2nd Lieutenant Charles Ernest Arbuthnot PULLAN
13th (Service) Battalion Durham Light Infantry attached to C Company, 15th (Service) Battalion

Date of birth: 9th February 1894
Date of death: 30th December 1915

Killed in action aged 21
Buried at Houplines Communal Cemetery Extension Plot II Row B Grave 36
He was born at Catford on the 9th of February 1894, the son of Charles Ernest Popplewell Pullan, Chartered Secretary to a brewery company, and Mary Helena (nee Arbuthnot) of Dartmouth Grove, Blackheath, London.

He was educated at the King's School Canterbury from September 1908 to July 1913, where he was appointed as a school monitor in September 1912, was elected to the committee of the Debating Society on the 26th of January 1912 and was their Vice President from September 1912 until he left the school.

He was a Lance Corporal in the Officer Training Corps and played for the Rugby XV in 1911 and 1912 where the Cantuarian described him thus in 1912:-

"Very light but has a lot of dash, though not enough resource. Very fair defence."

In 1913 they printed:-

"Plays with plenty of dash and is fairly fast., but is rather wanting in finesse."

He was awarded his sports colours in 1913 and was a member of the Sports Committee from September 1912. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps.

In 1913 he entered Oriel College Oxford where he played in the 1913 freshman’s rugby match at three quarter, and also played for Blackheath.

On the 29th of August 1914 he applied for a commission while still an undergraduate at Oxford and underwent a medical examination there on the 22nd of August. Unable to wait for a reply he enlisted at Westminster as Private 6488 in the 19th (Service) Battalion Royal Fusiliers , University and Public Schools Corps, undergoing a further medical examination at which it was recorded that he was 5 feet 9 1/2 inches tall and in good health. He was discharged on the 22nd of September when his commission came through.

On the 19th of September 1914 he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 13th Battalion Durham Light Infantry and was later attached to the 15th Battalion of his regiment. He embarked for France with his battalion from Folkestone on board the SS "Duchess of Argyll" on the 11th of September 1915, landing at Boulogne the following day. He saw action with them at the Battle of Loos on the 25th of September 1915.

On the morning of the 30th of December 1915 the 15th Battalion Durham Light Infantry relieved the 10th Battalion King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry in trenches at Houplines. C and D Companies along with most of B Company were deployed in the front line with the remainder of B Company and A Company in support at Cambridge House. At about 10.15am a British trench mortar commenced firing on the German lines which brought immediate retaliation from the German artillery who shelled the Durham front line heavily, causing the collapse of dugouts and widespread destruction to firing bays. The firing stopped at 11.45am but further shelling occurred at 3pm and again in the evening. During the bombardment Charles Pullan, 2nd Lieutenant John William Arkless and Captain Gerald Thomas Fitzgerald, the Battalion Machine Gun Officer, were all killed by the shellfire. He was buried in a service which was conducted by the Reverend B Lister, Chaplain of 64th Infantry Brigade.

His parents received the following telegram dated the 1st of January 1916:-

"Deeply regret to inform you that 2 Lieut C.E.A. Pullan 15th Durham was killed in action 30th Dec. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy".

While he was at school, at Oxford and at the front he wrote a series of essays on the history and traditions of King’s School, from a boy’s point of view, which were published by his father though Gibbs & Sons in 1916 under the title “Schola Mea”. A copy was donated to the school library in his memory by his parents, along with a prayer book for the school chapel.

In November 1915, a few weeks before he was killed, he wrote the following reflection of his last night at King's in the summer of 1913:-

"We have seen several Speech Days in our time, and several finishes to the summer term, often with a faint regret for the weeks past, but always with the greatest joy at the prospect of the holiday weeks to come. This year we see the end approaching with nothing but the deepest regret, and longing quite devoid of joy; for it is the end. And now it is the last night of all, and we occupy our cubicle for the last time. The final days have been so busy that, although always conscious of our trouble, there has not been so very much time for contemplation. But now it is the evening of Speech Day and all is over.....
It seems hard to realise that next term will not see us return. Eight weeks will slip by, and then, in the gathering darkness of a September evening, the Mint yard will once again echo with the noise of youth.
So we sit at our windows and our minds are full.
We see again the crowded Cathedral at Commemoration, and the Chapter House in the sunny light of that summer afternoon, and the delicate tracery of the Cloisters , seen through the open door in the mellow rays of the July sun. The speeches are delivered, and we get through them without disaster; the prizes are given, the Headmaster bids us farewell, and the Dean shakes us by the hand and wishes us success. We feel inclined to tell him that we don't want success, but only want to come back next term.
Follows the garden party and the brilliant throng; the Buffs band discourses sweet music, and we chatter and carry ices to and fro. Many are going away, and there are farewells to be said; we are glad the sun is showing up everything at its best.
Gradually the garden party breaks up. The band plays "God Save the King". All is over......"


The Cantuarian wrote:-

"He was always very attached to the school, and several times revisited us as an OKS. His greatest wish was that he might do credit to the school. He has obtained his wish."

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Blackheath Football Club.
 

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