Nigel Cullen

This is a good article. Click here for more information.
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Nigel Cullen
Flight Lieutenant
UnitNo. 267 Squadron RAF (1940)
No. 80 Squadron RAF (1940–41)
Battles/warsSpanish Civil War
World War II
AwardsDistinguished Flying Cross

Richard Nigel Cullen,

Fiat G.50bis
, at age twenty-three.

Early career

Born in Newcastle, New South Wales on 5 June 1917,[1] Nigel Cullen was the son of Horace David Cullen (originally Horace David Cohen) and his wife Hero.[2][3] The boy's uncle was future Major General Paul Alfred Cullen.[4] Nigel was taken to England at an early age by his parents and attended Sherborne School in Dorset, before studying at the College of Aero Engineering, Chelsea. Fired by a love of adventure, he competed in motorbike racing at Brooklands in 1934, and later saw action as a member of the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, suffering a wound to the stomach that necessitated repatriation to England.[1][5] When he caught up again with his friends from Brooklands, he was reluctant to talk about the conflict except to say that "the wars of the future would be fought in the air".[4]

Cullen was living in Putney when he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1937, and was granted a short-service commission as an acting pilot officer on 9 August.[6][7] Completing his probation the following May, he was promoted to flying officer on 31 December 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II.[8][9] Posted to the Middle East, his early wartime service was with No. 267 Squadron, a transport unit ferrying passengers and freight to and from Egypt.[1][10] "Browned off" with transport duties, he sought reassignment to fighters and before long was able to effect a transfer to No. 80 Squadron, flying Gloster Gladiator biplanes, a type that was obsolescent well before the war began.[1][4]

Fighter pilot

Gladiators

After joining No. 80 Squadron in the

"Pat" Pattle, one of the leading British aces of the war.[5] Nicknamed "Ape" by his colleagues due to his imposing physique,[1][11] he was described by a fellow pilot as "a big, smiling, long-armed giant from Putney, with an irresistible offensive spirit and quite fearless".[12]

Single-engined military biplane parked on airfield
Gloster Gladiator in the Mediterranean, 1940

Cullen was "

Kassandra Peninsula on 30 December.[1][4] He was promoted to flight lieutenant the next day.[14]

On 28 January 1941, Cullen claimed his second "kill". That day, while on an offensive patrol between

Fiat G.50 down in flames while escorting Allied bombers, he discovered two formations of CR.42s nearby and shot down one of them. Cullen later remarked, "The others made off at once. Just as well—I hadn't any ammo left." He had also been slightly wounded in the hand by a bullet.[1][4]

Although the RAF claimed six Italian aircraft destroyed and two probables, including Cullen's, on 20 February, Italian sources reported only the Fiat G.50 of Tenente Alfredo Fusco of the 361a Squadriglia as shot down, killing the pilot, and the G.50 of Tenente Livio Bassi of 395a Squadriglia as damaged in combat and later destroyed by fire in an attempted forced landing at

CANT Z.506 three-engined floatplane as it was taking off at Preveza in Greece, at first simply attempting to prevent it from getting airborne but then, when it refused to stop, destroying it on a second pass. The result did not add to his official score, as the Italian plane was not in full flight at the time of its destruction.[1][5]

Hurricanes

By the time No. 80 Squadron began re-equipping with Hawker Hurricanes in February 1941,[15] Cullen's total of aerial victories stood at six enemy aircraft destroyed, plus one probable.[16] He had earned a reputation for extreme aggression and doggedness in the air. His favourite tactic was to duel head-on with his intended victim, two aircraft firing at each other with a closing speed of over 500 miles per hour (800 km/h); he was quoted as saying, "It's always interesting to see who will pull away first". His colleagues reportedly said of him, "He never came out of a fight while a single enemy aircraft was left in the sky to give battle. He came home only when his guns were empty."[4] Cullen opened his score in the Hurricane on 27 February, shooting down a Fiat CR.42 while escorting Bristol Blenheim light bombers to Valona, Albania.[1] The day after, in what has been described as "the greatest air battle of this period", he was officially credited with shooting down five Italian planes in the one engagement, a record for his unit.[5][17] His combat report read:[18]

The battle extended right across Albania. First, I found four Breda 20s. I got one, which went down in flames. There we found three formations of SM.79s. I took on one and aimed at the starboard engine. It caught fire and crashed in flames. I climbed and dived on the next. He too crashed in flames. Then we attacked ten CR.42s, climbing to get above them. I got behind one, and he caught fire and went down in flames. Up again immediately – dived, fired into the cockpit and another one took fire, rolled over and crashed. I had to come home then – no more ammo.

Man in flying suit standing beside single-engined military monoplane; another man stands on the aircraft's wing, next to the cockpit
Flight Lieutenant Cullen beside his Hawker Hurricane of No. 80 Squadron RAF at Paramythia, Greece, just before taking off on his final sortie, 4 March 1941

For his achievements on 28 February, the RAF's most successful day of the campaign, Cullen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC).[18] Italian sources recorded that a Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 was only damaged on 28 February, not shot down, and that the Breda 20s claimed by the RAF were in fact Fiat BR.20s.[13] Cullen claimed another multiple kill on 3 March, when he and one of his comrades chased a group of CANT Z.1007bis that had just bombed Larissa, Greece. Catching the retreating bombers south-west of Corfu, No. 80 Squadron claimed six destroyed and one probable. Cullen was credited with destroying four CANTs and probably destroying another, though the Italians reported that only two CANT bombers were lost.[13]

The following day, 4 March, flying Hurricane V7288, Cullen was escorting a group of Blenheims near

London Gazette on 14 March:[19]

In February, 1941, this officer was pilot of one of a formation of aircraft which attacked a large force of enemy bombers escorted by at least 30 fighters. Displaying remarkable skill, Flight Lieutenant Cullen shot down five of the enemy's aircraft in the ensuing action. He has now destroyed 11 enemy aircraft and has consistently shown great resource and courage. (It was assumed at the time of this dispatch that Cullen was missing in action, as reported by Pattle.)[20]

Although the Australian official history puts the number of Cullen's victories at thirteen,[17] his total score is more commonly estimated as sixteen,[1][4][5] or sixteen-and-a-half.[1][6] He is buried in Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery, Tirana, Albania.[21] His name appears on the Commemorative Roll at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Newton, Australian Air Aces, p. 83
  2. ^ Baker, Paul Cullen, Citizen and Soldier, p. 72
  3. ^ "No. 33967". The London Gazette. 8 August 1933. p. 32.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Pynt; Epstein, Australian Jewry's Book of Honour, pp. 19–22
  5. ^ a b c d e Garrisson, Australian Fighter Aces, p. 129
  6. ^ a b Shores, Aces High, p. 129
  7. ^ "No. 34429". The London Gazette. 24 August 1937. p. 5388.
  8. ^ "No. 34521". The London Gazette. 14 June 1938. p. 3833.
  9. ^ "No. 34769". The London Gazette. 9 January 1940. p. 164.
  10. ^ 267 Squadron Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Royal Air Force. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  11. ^ Mordike, The RAAF in Europe and North Africa 1939–1945, p. 111
  12. ^ Holmes, Gloster Gladiator Aces, p. 64
  13. ^ a b c d e f Flight Lieutenant Richard Nigel 'Ape' Cullen at Biplane Fighter Aces. Retrieved on 14 July 2012.
  14. ^ "No. 35076". The London Gazette. 14 February 1941. pp. 901–902.
  15. ^ 80 Squadron Archived 13 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine at Royal Air Force. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  16. ^ Holmes, Gloster Gladiator Aces, p. 83
  17. ^ a b c Herington, Air War Against Germany and Italy, pp. 83–84
  18. ^ a b Holmes, Hurricane Aces 1941–45, p. 34
  19. ^ "No. 35106". The London Gazette. 14 March 1941. p. 1523.
  20. ^ Baker 2005, pp. 153–154.
  21. ^ Casualty Details: Cullen, Richard Nigel at Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.
  22. ^ Commemorative Roll – Richard Nigel Cullen at Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 12 May 2010.

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nigel_Cullen&oldid=1202168778"