On the outbreak of World War II, Buckmaster joined the Royal Sussex Regiment straight from school.

[2][3] Buckmaster was demobilised in 1946 and joined the Foreign Office, using his experience of the Middle East to good effect.

He was a political officer in Abu Dhabi from 1955 to 1958, and then First Secretary at the British embassy in Libya until 1963.

He succeeded to the viscountcy and barony upon his father's death in 1974 and took a seat on the crossbenches in the House of Lords.

Buckmaster was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1979 Birthday Honours.