High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Richard Nigel Cullen DFC (5 June 1917 – 4 March 1941) was an Australian fighter ace of World War II. Serving with the Royal Air Force (RAF), he was credited with sixteen aerial victories before being killed in action during the Battle of Greece. Born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Cullen was living in London and had already seen action in the Spanish Civil War when he joined the RAF in 1937. Following the outbreak of World War II, he served initially with No. 267 Squadron in the Middle East, before seeking reassignment to fighters. He was then posted to No. 80 Squadron, flying Gloster Gladiator biplanes, and shot down six Axis aircraft before the unit converted to Hawker Hurricanes. Nicknamed "Ape" due to his physical bulk, Cullen was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for destroying five enemy aircraft in a single sortie on 28 February 1941. He was credited with another four victories in the one engagement on 3 March; the next day, he was shot down and killed while on escort duty over Albania, by a Regia Aeronautica Fiat G.50bis, at the age of twenty-three. However, a number of his air victories are not confirmed by Regia Aeronautica records.