RAF NAME THEIR NEWEST PLANE AFTER CO ANTRIM WAR HERO
A CO Antrim RAF war hero who sank more German U-boats than any other pilot has been immortalised after a new maritime patrol aircraft was named in his honour.
Terence Bulloch, who was born in Lisburn, became the highest scoring pilot in Coastal Command in the Second World War after joining the Royal Air Force in 1936.
The RAF recently announced that the third of its nine Poseidon MRA Mk1 (P-8A) maritime patrol aircraft would be named the ‘Terence Bulloch’ following its production in the US.
Squadron Leader Bulloch passed away in 2014 aged 98.
DUP MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he was “delighted” the RAF named the aircraft after the Lisburn man.
“As a pilot with Coastal Command he was very much involved in defending the UK against German attacks, including German missile attacks on London and other parts of England,” he explained.
“We’re very proud to have someone like this from the Lisburn area and to see him recognised in this way I think is both fitting and appropriate.”
The key role of the Poseidon MRA Mk1 will be to help protect the UK’S submarine-deployed nuclear deterrent and its two new aircraft carriers.
Squadron Leader Bulloch gained recognition after he carried out the greatest number of attacks against Nazi forces in the Battle of the Atlantic, which ran from 1939 until 1945.
He had joined the RAF aged 19 in 1936 after attending a lecture and being offered a flight in a Vickers Virginia by a Wing Commander from RAF Aldergrove at his school, Campbell College.
Serving with Coastal Command, Squadron Leader Bulloch and his crew shot down two German seaplanes, sank four German U-boats and severely damaged several others.
He was known for his flying skills, innovative tactics and perfect eyesight.
Before the introduction of the long-range Liberator (B24) bomber, attacks by packs of U-boats exacted a heavy toll on Allied shipping bringing essential supplies across the Atlantic.
On October 12, 1942, Squadron
Leader Bulloch sank a U-boat mid-atlantic when flying a Liberator of CXX Squadron on detachment at Reykjavik in Iceland.
Then on December 8, during a convoy escort, he attacked a U-boat ‘wolf pack’, sinking a second submarine and attacking another with the two remaining depth charges.
He and his crew then attacked five other submarines with cannon and machine gun fire.
His final U-boat was sunk in the Bay of Biscay on July 8, 1943, flying a Liberator of 224 Sqn from St Eval, Cornwall.
The pilot’s flying log book recorded 350 operational sorties and 4,658 flying hours, including 2,059 hours on operations.