Heroes and Rebels in the Family Tree--Frank Horace Bullen

 

A Private with the 4th Battalion, Frank died on 6th of February 1944 aged 30. 

Frank was born at Corton on 31 August 1914, a son of Frank James Bullen 1888-1971 and Gertrude Jane Walpole 1887-1941. In 1921 his family lived at Well Cottages, Corton, and this was Frank’s home for the rest of his life. In 1939 Frank worked as a builder’s labourer. 

Frank James Bullen and Gertrude Jane Walpole had four children:  They were:

        1.       Frank Horace Bullen 1914-1944

        2.       Ruth Kathleen Bullen 1917-2014

        3.       Geoffrey Albert Bullen 1920-2017

 4.     Stella Adelaide Bullen 1922-2010

 Frank served with the 4th Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment. In autumn 1940 the Battalion was on coastal defence in the Great Yarmouth area and then moved to Brooke, and then Cambridge. In early 1941 the Battalion was sent to Scotland, then Blackburn, and Ross-on-Wye. On 29 October 1941 the Battalion sailed from Liverpool and landed at Bombay on 29 December 1941 as part of the 18th (East Anglian) Division. On 19 January 1942 the Battalion re-embarked for Singapore and landed there on 29 January 1942. On 11 February the Battalion went into action at the racecourse, before falling back to defend the perimeter. On 15 February the British forces at Singapore were forced to surrender and the remaining men of the 4th Battalion went into captivity. 

Frank was taken prisoner at Singapore and on 4 November 1942 he was in a party of men sent overland to work on the Burma Railway. In February 1944 Frank died from beriberi at Wat Koke Mor, Nong Pladok, and he was buried in the nearby cemetery. In 1946 Frank was re-buried at Chungkai Military Cemetery.

Genealogy:  Frank Horace Bullen 1914-1944 was the son of Gertrude Jane Walpole 1887-1941 and her father was Horace Walter James Walpole 1863-1940 and his mother was Charlotte Welton (Hodge) 1828-1910 and her mother was Ann Welton 1803-1879 and her sister was Elizabeth Welton 1795-1863 and her son was William Solomon 1815-1861 and his son was Albert Solomon 1861-1944 and his daughter was Mabel May Solomon 1892-1980 and her husband was John Adams 1891-1965 and his brother was George "Pikey" William Welch-Adams 1867-1940.