William John Culley
Member of 83rd. Nottingham (Social Guild) Scout Troop.
1939 - radio engineer, Lloyd's Ltd, radio dealers.
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
William John was the son of William and Maud Thorpe Culley (née Brown).
His father was born in Nottingham in 1880 and his mother in Leicestershire in 1879 (reg. OND, Ashby de la Zouch)
William, a warehouseman, and Maud were married at Basford St Leodegarius on 22 June 1912. The two witnesses were Fred and Ada Culley.
William and Maud had four children, one of whom died in childhood: William John b. Ticehurst, Sussex, 1916 bap. Ticehurst St Mary 18 June 1916; Hilda Lillian b. Ticehurst Jan. 1918 bap. Hawkhurst St Laurence with All Saints, Kent, 7 April 1918; Edith M Culley b. Derby 1920 (AMJ) d. 1922 (JAS, buried 7 September) and Margaret A. b. Nottingham 1922 (AMJ).
William, a gas foreman (gas works), and his wife were living in Ticehurst in 1916 when their son was baptised. He was still employed as a foreman at the gas works in 1916 when his daughter Hilda was born; the address on the baptismal register was Gas Works, Ticehurst.
Their third child, Edith, was born in Derby in 1920, but by 1921 William, now a dairyman (shop manager) for S Colton, cheese maker, Thoroton Street, his wife and their three children, William, Hilda and Edith, were living at 14 Howard Street. A fourth daughter, Margaret, was born in March the following year; her sister Edith died later that year.
The couple had moved to 29 Woolmer Road, Meadows, by 1939 when the England & Wales Register was compiled. William was now a baker's van man but also working with the ARP Casualty Service. William was employed as a radio engineer, Hilda (later Davies) was a clerk with the Inland Revenue, and Margaret (later Thorpe) was a shorthand typist ('previously employed').
William was a wireless operator/air gunner serving with 150 Squadron, RAF Snaith, Yorkshire.
He was one of the five crew of Wellington IC, Serial W5721, Code JN-Z, which took off from RAF Snaith at 2235 Wednesday 6 August, one of 68 aircraft taking part in an operation to bomb the city of Frankfurt.
Three aircraft were lost in the operation including W5721 which was shot down near Schermbeck 15 miles northwest of Essen on 7 August.
All five crew were killed. The other members of the crew were:
Pilot. P/O Cowen Landreth, 61996 RAFVR, age 21.
Pilot 2. P/O Alexander Cairns Anderson, NZ/403929 RNZAF, age 27
Obs. P/O Alistair Ferguson Bruce, 88444 RAFVR, age 29
W/Op/Air/Gnr. Sgt Joseph Hagan Bolton, 987466 RAFVR, age 20
Air/Gnr. P/O Arthur Wilfred Lambert, 69444 RAFVR, age 27
They are all buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Coll. grave 22. E.14-18.
The history of the Cemetery and a notice in a Nottingham newspaper in August 1950 indicates that his grave was brought in after the war.
CWGC history of the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery (extract): The Cemetery 'was created after the Second World War when burials were brought in from all over western Germany and is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the country ... Some of the airmen buried in the cemetery lost their lives in supporting the advance into Germany, but most died earlier in the war in the intensive air attacks over Germany. Their graves were brought in from cemeteries and isolated sites in the surrounding area.' (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC Additional information: Son of William and Maud Culley, of Nottingham.
CWGC headstone, personal inscription: 'To a wider, grander kingdom and a deeper, nobler good'
The quotation is from the poem, 'A Song of England', by Alfred Noyes.
Nottingham Evening Post, 5 December 1941, report with photogrpah: ‘Nottm. Air Gunner Believed Killed. Information has been received by Mr and Mrs W Culley of 29, Woolmer-road, that their son, William John Culley, sgt.-wireless operator and air gunner, RAFVR, was reported missing on August 7th, last, is now believed to have been killed in action. Sergt. Culley was connected with the 83rd. Nottingham (Social Guild) Scout Troop for many years. Prior to joining the RAF he was in the employ of Lloyd’s Ltd, radio dealers.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Nottingham Evening Post, 'Deaths', 7 August 1950: 'Culley. William John, Sgt RAF(V). In loving memory of our dear son and brother, killed August 7th, 1941, now buried in BMC Reichwald.' (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
Additional research, record updated (RF, Aug. 2026)
Photo of William John Culley
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery (www.cwgc.org)
Photo of William John Culley
Photograph published in the Nottingham Evening Post, 5 December 1941. (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)