Mick Pullen

Michael Henry Pullen (7 January 1921 – 26 October 1969) was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).[1]

Mick Pullen
Personal information
Full name Michael Henry Pullen
Date of birth (1921-01-07)7 January 1921
Place of birth North Melbourne, Victoria
Date of death 26 October 1969(1969-10-26) (aged 48)
Place of death Camberwell, Victoria
Original team(s) West Melbourne
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 84 kg (185 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1943, 1946 North Melbourne 4 (1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1946.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Family

The son of Frank Brougham Pullen (1887–1958),[2] and Margaret Jane Hilda Pullen (1890–1947), née Molloy,[3] Michael Henry Pullen was born at North Melbourne, Victoria on 7 January 1921.[4]

He married Dorothy Woods (1922–2015) on 24 July 1943.

Football

North Melbourne (VFL)

Recruited from West Melbourne in the Sub-District League.[5][6]

RAAF

In 1943, he was playing for a RAAF team in Sydney.[7]

Military service

Pullen served in both the Australian Army,[8] and the Royal Australian Air Force,[9] during World War II.

KH210

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.[10] Both were hospitalized in Calcutta and treated for their injuries and attendant shock.[11][12]

Notes
  1. Holmesby & Main (2014), p.723.
  2. Deaths: Pullen, The Age, (Monday, 28 July 1958), p.12.
  3. Deaths: Pullen, The Age, (Thursday, 11 September 1947), p.9.
  4. Nominal Roll (Army), and Nominal Roll (RAAF).
  5. Football: Permits Granted, The Age, (Thursday, 27 May 1943), p.4.
  6. Could Not Kick Straight, The Sporting Globe, (Wednesday, 1 September 1943), p.12.
  7. Footballers win Race, lose Match, The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Monday, 17 May 1943), p.11; Sportsmen's Honor Roll, The Weekly Times, Wednesday, 9 June 1943), p.20.
  8. Nominal Roll (Army).
  9. Nominal Roll (RAAF).
  10. Aircraft Losses: 2 May 1945: Liberator VI: KH210: 355 Squadron, RAFcommands.com, 2013.
  11. Casualty Report: Warrant Officer Michael Henry Pullen (434840), National Archives of Australia.
  12. Pilot VC Killed, The Central Queensland Herald, (Thursday, 31 May 1945), p.13.

References
  • Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10th ed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921496-32-5.
  • "World War II Nominal Roll (Army): Private Michael Henry Pullen (VX82067)". Department of Veterans' Affairs.
  • World War II Service Record (Army): Private Michael Henry Pullen (VX82067), National Archives of Australia.
  • "World War II Nominal Roll (RAAF): Warrant Officer Michael Henry Pullen (434840)". Department of Veterans' Affairs.
  • World War II Service Record (RAAF): Warrant Officer Michael Henry Pullen (434840), National Archives of Australia.
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