MULLEN, William Hiram
| Service Numbers: | 5312, 5312A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 December 1915, Enlisted at Liverpool. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Emu Plains, New South Wales Australia, 1890 |
| Home Town: | Emu Plains, Penrith Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Permanent Way worker |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 22 July 1916 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Emu Plains Public School Honour Board WW1, Emu Plains War Memorial, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5312, 1st Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Liverpool. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 5312A, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: SS Makarini embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 1 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 5312A, 1st Infantry Battalion, SS Makarini, Sydney | |
| 22 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 5312, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 5312 awm_unit: 1 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1916-07-22 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
William H Mullen (Service Number 5312) was born about July 1890 at Emu Plains. He served a five-year apprenticeship – one year with Morts Dock, and four years with the NSW Government Railways. He worked with the Permanent Way Branch.
He enlisted at Liverpool on 30th December 1915. He described himself on his Attestation Papers as a ‘Marine Engineer’.
At the time of his enlistment Mullen was not married and he gave his father as his next of kin. However, at some stage he did marry, and his papers have been changed to show his wife, E Matilda, as his next of kin.
Mullen embarked SS ‘Makarini’ at Sydney on 1st April 1916 and that ship reached Suez on 2nd May. Almost immediately he embarked ‘Caledonian’ at Alexandria and proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Force in France, passing through Marseilles on 17th May. He was taken on the strength of the 1st Battalion on 12th June. He was killed in action six weeks later, between 22nd and 25th July.
Contemporary records show that he was buried in the vicinity of Pozières, Sheet57.O.SE.X.L.
Pte John Donald (3927) stated:
‘On 23rd July, at Pozières, as we were going over, Mullen was hit in the forehead by a piece of shell and killed instantaneously. I helped to bury him at Pozières. We put an empty shell case over the place and inside it a paper with his name, regiment, battalion and Company on it.’
Hynes (738) gave about the same story, but added the fact that the shell fire was friendly:
‘I went out on a night raid with him at Pozières and saw him killed by our own shell fire, which got him in the back. He went over too soon, and our artillery had not lifted. He was brought back and buried behind the 3rd line. I saw him buried. His grave is marked.’
Despite the map location and the shell casing with the note, Mullen’s grave could not be located after the war and as he has no known grave he is remembered in the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
When the time came to distribute service medals and other mementoes, the next of kin in Mullen’s record was his father, but the emergence of a widow caused the military authorities to seek his father's agreement that the medals etc. should go to her. The father was agreeable to this, except that in the event of Matilda re-marrying, he would like the medals to then go to William Mullen’s son, Roy.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.