Draft:Kenneth D. McCullar

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Major Kenneth Dalton McCullar
Born30 November 1918 (1918-11-30)
Courtland, Mississippi[1]
Died12 April 1943 (1943-04-13) (aged 24)
Papua New Guinea
BranchArmy Air Forces
RankMajor
AwardsDistinguished Service Cross
Silver Star
Distinguished Flying Cross
Air Medal
Purple Heart[2]

Major Kenneth Dalton McCullar (Nov 30, 1918 - April 12, 1943) was a pilot and skip bombing pioneer in World War II. He was killed in action in a freak accident when his bomber struck a wallaby on takeoff, causing it to crash and explode.[3][4]

History

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McCullar was born to Dalton Webster McCullar and Pauline Watters on November 30, 1918, in Pope, Mississippi. His childhood nickname was "Ken."[5]

As a captain in the 63rd Bomb Squadron, McCullar was well-regarded by the men he served with, with an aggressive streak and a love of gambling. At one point, he selected a bomber for himself specifically because the final two digits of its serial number were 21, and named it Black Jack.[6]

Skip bombing

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McCullar was noted by General George Kenney as being "especially good" at skip bombing, a technique requiring pilots to approach their targets at high speed and low altitude before releasing a bomb to "skip" across the water.[7] He was trained by Major William Benn and was reportedly a "star pupil" who was "marvelously skilled at flying." He impressed General Kenney at a demonstration of skip bombing after three weeks' training, scoring six hits out of nine runs at a practice target.[8]

McCullar, who was already credited with sinking or damaging four Japanese vessels at the time,[9] took part in the first skip bombing raids on Rabaul in September and October 1942 as Major Benn's copilot, scoring at least one hit during the October 2nd raid.[10][11] He was credited with sinking a Japanese destroyer with two direct hits on October 23rd,[12][13] scoring several hits on October 25th,[14] and hitting and possibly sinking another destroyer on November 18th.[15]

On November 24th, McCullar attacked a convoy of five destroyers, scoring several hits amidst significant anti-aircraft fire.[16] General Kenney praised this attack, writing "Hitler might have had a secret weapon as he claimed, but I'd bet it wasn't as good as Ken McCullar."[17] He performed an aerial reconnaissance of Rabaul on December 5th, and although his B-17 lost two of its four engines early in the mission, he completed the reconnaissance while in a powered glide, returning from the mission with pictures described by Kenney as "...the best ones of Rabaul I've ever seen."[18]

In December, McCullar's plane was struck by anti-aircraft fire from a destroyer which set one of his engines on fire and destroyed another one. Despite this, he was able to sink the destroyer, reportedly saying "I'll teach those so-and-so ack-ack so-and-so's to mess up my airplane." In order to gain enough altitude to return to base through a pass in Kokoda, he ordered all loose cargo to be thrown out of the plane, as well as instructing the crew that they might need to bail out to lighten the plane further.[19]

McCullar led a squadron of twelve B-17s in a skip bombing raid on the night of February 18th-19th, 1943, resulting in three ships sunk and a fourth damaged.[20]

Death

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On the night of April 12, 1943, McCullar's Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Blues in the Nite, crashed immediately after takeoff at 7 Mile Drome at Central Province, Papua New Guinea.[5] The bomber struck something during takeoff, referred to in reports as a "brush kangaroo" and later found to be a wallaby. The collision severed the hydraulics, causing the plane to catch fire.[21] It briefly became airborne, but crashed after about 200 yards, exploding its full load of ordinance and killing all aboard.[22] McCullar's remains were transported to the US and buried in Batesville, Mississippi. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on May 6, 1943.[23]

References

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  1. ^ Gamble 2010, p. 240
  2. ^ "Kenneth Dalton McCullar". Hall of Valor By Military Times. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  3. ^ "Kangaroo Victim". Dickenson County Herald. 6 May 1943. Retrieved 26 August 2024 – via Chronicling America. Maj. Kenneth McCullar, 27, above, of Courtland, Miss., outstanding master of heavy bombardment tactics, was killed in a freak accident.
  4. ^ Birdsall 1977, p. 73-74
  5. ^ a b "Kenneth Dalton McCullar". HonorStates.org. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  6. ^ Gamble 2010, p. 240
  7. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 105
  8. ^ Gamble 2010, p. 240
  9. ^ Frisbee, John (1 December 1990). "Valor: Skip-Bombing Pioneer". Air & Space Forces Magazine. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  10. ^ Olsen, Axel (19 April 1943). "Brilliant US Pilot Killed in Accident". Trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  11. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 117
  12. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 127
  13. ^ Gamble 2010, p. 252
  14. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 129
  15. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 143
  16. ^ Birdsall 1977, p. 35-36
  17. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 149
  18. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 160
  19. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 169
  20. ^ Kenney 1949, p. 192
  21. ^ "Pioneer of Skip-Bombing Killed in Fortress Crash". The New York Times. 19 April 1943. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  22. ^ "B-17E "Blues In The Nite" Serial Number 41-9209". Pacific Wrecks. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  23. ^ Air Force Award Cards [Distinguished Service Cross]: Able, Johnnie - Zemke, Hubert. Records of the National Archives and Records Administration. 1942. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)


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