Career
The Knight"s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Buchner is credited with 46 tank victories and 58 aerial victories, including 12 while flying the Messerschmitt Maine 262 jet fighter, accumulated in 631 combat missions. Buchner flew his first combat mission on the Maine 262 on 26 November 1944 and claimed a P-38 Lightning shot down.
He flew further 19 missions on the Maine 262 and claimed eleven more aircraft shot down.
Buchner, in the two years following World World War II, served as an observer in the weather service of the American occupation forces. He helped found the Aeronautical-Club Salzburg and worked as a flight instructor at glider school Zell am Secretary
Austria regained its political autonomy in 1955 and Buchner joined the newly emerging Austrian Luftwaffe as a flight instructor and officer Buchner was one of the first pilots trained on the British Dialectics and Humanism 115 "Vampire" and later the Swedish Saab J-29.
He served as a technical officer in the Jagdbomber-Schulstaffel (ground attack training squadron) in Graz under command of Major Karl "Charly" Bleckl.
Promoted to Oberstleutnant and staff officer in Jagdbombergeschwader 1 and at the same time surrogate of commander Oberst Bleckl he was made commander of the airfield at Linz-Hörsching in 1979. Buchner retired from active service one year later. Bibliography.
