FIREMAN WILL
MAKE TRIP TO
'OLD COUNTRY'
-------

Urged by what his friends believe to be a romance dating from boyhood days, Captain "Tommy" Cull, of Engine Company No. 62, "A" Division, Venice fire department, will sail from New York on June 9th for his old home in Ireland to visit his mother, friends of his youth, and, it is whispered, "one he holds most distant and most dear."

Without coming from Captain Cull himself, for Cull is a man of action and not words, there has been a rumor persistently floating about the fire houses on the district where Captain Cull is widely known and liked, that the captain will bring back not only his mother to Venice to live, but a charming bride as well.

Firemen friends here will give a little "feed" at the firehouse a day or so before he leaves in honor of their association.

In 1917, when the United States entered the World war, Thomas Cull, then a captain in the Venice fire department, made a hurried trip to the recruiting office. It was put up to him that his services were needed here at Venice to protect life and property, but after much persuasion on his part and after considerable delay, he embarked on a transport, his destination being the battle fields of France.

He sailed as Sergeant Thomas Cull. What privations and suffering he went through over there will never be known as Captain Cull is very close mouthed about his personal affairs. But the boys in the fire department in Venice have noticed several scars on different parts of his body and it is a well founded fact that they were caused by bursting shrapnel in that never-to-be-forgotten struggle over there.

Again on the 9th day of June he will embark on a steamer headed for the scenes of those same battle fields of France and other parts of Europe, but this time it will not be to dig trenches or to bayonet the foe.

Captain Cull is held in very high esteem by his many friends here in Venice. He was appointed assistant chief of the Venice fire department on August 6, 1922, serving in that capacity for a number of years under Chief G. A. Hubbard. At the time of annexation Captain Cull was acting chief of the Venice fire department. And when Los Angeles took over the department he retained the title of captain.

He does not seem to know the meaning of fear, one of his latest acts of bravery was when he battled his way through a frantic mob and entered a building filled with smoke and flame and at great risk of his own life, saved a valuable shepherd dog.

Captain Cull's brother firemen and his many friends have planned a farewell party that will long be remembered by his associates in the Bay district. Captain Cull will return the latter part of September to take active command of his company here in Venice.

 

The Vanguard, June 2, 1928

From:   WILLIAM CHURCH <churchw29@btinternet.com>
Date:    July 30, 2013 2:08:37 AM PDT
To:       Larry Schneider

Captain Larry Schneider
Fire Boat 4
Fire Station 49
Los Angeles

Dear Sir
I was very interested to read on your website LAFIRE.com of the work you and your colleagues have been doing to collate as much information as possible on the history of the LAFD. The reason for my interest is that over the past few years I have been trying to collect information on my family history as a result of which, last year, I came across an article published in The Vanguard newspaper dated June 2, 1928 and which I now realize actually came from your archives. The article was entitled "Fireman will make trip to Old Country" and tells the story of Captain Thomas "Tommy" Cull of Engine Company No. 62, "A" Division, Venice fire department who was due to sail to his old home in Ireland the following week. The object of his trip was apparently not only to take his mother back to Venice to live but also a charming bride as well. The bride to be was Honoria (Nora) Doyle who was the sister of my wife's grandmother and hence her great-aunt, which is why I am interested in this story. I am sure that you will not be immediately familiar with this particular artifact in your collection so I am attaching a copy to this email for your ease of reference.
I have been able to confirm that Tommy did marry his childhood sweetheart and she did follow him to America where, in 1929, their daughter Nora Margaret was born. Unfortunately the only other information I have been able to find is that given in the 1920/1930/1940 censuses and I was wondering whether you might have in your photo archives any pictures of the old Venice Fire Department which may include Tommy or, indeed, any other information about him and his family that might help me.
I would like to assure you that any information that I collect is purely for my own personal, non commercial, use and is only seen by a few members of my immediate family who take an occasional passing interest in my hobby.

Thank you.
Kind regards
William Church
Lincolnshire, England



LAFIRE.COM
Copyright 1999 - All Rights Reserved