Thomas Culling

Thomas Grey Culling
Born	31 May 1896 Dunedin, New Zealand
Died	8 June 1917 Warneton, France
Allegiance	British Empire
Service/branch	Royal Naval Air Service
Rank	Flight Sub-Lieutenant
Unit	No. 1 Squadron RNAS
Awards	Distinguished Service Cross

Flight Sub-Lieutenant Thomas Grey Culling was New Zealand's first World War I flying ace, and was credited with six aerial victories.

Culling was assigned to fly Sopwith Triplane No. N5444 with 1 Naval Squadron after joining the Royal Naval Air Service in 1916. He began to score victories in Bloody April 1917, with his first three coming that month. The third one was significant; it was part of one of the war's epic dogfights. On 23 April, Culling was the wingman of the great Australian ace, "Stan" Dallas. The two ANZAC pilots took on a formation of fourteen German planes; using impeccable air tactics suiting the Triplane's technological advantages, the two Naval aces thwarted the pending air offensive in a 45-minute debacle for the Germans that resulted in three losses.

Culling went to three more wins in May. He was killed in action by a German naval flier on 8 June 1917.

External links

• Thomas Culling at NZ Fighter Pilots Museum website
• Thomas Culling at The Aerodrome website

References

• Above the Trenches: a Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915-1920. Christopher F. Shores, Norman L. R. Franks, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1990. ISBN 0-948817-19-4, ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
• Australian Hawk Over the Western Front: A Biography of Major R S Dallas DSO, DSC, C de G Avec Palme. Adrian Hellwig. Grub Street, 2005. ISBN 1-904943-34-9, ISBN 978-1-904943-34-1.