Unspoken Valour: The Life & Legacy of Squadron Leader Tom Cullen
£15.00
Author: Michael Green
Format: Paperback (238 pages)
Thomas Henry Cullen (Tom), a farmer’s son, was born in Kelvedon, Essex. Educated at Colchester Royal Grammar School, where he excelled both academically and at sport, he opted to study medicine, entered the Middlesex Hospital Medical School in 1934, and qualified in September 1939, just as the Second World War broke out.
Captured by German paratroopers in 1941, during the Fall of Crete, Tom Cullen was decorated for his “devotion to duty and courage of the highest order”. Later, he would become one of only 33 men, from among more than 10,000 captured RAF personnel, to escape from a German Prisoner-of-War camp, and make a successful ‘Home Run’ back to the UK, where he returned to active service at RAF Halton.
In peacetime, Tom Cullen dedicated his life to the service of others, helping to establish the NHS, saving many hundreds of lives, and affecting thousands more. His integrity, and talents as a surgeon, drew great respect and admiration from his professional colleagues, his patients, his friends, and his family.
Living to the ripe old age of 102, Tom also became one of Britain’s last surviving escapees from a Second World War prisoner-of-war camp.
“Tom Cullen was a man of his generation, who, like most heroes, was a modest man, viewing his exploits during the war as ‘a very small matter’.
“However, treating the wounded, while unarmed, and under fire from intense bombing and flying bullets, should leave us in no doubt as to his courage. Risking life and limb, to escape from captivity, and return to duty, reveals even more about his determination and strength of character. This fascinating account reveals the character of an extraordinary man who serves as a shining inspiration to us all.”
UK ordering via Mike Green at michaelpgreen@btinternet.com .
UK P&P: £5.00
** This book is also available on Amazon (£24.99), through which international orders should be placed. **
