Stanley ‘Vic’ Cull was born on 20 Dec 1924, son of Chief Stoker Stanley Cull, RN, and Harriet Cull Nee Cook), in Portsmouth, Hampshire. He had two sisters: Kathleen Barbara (later Moriarty) born 1929 and Daphne (later Wilkes) born 1932. The family moved to Windsor, Berkshire a week before the outbreak of war where Vic worked as a fitter’s mate at Martins Garage in St Leonard’s Road. He joined No. 459 (Windsor) Squadron Air Training Corps (ATC) at the tender age of 16, and enlisted on 20 Jan 1943.

Aged just 18 years of age, Vic Cull flew just on just one operation on 576 Squadron, the planned raid on Berlin on 16/17 December 1943.  

16/17 December 1943  

Lancaster LM332 - UL-B² flown by Flt Sgt Scott - took off at 1636 but three minutes later tragically collided with a 103 Squadron Lancaster in cloud and crashed at Ulceby. There were no survivors. All seven crew members now lie at Cambridge City Cemetery. This is their story: 

On the 16th December 1943, Lancasters from 103 and 576 Squadrons at Elsham Wolds took off for a raid on Berlin. There was low cloud at Elsham Wolds but was not considered bad enough to prevent operations. During the briefing the crews were cautioned about the low cloud and told that after take-off they would have to climb away into the climbing pattern until they reached the prescribed height and then head out over the North Sea. It was emphasised that crews should not deviate from these instructions in any way because of the visibility issues. 

Amongst the first to take off were Flt Sgt Scott RAAF and crew in Lancaster UL-B². Scott and his crew were on their first operation. Soon afterwards, Flt Sgt Richter and crew of 103 Squadron in Lancaster JB670 followed them. This was possibly a scratch crew made up from members of both 103 and 576 Squadrons, an unusual occurrence. As Richter’s aircraft took off and climbed away Scott’s aircraft appeared out of the clouds flying directly towards them. A collision was inevitable, and the machines crashed head on just outside the village of Ulceby and wreckage fell over a wide area. There were no survivors from either crew.  

According to W R Chorley, three of the crew on the 103 Sqn aircraft were attached from 576 Sqn. These were Flt Sgt Richter (Pilot), Fg Off Jaques (Navigator), and Sgt Plampton, (Air Gunner) 

Vic Cull was one of the youngest crewmembers of Bomber Command to lose his life and lies at Cambridge Cemetery, grave 13514A-13517.