Biographical data

Biographical Data
Culley, Stuart Douglas Photo Credit: Pat Culley

Biographical Data

Culley, Stuart Douglas

Photo Credit: Pat Culley

Title	Group Captain (RAF)
Official Number

Birth	23/08/1895	Death	00/00/1975
Place	Omaha	Place	Gardena
Area	NE	Area	Verona
Country	USA	Country	Italy

Titles
Honours	DSO. M.I.D. (Two times)
Awards
Qualifications

Biography
he moved to England for WWI, he stayed in Europe to train pilots and never returned to live in the US again. He married Marguerite Henriette Vulliamy Battle in Surrey in 1936 and moved to Italy. I believe that he died in 1975 in Garda, Verona, Italy and was buried there, but I haven’t located a burial site."

Military Service
He joined the RNAS in Ottawa ON 19/04/1917. He arrived in the UK on May 21, 1917. He was appointed as a Probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temp.) RNAS. He was appointed as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temp.) RNAS. He served in RNAS Calshot, on November 10, 1917. He served in RNAS Falmouth, On February 23, 1918. He served in RNAS Felixstowe in the autumn of 1918. (Transferred to RAF 1918). He was appointed as a Lieutenant RAF. (He was demobilized.) "He later joined the Royal Air Force and served in the Middle East and India. He was Mentioned in Dispatches in the Mohmand Operations in 1935 and again in the Syrian Campaign of 1941. He retired from the RAF as a Group Captain (RAF) in December, 1945, and settled in Italy. The Camel aircraft is still preserved in the Imperial War Museum. (The Times, 18 Jan 1975, London.)

Military Service

He joined the RNAS in Ottawa ON 19/04/1917. He arrived in the UK on May 21, 1917. He was appointed as a Probationary Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temp.) RNAS. He was appointed as a Flight Sub-Lieutenant (Temp.) RNAS. He served in RNAS Calshot, on November 10, 1917. He served in RNAS Falmouth, On February 23, 1918. He served in RNAS Felixstowe in the autumn of 1918. (Transferred to RAF 1918). He was appointed as a Lieutenant RAF. (He was demobilized.) "He later joined the Royal Air Force and served in the Middle East and India. He was Mentioned in Dispatches in the Mohmand Operations in 1935 and again in the Syrian Campaign of 1941. He retired from the RAF as a Group Captain (RAF) in December, 1945, and settled in Italy. The Camel aircraft is still preserved in the Imperial War Museum. (The Times, 18 Jan 1975, London.)

Vessels Owned
Aircraft Flown	Service Aircraft Flown: Sopwith Camel
Named Features

Anecdotes
He made the first successful take-off from a towed lighter on 31/02/1918. He destroyed the Zepplin L-53 over the North Sea in a Sopwith Camel flown from the deck of a lighter towed astern of H.M.S. Redoubt, which was the last Zepplin kill of World War One on August 11, 1918. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order "Ascended to a height of 19,000 feet, at which altitude he attacked an enemy airship, and brought it down in flames completely destroyed. This was a most difficult undertaking involving great personal risk, and the highest praise is due to Lieutenant Culley for the gallantry and skill he displayed." "Stuart Douglas Culley entered the RNAS in 1917. In August of the following year the Harwich Striking Force under Admiral Tyrwhitt was being annoyed by Zeppelins off the Frisian Coast which were able to observe troop movements without coming within range of the Force's guns. Since attack by British-based aircraft was out of the question at that range, a lighter, capable of being towed at 32 knots by a destroyer, was being built to serve as a rudimentary take-off deck for a Sopwith Camel fighter. Culley volunteered to fly the aircraft without any previous practice at this type of take-off. On August 10, 1918, the Zeppelin, L53, one of the later generation of long-range Zeppelins, appeared at 18,000 feet. Culley's primitive flight deck was steamed to windward and he took off to engage the enemy. In full view of the watching Harwich Force, he climbed to 18,000 feet, destroyed the airship, and returned to land safely on the lighter, a feat which earned him the DSO. Alluding to the incident in later years, Tyrwhitt said of his then only 18-year-old pilot: "It was the grandest and bravest things I have ever seen in my life."

Anecdotes

He made the first successful take-off from a towed lighter on 31/02/1918. He destroyed the Zepplin L-53 over the North Sea in a Sopwith Camel flown from the deck of a lighter towed astern of H.M.S. Redoubt, which was the last Zepplin kill of World War One on August 11, 1918. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order "Ascended to a height of 19,000 feet, at which altitude he attacked an enemy airship, and brought it down in flames completely destroyed. This was a most difficult undertaking involving great personal risk, and the highest praise is due to Lieutenant Culley for the gallantry and skill he displayed." "Stuart Douglas Culley entered the RNAS in 1917. In August of the following year the Harwich Striking Force under Admiral Tyrwhitt was being annoyed by Zeppelins off the Frisian Coast which were able to observe troop movements without coming within range of the Force's guns. Since attack by British-based aircraft was out of the question at that range, a lighter, capable of being towed at 32 knots by a destroyer, was being built to serve as a rudimentary take-off deck for a Sopwith Camel fighter. Culley volunteered to fly the aircraft without any previous practice at this type of take-off. On August 10, 1918, the Zeppelin, L53, one of the later generation of long-range Zeppelins, appeared at 18,000 feet. Culley's primitive flight deck was steamed to windward and he took off to engage the enemy. In full view of the watching Harwich Force, he climbed to 18,000 feet, destroyed the airship, and returned to land safely on the lighter, a feat which earned him the DSO. Alluding to the incident in later years, Tyrwhitt said of his then only 18-year-old pilot: "It was the grandest and bravest things I have ever seen in my life."

References
Hiorth, D. (1995); Grant, Scottie & Bob Murray (nd); Blatherwick, John (1992); MacFarlane, John and Robbie Hughes (1997); http://airforce.ca/uploads/airforce/2009/07/gong-2c-d.html; Email (Patrick Culley - Nauticapedia 06/12/2023);
Last update
2011-02-08 00:00:00

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Biographical Data

Culley, Stuart Douglas