The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (4876) Private William Toft Pullen, 15th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (4876) Private William Toft Pullen, 15th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

4876 Private William Toft Pullen, 15th Battalion, AIF
KIA 28 August 1916

Story delivered 11 February 2018

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private William Toft Pullen.

William Pullen was born in 1892 to Henry and Catherine Pullen. His father was a farmer on the Lower Clarence River, and he and his siblings grew up in and around Grafton. His mother recorded that he was a great athlete. William attended the local public school, and became a farmer like his father.

William Pullen enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in September 1915. He underwent a period of training in Australia before leaving for active service overseas in March 1916. While on board the troopship, he threw a sealed bottle overboard with a message inside, asking the finder to send it to his mother. He was first sent to Egypt, where he continued training before being sent on to France to fight on the Western Front.
Shortly after arriving in France, Private Pullen joined the 15th Battalion from the 4th Division Base Depot. At that time the 15th Battalion was undergoing a final intensive period of training and preparation to enter the front line.

Less than two weeks after joining the 15th Battalion, Private Pullen entered the front line near the French village of Pozieres. On 8 August 1916, the 15th Battalion attacked German positions between Pozieres and Mouquet Farm. Although the battalion successfully reached its objectives, battalions on its flanks did not, and the commanding officer was reluctantly compelled to withdraw his men the following day. During the operation Private Pullen was wounded in the hand by shell fragments, but it was not serious enough to warrant evacuation, and after several days in a rest station he returned to duty.

Two weeks later the 15th Battalion again entered the front line near Mouquet Farm. On the night of 27 August Private Pullen was a member of a party ordered to dig a sap from the front line. His company commander, Lieutenant Gray, led his men out in single file to the area they had to dig. He later recalled Pullen was the man immediately behind him in the line. Gray wrote, “We had started the sap down a few feet when the enemy started to shell us, and shortly afterwards [Pullen] was struck by pieces of shell.” One of Pullen’s mates, Sergeant Charlie Black, wrote, “I was close at hand when he was killed alongside a lot more brave boys. He was hit in the head and arm, and only lived about five minutes.”

There was just time to removed Pullen’s personal items from his body, including letters to his mother and his sweetheart, Alma Phillis, before the party had to withdraw. William Pullen’s body was never recovered.
Lieutenant Gray wrote to Pullen’s mother:
It is very sad, Mrs Pullen, that you should lose your dear one, but it must be consoling and indeed an honour to know that your son fought so gallantly and gave his life for the noble cause for which we are fighting … During the time that your son was in the 15th Battalion he had won the respect of every officer and man with whom he had come in contact, and all are very sorry to lose him. It is a very noticeable and regrettable feature about the fortunes of war that the best men go first, and this case I am proud to state was no exception … I am proud to have had the honour of being and fighting with such men as he was.
William Pullen was 24 years old.

In May 1917 Miss Clara Foote of Helena Bay in New Zealand was walking along the shore when she found a glass bottle with a note asking her to send it to Mrs H. Pullen of Prince Street, Grafton. William Pullen’s first message to his mother was also his last.

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private William Toft Pullen, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section