LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Norman James CULLEN
Service No: 406070
Born: Capel WA, 23 July 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1940
Unit: No. 452 Squadron, Tarakan
Died: Air Operations: (No. 452 Squadron Spitfire aircraft A58-502), Borneo, 10 July 1945, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Labuan War Cemetery, Malaysia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Daniel Patrick and Mary Elizabeth Cullen, of Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On 9th July, twelve more Spitfires of No. 452 Squadron arrived at Tarakan from Morotai, bringing the unit up to full strength. The following day four Spitfires and eight Kittyhawks were assigned to a bombing and strafing attack on Tawao in conjunction with American PT boats. They destroyed two bridges and burned huts in the area. Another pilot of No. 452 Squadron (Flight Lieutenant Cullen) was missing from this strike. He was last seen recovering from a dive-bombing run.
Extract from Odgers, G. (George) (VX127783) Air War Against Japan 1943-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1957 – Page 488
On 10 July 1945, Spitfire A58-518 was one of a formation of four aircraft detailed to dive bomb enemy targets in the vicinity of Tawao, Northern Borneo. The aircraft was seen to drop its bombs, but nothing more was seen and it failed to return to base.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 124
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Spitfire, Mustang and Kittyhawk in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1988