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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 18, 2007 16:04:05 GMT 12
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Post by corsair67 on Jun 18, 2007 18:58:01 GMT 12
That really is an incredible story. I can almost imagine the adrenaline pulsing through everyone while the Dakota was stuck on the ground with an edgy German garrison nearby!
Thanks for posting, Dave.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 18, 2007 19:20:43 GMT 12
I'm glad you liked it. I reckon it's a cracker of a story.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jun 18, 2007 21:00:11 GMT 12
A cracker alright. Those Germans sure took their time investigating the noise.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 18, 2007 21:15:55 GMT 12
Yes, but I guess in a place like that they may have been older soldiers, not front line crack troops. Sgt Shultz comes to mind.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Jun 18, 2007 21:29:02 GMT 12
I know nooothing!
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Post by turboNZ on Jun 20, 2007 12:28:33 GMT 12
Awesome story for sure !!!
Where would they have severed the hydr lines which would still have enabled them to use the water and hand pump to get pressure to raise the gear again? I would have thought if they broke the lines down by the brakes then if they poured water in through from the fuselage down it would leak straight out again. Just wondering, that's all.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 20, 2007 12:46:17 GMT 12
I wondered the same thing Chris. I wonder if they taped or clamped the lines back togetehr before pooring water in or something.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 20, 2007 13:10:22 GMT 12
Here is Stanley Cullimore's obituary from this site www.hbtv.co.nz/polska/articles/honour.htmlStanley George Culliford WAR HERO BORN IN NAPIER Poland bestowed military and civilan honours on a New Zealand pilot for bravery during World War 2. Outstanding World War 2 pilot and scholar Goerge Culliford, who died in Auckland last month, was born and raised in Hawke's Bay. Dr Culliford, decorated in 1944 with Poland's highest military honour for valour, the VIRTUTI MILITARI, was born in Napier on March 18 1920 , and was raised in southern Hawke's Bay where his parents ran a drapery business at Norsewood. He left the area to go to Scots College, Wellington, in the 1930's and after a career in tertiary education, disrupted only by the war years, he and wife June retired to Orewa, north of Auckland. He died on December 29. Dr Culliford entered Victoria University in 1937 , but with the onset of war, trained as a pilot and headed for Europe in 1940. At 22, he was recognised by the Polish for his bravery flying a top-secret mission into German-occupied Poland and bringing back plans of Hilter's V2 rocket. The RNZAF pilot was part of the RAF's transport command squadron, which specialised in drops and collections behind enemy lines. Dr Culliford's big opportunity came with a six hour flight from Brindisi, Italy, in and unarmed twin engined Dakota, on July 25 ,1944. The assignment was to pick up 5 Polish VIPs and to stack-loads of V2 components and technical drawings, seized by Polish underground fighters. The operation code-named MOTYL (meaning Butterfly), was a priority for the British Prime Minister Winston Churchchill anxious for its completion. Dr Culliford, who in 1977 retired as assistant principal of Victoria University and ended his pease time career in tertiary education, told the New Zealand Herald in 1989 how MOTYL almost ended in catastrophe, when the Dakota's undercarriage became stuck in the mud. He Unloaded the plane and stuffed planks of wood under the wheels to gain traction, but the wheels wouldn't move. With dawn fast approaching and fearing he would have to burn the plane to prevent it falling into enemy hands, he made what he said " was one last attempt at taking off", and succeeded. He returned to Brindisi and then Britain, with the drawings and parts giving the RAF valuable information about the V2, though not preventing the rain of more than 1300 rockets on London. One of only two New Zealanders to recieve the Polish medal, he also received the New Zealand's DSO. In 1968 he was futher recognised by the Polish with the Polonia Restituta, and in 1974 returned to Poland with his wife for a reunion with the Polish underground fighters. After the war he returned to Victoria University in 1946 to complete an MA with first-class honours, then claimed teaching qualifications, studing for a PhD at the University of London while on a postgraduate travelling scholarship. Becoming a lecturer and administrator, he also wrote two New Zealand scouting histories, as well as published works on shakespeare's text and 17th century English colonial historian William Strachey.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 3, 2018 18:45:18 GMT 12
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Post by isc on Jan 3, 2018 20:54:08 GMT 12
That's the sort of mission that would make a film along the lines of "The Yangtze Incident", Cockel Shell Heros", or the "Guns Of Naverone". isc
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 23, 2020 20:03:15 GMT 12
Mark Felton has now covered this story on his excellent history channel
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Post by npteggchaser on Feb 20, 2022 23:55:56 GMT 12
Hi everybody, hope you are all well, my name is Darren Little and I’m from Newport, South Wales in the UK and I’m researching my families service during the Second World War and I come across this link, amongst others, about the special duties mission, called Operation Wildhorn lll that a single Dakota of 267 Pegasus Squadron took part in, with my great uncle, John Appleby from Cwmbran, South Wales, on it as well as the Wireless Operator. I was wondering if anybody on here has more info, links, photos, etc., about this, especially if my uncles name is mentioned, plus also from the NZ point of things of course with Culliford, which would be good to contact that family, if that was indeed possible, but anything that can be posted by your good selves, it is much appreciated, with many thanks in advance. All the best and stay safe.
Kind Regards, Darren Little.
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Post by npteggchaser on Feb 21, 2022 0:05:30 GMT 12
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Post by Antonio on Feb 26, 2022 14:46:42 GMT 12
"They stripped the aircraft of all its armament - one pistol..."
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Post by tbf2504 on Feb 26, 2022 15:04:05 GMT 12
I wrote that story for RNZAF News when I was the editor in the mid 1990s. They did not cut any hydraulic lines but topped up the main hydraulic reservoir which if I remember correctly is mounted on the bulkhead behind the pilot. During research for the article I talked with Fred Tucker who was an instructor at Ashburton with Culliford and he said he was an exceptional pilot.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 8, 2022 23:52:56 GMT 12
I just discovered this, from the Press, dated 7 June 1968. I wonder whether the film is available?
Film On N.Z. Pilot
(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, June 6.
The exploit of a New Zealander who piloted an aircraft which flew a captured Nazi V2 rocket front German-occupied Poland to Italy in July, 1944, would be documented in a Polish film, said the Polish Consul-General, Mr J. Cedzynski.
The man is Dr S. G. Culliford, now assistant principal of Victoria University of Wellington. He received the British Distinguished Service Order and the Polish Virtuti Miltari for his exploit. Mr Cedzynski said today he was surprised that so few New Zealanders knew about Dr Culliford’s feat.
“In our country he would be a hero. Everyone knows how he captured the V2 from the Germans and how it was flown from German-occupied territory to help save London.” Mr Cedzynski located Dr Culliford for the director of the Polish documentary film unit which intends to make the film.
Dr Culliford piloted an unarmed Dakota and landed it on a boggy field between two German camps at night. Shaded flashlights were used to guide the aircraft on its many landing approaches before touching down.
His mission was to take the captured rocket, parts, drawings and some Polish resistance fighters to Brindisi, in Italy. “We had been told to get these things back and this was all we knew," Dr Culliford said today.
When the Dakota was loaded it would not move and the wheels became stuck. Eventually the wheels were freed but the brake system was damaged. This added to the difficulty of taking off across an L-shaped field close to the corner of a stone wall. Sixty-five minutes and three attempts later the aircraft was airborne.
After many adventures the damaged aircraft landed at Brindisi, where the runway was still under repair.
The secrets were sent to Sir Winston Churchill at Casablanca and the rocket was studied by experts. Information gained from the operation enabled London to be alerted for the new weapon.
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