Flight Lieutenant Thomas Grey Culling

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

(31 May 1896 – 8 June 1917) was

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

's first

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, Culling joined the Samoa Expeditionary Force following the outbreak of the First World War but was prevented from departing the country by his father, due to his age. He travelled to England in 1915 and joined the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

(RNAS). From September 1916, he flew with the No. 1 Squadron, RNAS, on the Western Front. He shot down his first German aircraft in April 1917 and would be credited with a total of six aerial victories, the first New Zealander to become a flying ace during the war, by the time of his death on 8 June 1917.

Early life

Thomas Grey Culling was born on 31 May 1896 in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

to a notable local family. His father, Thomas Shepherd Culling, was a businessman and local body politician, after whom Dunedin's

Culling Park Andersons Bay (sometimes spelt in the grammatically correct former form Anderson's Bay, and often known locally simply as "Andy Bay") is a suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located in the southeast of the city's urban area, sout ...

is named. His grandfather, also Thomas Culling, was a printer and paper mill director, and was one of Dunedin's early colonial settlers, arriving in the city just one year after its 1848 founding. His family moved to the

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

suburb of

Remuera Remuera is an affluent inner city suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located four kilometres southeast of the city centre. Remuera is characterised by many large houses, often Edwardian or mid 20th century. A prime example of a "leafy" sub ...

in 1906, and he was educated at King's College.

First World War

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Culling volunteered for the Samoa Expeditionary Force, then being raised specifically for the capture of

German Samoa German Samoa (german: Deutsch-Samoa) was a German protectorate from 1900 to 1920, consisting of the islands of Upolu, Savai'i, Apolima and Manono, now wholly within the independent state of Samoa, formerly ''Western Samoa''. Samoa was the last ...

. However, he was prevented from departing New Zealand by his father, who had contacted authorities, pointing out his age. Only men of 20 years or older were being allowed to serve aboard and Culling was still only 18. The following year, in August, Culling left New Zealand for England to join the

. In September 1916, as a flight sub-lieutenant, he was posted to No. 1 Squadron, which at the time was serving on the Western Front. Culling was assigned to fly

Sopwith Triplane The Sopwith Triplane was a British single seat fighter aircraft designed and manufactured by the Sopwith Aviation Company during the First World War. It has the distinction of being the first military triplane to see operational service. The ...

No. N5444 and began to score victories in

Bloody April Bloody April was the (largely successful) British air support operation during the Battle of Arras in April 1917, during which particularly heavy casualties were suffered by the Royal Flying Corps at the hands of the German ''Luftstreitkräfte ...

1917, with his first three coming that month. The second one was significant; it was part of one of the war's epic dogfights. On 22 April, Culling was the wingman of the Australian ace,

Roderic Dallas Roderic Stanley (Stan) Dallas, (30 July 1891 – 1 June 1918) was an Australian fighter ace of World War I. His score of aerial victories is generally regarded as the second-highest by an Australian, after Robert Little, b ...

. The two pilots took on a formation of fourteen German planes; using air tactics that suited the Triplane's technological advantages, the two Naval aces thwarted the pending air offensive in a 45-minute dogfight that resulted in three German aircraft being shot down. The next day, Culling shot down a two-seater plane during a patrol that encountered a flight of nine aircraft. Culling went on to shoot down three more German aircraft in May, becoming New Zealand's first "

ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...

" of the First World War. Earlier in the month, he had received a promotion to flight lieutenant. He was killed the following month, on 8 June 1917. As part of a four-man flight dispatched to shoot down an intruder aircraft, he encountered seven German aircraft near

Ypres Ypres ( , ; nl, Ieper ; vls, Yper; german: Ypern ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality co ...

and was shot down by ''Vizeflugmeister'' Hans Bottler of the Imperial German Navy. His body was never recovered. Shortly after his death, he was posthumously recognised with the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

for his actions in the engagements of 22–23 April 1917. The medal was presented by the

Earl of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for ...

Governor-General of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and li ...

, to his father in a ceremony at Auckland the following year.

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Culling, Thomas 1896 births 1917 deaths New Zealand World War I flying aces New Zealand recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) British military personnel killed in World War I Royal Naval Air Service aviators Military personnel from Dunedin