PULLEN, Michael Henry
| Service Numbers: | VX82067, 434840 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 July 1942, Casino, NSW |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Australian Army Service Corps Company |
| Born: | North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 January 1921 |
| Home Town: | North Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Xavier College Kew |
| Occupation: | Packer |
| Died: | Heart Failure, Camberwell Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 26 October 1969, aged 48 years |
| Cemetery: |
Burwood General Cemetery, Victoria, Australia Lawn 15A, Grave 20 |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 24 Jul 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, VX82067, 3rd Australian Army Service Corps Company, Casino, NSW | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Feb 1943: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Driver, VX82067 | |
| 20 Feb 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 434840, Melbourne, Vic. | |
| 16 Jan 1944: | Involvement Awarded Flying Badge | |
| 16 Jan 1944: | Promoted Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant | |
| 26 Oct 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Sergeant, Appointed to 355 Squadron, RAF Salbani | |
| 10 Jan 1946: | Discharged Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer, 434840 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Warrant Officer |
Help us honour Michael Henry Pullen's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Frank Brougham PULLEN and margaret Jane Hilda nee MOLLOY, 23 Carroll Street, North Melbourne, Vic.
Husband of Dorothy PULLEN nee WOODS, 183 Dryburgh Street, North Melbourne, Vic.
Michael played 4 games of AFL for North Melbourne Football Club between 1943-1946.
He enlisted in the military on February 20 1943, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia as 'RAAF Warrant Officer - Service No. 434840'.
Married 24/7/1943 Dorothy Woods AWAS at North Melbourne. After being discharged, had two children).
He was seriously injured when the Liberator bomber (KH210) in which he was the co-pilot was ditched in the Bay of Bengal, in flames, while returning to its base at Salboni, during a bombing raid on Rangoon in May 1945. The plane's observer, Wing Commander J.B. Nicholson VC died. Pullen and one of his crew, nose gunner Flight Sergeant Eric Leslie Kightley (RAF 1480397) — neither of whom had any memory of the moment that the plane hit the water — were rescued by separate Air/Sea Rescue US Catalinas after clinging to the wreckage for 14 hours in the water. Both were hospitalized in Calcutta and treated for their injuries and attendant shock.
He was discharged from the military on January 10 1946.
He passed away on October 26 1969, at age 48 in Camberwell, Victoria, Australia.
He was buried in Burwood Cemetery, Whitehorse City, Victoria, Australia.
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