WANGANUI AIRMAN WINS D.F.M. AWARD

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 87, Issue 205, 31 August 1943, Page 4

WANGANUI AIRMAN WINS D.F.M. AWARD

PILOT-OFFICER B. CULLINANE Pilot-Officer Bernard Cullinane, R.N.Z.A.F., formerly of Wanganui, has been awarded, the Distinguished Flying Medal following action in the Middle East as captain of a Wellington bomber. He is the seventh son of Mr. D. p. Cullinane and the late Mrs. Cullinane, St. John’s Hill, and husband of Mrs. B. Cullinane, Gisborne, who is visiting Wanganui. The notice of the award has been followed by the text of the citation which states:— "Pilot-Officer Cullinane has co-oper-ated in many sorties and has displayed great skill and determination in pressing home attacks which have often been in the face of heavy opposition. Ona recent occasion he took part in an attack on a Middle East seaplane base and by his excellent work contributed materially to the success attained and Pilot-Officer Cullinane is a first-class pilot whose record has won him high praise.” Pilot-Officer Cullinane, who is 28 years of age was .born in Wanganui and was educated at the Wanganui Marist Brothers’ School and the Wanganui Technical College. After leaving school he took up farming in the Gisborne district where <’he married Miss Gwen Moore. He resided in the district until joining the R.NZA.F. soon after the outbreak of war. He completed his training in New Zealand and went overseas in January, 1942, and served in Britain before being transfered to the Middle East. A brother who is also in the R.N.Z. A.F. is 25-year old Maurice Cullinane, who was recently awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross while captaining a Lancaster bomber over Dusseldorf, Germany. He is the eighth and youngest son of Mr. D. P. Cullinane. There are three other brothers in the services, Martin and Vincent, who are serving in the New Zealand Division in the Middle East, and Pat Cullinane, who is a prisoner of war in Germany.