the service details needed to distinguish him from namesakes. This profile therefore keeps to the verifiable outline: who he was, the rank and number under which he served, how his service was honoured, and where he is remembered.