 He was educated from 1913 to 1919 at Scotch College.Buchanan's father was badly wounded in France in 1916 and this necessitated a schooling change to Hamilton College, before Buchanan won a boarding scholarship to Melbourne Grammar School restricted to sons of former soldiers.Whilst still at Scotch College, he attempted to enter the RAN College at Jervis Bay, passing the academic exams but being rejected at interview, a consequence, he suspected, of political pressure.