Operation: Ramrod, France

Date: 25th May 1944 (Wednesday)

Unit No: 257 (Burma) Squadron, 146 Wing, 2nd Tactical Air Force

Type: Typhoon IB

Serial: MN367

Code: FM:Y

Base: RAF Needs Oar Point, Hampshire

Location: Near Beauchamps, France

Pilot: Fg Off. Malcolm Ford Cullen 421963 RNZAF Age 25. Id No: 78388 *, PoW No: 8047 **

* Buchenwald concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimer, Germany in July 1937.

** Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia, Germany, now Żagań in Poland.

REASON FOR LOSS

Seven Typhoons for 257 (Burma) Sqn took off at 18:25 hrs on the 25th May 1944 and joined nine Typhoons from 193 Sqn on a Ranger mission to attack a large concentration of carefully camouflaged petroleum vehicles in rail sidings in the Oisement - Fervier region in France.

Several direct hits were registered which to added to the destruction from a preceding Rocket Projectile (RP) attack. Fg Off. Cullen’s Typhoon was hit by Flak over the target. He called out on the R/T that he was going to force-land. His aircraft was observed gliding down under control with the Germans continuing to fire on the damaged aircraft. He was last seen at about 1000 ft appearing to be OK.

He managed to nurse his crippled Typhoon some 50 km (31 mls) to the west of Amiens before crash-landing not far from Beauchamps. He was picked up by a farmer from a nearby village and hidden in one of his barns for 2 days. The farmer bought him bread and wine and on the 27th May he drove him by car to Beauchamps, where he spent 4 days with some members of the underground. On the 4th June they took him by bicycle to the head of the local underground who was the manager of a local Fichet group factory.

On the 5th June an unnamed American evader joined him and they both stayed on with the manager for the next 5 more weeks. Then they were told that they would have to move on as the owner of the house was suspect. The day after they left the owner was arrested by the Gestapo. They were taken to a large empty house close by, where they spent 3 days before setting off westward on foot towards the coast.

They reached Ponts-et-Marais, some 6 km (3¾ mls) NW of Beauchamps, where they spent 2 weeks with a family after which they moved to a nearby farm where they spent a further 2 weeks. Here a local resistance man told them he was going to move them south and on the 1st August 1944 they were taken to Paris on bicycles. They covered the 210 km (130½ mls) in 2 days and were taken to a house in the 12th arronissement, Paris for 2 nights, and were then moved to a larger house. He was not sure where this was because they were taken across Paris in closed-in cars.

In this house there were a number of evaders in the care of a man known as Monsieur "Jacques". He moved them out of the house in one and twos and on the 3rd August 1944 Flt Lt. Cullen was taken by car through some streets to 84 Avenue Foch, the Gestapo Headquarters in Paris where he was arrested.

Note: “Jacques” was Jean-Jacques a Belgian traitor named Jaques Desoubrie (Jean-Jacques, Jean Masson, Jean Decan and Pierre Boulain were aliases) who had infiltrated the Réseau Comète (Comet Line) escape route in Brussels and Paris. He was responsible for the Nazis rounding up dozen of members of the Réseau Comète and Allied airmen. He was finally captured and stood accused at a French military trial in Lille. He was convicted and condemned to death for having participated in the capture and assassination of members of the resistance and for sending Allied military to their deaths in violation of the Geneva convention. He was executed by firing squad.

He was then taken to the Fresnes prison located to the south of Paris. This was where French political prisoners were held and ordinarily Allied airmen, after questioning, were moved to a PoW Camp. In the summer of 1944, with the Allies having liberated Paris and closing in, the Gestapo guards started reducing the prison population by execution, and then relocating surviving prisoners to various concentration camps east of France. On the 15th August 1944 he was amongst 169 Allied PoWs and hundreds of French men and women who were packed into a freight train and transported to Buchenwald concentration camp on a journey lasting five days. Buchenwald was located 8 km (5 mls) north of Weimar, in the German province of Thüringen. It was established and administered by the Schutzstaffel (SS).

Fg Off. Joel Mathews ‘Tex’ Stevenson C27788 RCAF, the pilot of 419 (Moose) Squadron, RCAF Lancaster X KB727 VR:H escaped from the train and successfully evaded.

Sqn Ldr. Lamason and Fg Off. Chapman succeeded in getting all but two of the Allied PoWs transferred to Stalag Luft 3. Two airmen, 1st Lt. Levitt Clinton Beck Jr. O-736945, US AAF and Fg Off. Philip Derek Hemmens, 152583, RAFVR, died in the camp sick barrack.

Recognition:

For decades the International Red Cross (IRC) had stated that there were no military personnel in Buchenwald despite the overwhelming documentary and anecdotal evidence. It was not until 1988 that the IRC eventually confirmed the airmen were illegally held at Buchenwald.

The Australian, New Zealand and Canadian governments also consistently denied that any of their service personnel were ever held in concentration camps and refused to investigate the claims made by a 'mere’ handful of men.

Reparations were made to the British airmen who had been illegally held at Buchenwald in 1965. Eventually in 1988 the Australian, New Zealand and it is believed the Canadian governments acknowledged that their airmen had been illegally held in concentration camps.

American airmen were among those receiving compensation and the US Air force have acknowledged the Buchenwald airmen with an exhibit at the Air Force Museum, albeit the airmen are shown in uniform rather than in civilian attire. Furthermore, there is no mention of decades-long denial of their experiences by other branches of the government.

He was transferred to Stalag Luft 3 over the period 15th to 20th October 1944. His General Questionnaire for British/American Ex-Prisoners of War has not been found, however, other records provide sufficient information to determine his journey from Stalag Luft 3.

On the night of the 27th January 1945, with Soviet troops only 26 km (16 mls) away, orders were received to evacuate the PoWs to Spremberg which is to the West in Germany. The PoW’s were informed of the evacuation, which was on foot, at about 22:00 hrs the same night and were given 30 mins to pack and prepare everything for the March. The weather conditions were very difficult, with freezing temperatures, and it was snowing accompanied by strong winds. There was 15 cm (6 in) of snow and 2000 PoWs were assigned to clear the road ahead of the main groups.

After a 55 km (34 mls) march, the PoWs arrived in Bad Muskau where they rested for 30 hours. The PoWs were then marched the remaining 26 km (16 mls) to Spremberg where they were housed in empty garages, storerooms and in military barracks. There they were provided with warm soup and bread.

During next days, PoWs were divided up according to Compounds, and they were led to railway sidings and loaded into tightly packed carriages. Flt Lt. Cullen was amongst the PoWs from the West Compound who were sent to Stalag 3A, Luckenwalde, arriving there on the 4th February 1945.

On the 22nd April 1945 as the Russians approached the camp the guards fled leaving the prisoners to be liberated by the Red Army. Stalag 3A was turned over to the Americans on the 6th May at which time the Senior American Officers (SAO) took over the running of the camp until all the PoWs were evacuated.

He wrote a personal history of the 12 months prior to repatriation while he was waiting for a flight home. The manuscript, called 'Twelve Months Story' was published in 1994 by his family and is held by the Kauri Museum, near his home in Northland, New Zealand.

Malcolm Ford Cullen was born on the 22nd December 1918 in Mangaturoto, New Zealand. He was a farmer prior to enlisting in the RNZAF on the 10th March 1942 and left New Zealand on the 2nd October 1942 for flying training in Canada.

He passed away on the 5th September 2002 aged 83. He is buried at the Maungaturoto Congregational Church Cemetery. Husband of Ailsa Rose.

Burial details:

None - The pilot survived

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Conscript Heroes, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, AWMM, Weekly News of New Zealand and dedicated to this pilot and his family (Mar 2021). Rewritten and updated by Aircrew Remembered (Aug 2024).

Other sources listed below:

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