LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert William McCULLOCH
Service No: 417587
Born: Stirling, Scotland, 23 February 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 June 9142 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 354 Squadron (RAF), Salbani, India
Died: Air Operations (No. 354 Squadron Liberator aircraft EV942), Indian Ocean, 30 December 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Victor Alexander Murdoch McCulloch and Mary McCulloch, of Edwardstown, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Column 444, Singapore Memorial, Singapore
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Liberator EV942 of No. 354 Squadron took off on 30 December 1944 on an anti U Boat patrol in the Indian area. It was last plotted off the south east coast of Ceylon in position 06.59N 082.12E, when the aircraft was flying over the sea. The aircraft failed to return to base from the mission. Following post war enquiries and searches it was recorded in 1946 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of EV942 were:
Flight Sergeant Lance Cain (15279) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Malcolm James Gordon (434942) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer William Alexander Manyluk (J/22965) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Peter Joseph Maika (C/13078) (RCAF) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Robert William McCulloch (417587) (Co-Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Willmott Robinson (429018) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Sutcliffe (980740) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Kenneth Welburn (578570) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/26/738
Bibliography:
Banks, A. (Arthur) Wings of the Dawning: The battle for the Indian Ocean 1939-45, Images Publishing (Malvern) UK, 1996