Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria. To coincide with the OMRS Convention

Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (181115 W. Bullen, P.O. 1 Cl., H.M.S. St. George) good very fine £60-80

William Bullen was born at Seaton Sluice, Northumberland in January 1877 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class in August 1894. Enjoying several seagoing appointments but apparently no active service, by November 1901 he had gained rapid advancement to Petty Officer 2nd Class. Then in April 1911, while serving in the Hong Kong depot ship Tamar, he was advanced to Petty Officer 1st Class.

The advent of hostilities in August 1914 found Bullen serving with the Dover Patrol in the destroyer Saracen. As outlined by Admiral Bacon in his 2-volume history of the Patrol, Saracen was present at the bombardment of enemy batteries at Westende on the Belgian coast in September 1915, during which the enemy responded in kind. So much so that the Admiral’s remarkable invention, “The Tripod”, had to be withdrawn after considerable strafing from the enemy’s 6-inch guns. In his own words, ‘Tripods were small portable islands which we carried and dropped off the places we intended to bombard, so as to observe and correct the accuracy of our gun-fire’. Whether Saracen assisted in helping to recover the tripod on this occasion remains unknown, but as an accompanying illustration reveals, the unlucky and woefully exposed incumbents must have been extremely grateful to learn of the order to retire.

Bullen removed to the Ocean-class (a.k.a. “Tribals”) destroyer Nubian in the course of 1916, and was aboard her that October when she was heavily damaged by an enemy torpedo. Kemp’s H.M. Destroyers takes up the story:

‘In the hurry of leaving Dover, the six “Tribals” had sailed in two groups of three boats each and in the darkness of a pitch-black night had failed to join up. The Nubian (Commander M. R. Bernard) was the first to sight the enemy, and when she did so she was alone, for the other two, Cossack and Amazon, were unable to keep up with her. Suddenly, in the darkness, she sighted a destroyer at almost point-blank range, and behind her made out the shape of others, all travelling at high speed. Thinking that they were the Lawford’s division, she flashed the challenge. There was no reply, and at a range of no more than 50 yards six destroyers flashed past her, opening fire as they went. The leader fired two torpedoes as well, but both missed.

Commander Bernard, taken aback by this sudden onslaught, gave the order to fire torpedoes, but the “Tribal” class boats were not fitted with fire gongs and the order never reached the tubes. Instead, a German torpedo, fired by one of the rear boats in the line, hit the Nubian and blew away her entire forecastle, leaving little more than two-thirds of the ship afloat. But the enemy destroyers were in a hurry to get home and did not stay to finish the job ...

... The stern of the Nubian, still floating after the action, was towed towards Dover, but broke away from the tugs in the rising sea and drove ashore under the cliffs of the South Foreland. A few weeks later the Zulu hit a mine, her stern being blown off, her fore part being brought back safely to Dover. The remains of the Nubian were then salved, brought safely to the Dockyard, and a new destroyer was born from the bows of the Zulu joined to the stern of the Nubian. She was immediately christened the Zubian.’

And according to his service record, Bullen went on to serve aboard this extraordinary creation from June 1917 until August 1918. He ended the War aboard the cruiser Thames and was discharged ashore in December 1919.