LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant David Neil CULLEN
Service No: 405723
Born: Childers QLD, 17 April 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 May 1941
Unit: No. 7 Service Flying Training School, Deniliquin NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 7 Service Flying Training School Wirraway aircraft A20-342), near Wanganella NSW, 26 August 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Deniliquin General Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Margaret Whyte Cullen; husband of Gloria Alexandria Cullen, of Bundaberg, Queensland
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 115, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1345 hours on 26 August 1942, Wirraways A20-333 and A20-342 collided in mid-air and crashed five miles North West of Wanganella, New South Wales, and both crews were killed.
The crew members of A20-342 were:
Sergeant David Neil Cullen (405723) (Pilot)
Sergeant Alan Donald Woods (413812) (Wireless Air Gunner)
The crew members of A20-333 were:
Sergeant Bruce Clifford Burke (411993) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gordon Balmoral Willcocks (411081) (Pilot)
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, 163/99/108; A9845, 174
Bibliography:
Ilbery, P.L.T. (Peter Leslie Thomas) (422957) Hatching an Air Force: 2SFTS, 5SFTS, 1BFTS Uranquinty and Wagga Wagga, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 2002