| Rank | S-Sgt |
| Unit # | USAAF |
| Resident | Thamesville, ON, Flint, MI |
The Thamesville Herald of August 3rd, 1944 copied a story from a paper in Flint, MI with the headline, “Veteran Fortress Gunner Tells of Narrow Escapes” Buxton was a veteran of 25 missions in a B-17 Flying Fortress, undertaking daylight bombing raids over Occupied Europe. He put in 206 combat hours over his 25 missions. Won both the DFC and Air Medal.
Complete Story as follows:
The following is copied from a Flint, Mich. paper and Staff Sgt. Buxton referred to is a son of Mr. Reg Buxton, a former Thamesville boy who enlisted in the Medical Corps, joining up from Thamesville and serving three years overseas in World War One. Staff Sgt. Buxton is also a grandson of the late Wm. Buxton and Mrs. Lester Kurtz of Detroit.
Staff Sgt. Reginald Buxton, 21 year old Flint veteran of 25 missions over Occupied Europe, didn’t really get mad at the Germans—until they shot away part of the tail of his Flying Fortress and nearly took him with it.
Successive bouts with death in which he was shot down in the North Sea once and was the only member of his crew to survive another crash, were described by the husky, good-natured DFC and AM to Exchange Club Thursday noon in Hotel Durant.
It was the 24th mission on May 24th that nearly finished him.
“We hit our target at 1pm.,” he recalled. “and started to turn back when two engines were shot out and the navigation system was damaged. Then we began to sweat.”
“Veering north, to Hamburg we got hit 40 times then went over Heligoland, where two shots took part of the wing away and flipped us over on the side.”
“The pilot jettisoned the rest of our ammunition and tried to land, but the landing gear was frozen. The only thing left was to try and make it home.”
When 120 miles out to sea, the last engine gave out, Sgt. Buxton said, and the Fortress plunged into the sea. After 37 hours in the water, floating in emergency rafts, he and his buddies were sighted by British planes and picked up by Allied shipping.
“We never knew whether they were British or Nazis until we heard one of the rescuers say, ‘Hi Blokes,’” he grinned.
On a previous occasion, Sgt. Buxton’s plane raided Brussels and returned badly crippled. It crashed 20 miles from the British base and Buxton alone of the 10 crew members escaped with his life.
Asked if he went into combat hating the Nazis, the Flint flier said he had felt no particular emotion during the early flights.
“It used to be fascinating to sit and watch the ‘puff, puff’ of flak,” he said, “but on time they went ‘puff puff’ at me and shot away half of the tail where I was sitting, and then I got plenty mad.”
Captured Nazi airmen strut arrogantly about their camps, still supremely confident Germany will win the war, Buxton said.
“They seemed surprised there was anything left of London,” he added.
Sgt. Buxton was in eight raids over Berlin, flying at from 16,000 and 28,000 feet. “It was hard to tell exactly, what you hit, but you could see we were doing a lot of damage,” he said.
Sgt. Buxton. Who has put in 206 combat hours in 25 missions, is home until July 23, visiting his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald Buxton, 1110 S. Saginaw St. his 714 East St. and 2 month old baby.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
| Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal |
| Sources | Thamesville Herald (03-08-1944) |
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