Rather than immediately returning to his battalion, Buckingham was used in recruitment drives for the war effort. He remained in England until April 1916, at which time he was posted to the 1st Battalion of the Leicestershire Regiment. He was promoted to acting corporal for a time but requested a return to his previous rank of private. He was killed at Thiepval on 15 September 1916, during the later stages of the Battle of the Somme. He has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.