Lt. Hans – Gunnar Culemann JG27

[Nick Hector]

Yes, this was 43-6346/FX986 of S/L Ernest Leslie "Nipper" Joyce DFM. Please note that the CWGC website gives his date of death as 18.6.44. Does anyone know if this means he was rescued and died in hospital or similar or is the date simply in error?

Nick

[Nick Hector]

His 2nd claim, B-25 on 17.11.43:

Day's only known loss was 42-64540 of 486th BS, 340th BG. 4 KIA, 1 POW, 1 evaded (It was likely one of Bartels' claims as it was lost near Kalamaki)

His 3rd claim, Beaufighter on 9.2.44:
252 sqn. 3 losses, includes LZ141 of P/O Frank Phillip Stanger and F/S S L Reynolds both MIA-KIA. Can anyone add anything else with regards to the other two losses?

His 5th claim was this Maryland on 22.2.44:
43-8486/FW329 of 454 sqn RAAF. MIA on mission to shadow convoy S of Melos. Does anyone have crew details, I have yet to go searching for them....

His 6th was one of these Marylands on 3.3.44, the other was downed by Uffz. Hans Giese:
454 sqn. 43-8457/FW300 of F/S Allan Wilfred Joseph Kempnich and one other KIA, remaining two crewmen both POW plus FA601 of F/O Frank Neville Scott and crew all KIA

His 7th on 6.3.44 was one of these SAAF Marauders:
24 sqn SAAF. Four losses: Includes B-26C-30-MO 41-35519/FB481 and B-26C-45-MOs 42-107500/FB496, 42-107508/FB504 (all lost off Milos) and 42-107511/FB507 (lost off Santorini) Again, can anyone assist with crew details...?

His final victory on 28.6.44 was AG591 of 430 sqn. F/O F H Byron KIA. The CWGC has nothing on Byron so I do wonder if the initials are incorrect or the name otherwise wrongly recorded.

I hope this helps for your interest in Culemann and I would like to sincerely apologise to any brilliant authors whom I may have discredited in the construction of this post.

Nick

[Col Bruggy]

Hello,

Crew of Baltimore FW329, on 22 February, 1944 (5th claim):

AUS413504 F/Sgt (Pilot) Brian Edwin "Kid" RAWLINGS RAAF +
AUS415218 W/O (Nav.) Douglas Henry PADMAN RAAF +
AUS420798 F/Sgt (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Thomas KING RAAF +
AUS413941 W/O (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Gordon Ross PARKER RAAF +

No.24 Sqn SAAF losses on 6 March 1944:

Marauder FB481 "E"
Lt L L DOVETON SAAF - survived - back via Turkey
Lt STEENKAMP SAAF - survived - ditto
Lt F W PHILLIPS SAAF +
Lt S RUTKIN SAAF +
WO1 D H COLLINS SAAF +
WO2 J F FOURIE +

Marauder FB496 "V"
Lt G A BOWLES SAAF +
Lt G P ROWE SAAF +
Lt J van EDEN SAAF +
WO1 K R HEALY SAAF +
WO1 R R JOHNSON SAAF +
WO1 S SMITH SAAF +

Marauder FB504 "L"
Capt G FROLICH SAAF +
Lt G M H du PLESSIS SAAF +
Lt A M BAIN SAAF +
WO1 G A DINGLE SAAF +
WO1 A B AIKEN SAAF +
WO1 P J PRETORIUS SAAF +

Marauder FB507 "W"
Lt G R BELL SAAF +
2/Lt M L QUENEN (Belgian) SAAF +
Lt R A ZIMMERMAN SAAF +
2/Lt C W HEAVEN SAAF +
WO2 T TRELEAVEN SAAF +
WO2 J P L SNYMAN SAAF +

Culemann's claim on 28 June 1944, was J12786 F/O (Pilot) Frederick Harry BRYON RCAF.

http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2331758/

Col.

[Nick Hector]

Col,

Brilliant. Thanks.

Nick

PS - I'll totally own up to having misread the surname.

[munro_dfc]

Originally Posted by Nick Hector

Yes, this was 43-6346/FX986 of S/L Ernest Leslie "Nipper" Joyce DFM. Please note that the CWGC website gives his date of death as 18.6.44. Does anyone know if this means he was rescued and died in hospital or similar or is the date simply in error?

Nick

Hi Nick,

you are right, might be he was rescued and died next day or it is CWGC error ...

Munro

Thank you very much Nick.

Thank you for this information.

Thank you for information Colonel, much appreciated.

[Nick Hector]

Anytime

Nick

[Chris Goss]

Re Joyce, the unofficial 122 Sqn diary states for 17 Jun 44:

"Weather cleared in the late afternoon and at 1825 hrs Sqn Ldr Joyce took out 6 ac on an armed recce. No movement seen over target area but a train was bombed and 2 direct hits and 3 near misses were observed. Shortly afterwards the Section was bounced by 3 Me 109s; it split up and more e/a were seen in the Evreux area. One of these, an Me 109, was destroyed by Plt Off Thorne. Sqn Ldr Joyce did not return from this sortie and nothing is known of what happened to him..."

[Nick Hector]

Thanks Chris,

Kind of spells it out a bit, hey....

Nick

I have much material related to NZ40770 Squadron Leader Ernest Leslie (Nipper) Joyce. This includes all letters sent to his mother, other letters he sent to family/fiancee/friends, log book, documents, over 100 photos etc. Amongst the letters is one from the Priest at Marville les Bois where he is buried, to his mother in 1945 after the end of the war.

The Priest indicated his Mustang was witnessed by locals as 122 Squadron aircraft flew nearby. Nipper Joyce separated from the others in his flight and had been attacking a train when he was surprised by a German fighter and shot down, flames seeming to break out around the cockpit. It seems, from the comments made, that the hits on the Mustang were concentrated on the cockpit and it appeared that Nipper would have been killed by the canon fire.

The Mustang crashed near the village but did not burn out or completely disintegrate. Local German troops noted what had happened and visited the crash site. It appears to have been left unguarded and the locals led by the Priest extricated Nipper from the aircraft. This would probably not have unusual in the circumstances of post D-Day landings. He was confirmed dead, personal belongings retrieved and kept for return to his family, and arrangements were made by the Priest for his burial. This was on 18 June 1944.

He was buried the following day, thousands attending the funeral, his coffin covered in flowers and attended by local youths and children. I have a photo of his flower-covered grave immediately after the funeral, taken by a local farmer's daughter and sent to his mother with the Priest's letter.

Coincidentally I have the medal group, log book, etc. of the only other RNZAF aircrew killed on 18 June, Flying Officer Frank Stout, pilot, 547 Squadron RAF Coastal Command. He was commemorated dramatically by the local French in defiance of the Germans at Roscoff, in Brittany. Thousands attended a service for him organised by the local Abbe. This was widely reported in the British press as 'an unidentified allied airman' and a few days later it was realised it was New Zealander Frank Stout.

At the time Joyce was shot down he had destroyed 10 aircraft (2 Bf 109s, 5 Ju 88s (all at night), 2 Italian CR 42s (these 9 when with 73 Squadron (Hurricanes) North Africa) and 1 He 111 (with 122 (Mustang) Squadron Frisian Islands). He had three aircraft probably destroyed (Bf 109s) and 8 damaged (5 Bf 110s, 2 Bf 109s, 1 Ju 88). Nine of the aircraft he destroyed were in the six months from late May - December 1942 flying the Hurricane IIc. He was a fighter ace and also a night fighter ace.

He had the pleasure of flying the Hurricane, Spitfire and Mustang in operations. He led 73 (Spitfire) Squadron 1943 and 122 (Mustang) Squadron 1944. He completed a total of 267 operations.

I hope this information is helpful.

[pietrzak]

Nick, preparing a page for this chap, would like to hear more from you if at all possible?
Many thanks.
Kelvin at Aircrew Remembered