James (Jimmy) Cullen was born in Belfast in 1920, the youngest son of seven children of Thomas and Mary Elizabeth Cullen. After the outbreak of hostilities, he travelled to England to help with the war effort and he volunteered in June ’42, before joining the 2nd Battalion London Irish Rifles (2 LIR) in Italy in late 1943. 

James died with five other men from 2 LIR on 19th January 1944 in the high Apennines to the west of Castel di Sangro and near to the village of Montenero, where the battalion HQ was stationed with men from the four rifle companies being sent out on patrols in absolutely atrocious conditions throughout the month. Rifleman Cullen’s death is remembered at Cassino cemetery along with more than 4000 other men listed on the memorial panels, and a further 4000 men who are also buried there.