LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Ronald Firth CULLIFORD
Service No: 425129
Born: Miles QLD, 7 April 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND475), Cambridgeshire, 19 April 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Norman John Smith Culliford, and of Ruth Minnia Culliford, of Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Toowoomba QLD
Remembered: Panel 258, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster ND475 from East Kirby had taken part in a raid on an enemy target in France, and was on its return flight when it crashed 2 miles south east of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, at 0133 hours on 19 April 1944. The aircraft was returning with the main bomber force, when it dived vertically into the ground at high speed and was completely destroyed by the impact and fire. It is not know whether the crash was caused by enemy action as it was completely destroyed. The remains of Sergeant Willis were recovered and interred, with the remaining crew recorded as having no known grave.
The crew members of ND475 were:
Pilot Officer Henry Harris Adams (174599) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Ronald Firth Culliford (425129) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Edmund Forbes Crossley (174670) (RAFVR)
Sergeant William Duncan Kinnes (1522824) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Albert Edward Oberg (420493) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Herbert Rex Pizzey (17469) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Joseph Stewart Richards (1394671) (RAFVR)
Sergeant John Frederick Willis (2208994) (RAFVR)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/8/430