Private William Roy Gullen was born February 12, 1881, in Brantford, Ontario, to parents James F. and Mariette Gullen of Echo Place, Ont., the oldest of five children, with four brothers and one sister. Prior to his enlistment, Gullen lived in Echo Place with his wife, Mary Belle, working as farmer. They had six children: Marguerite, Don, Stan, Jack, Bruce, and Ruth (his youngest son, Ivan, was born in October 1916 while Gullen was stationed overseas in France).
He enlisted in Brantford with the 125th Battalion on December 30, 1915, and sailed for England the following August aboard the SS Scandinavian. In October 1916 Gullen was deployed to join the 1st Battalion in France. He was serving with that unit at the time of his death on May 3, 1917, reported first as missing before confirmed as killed in action during an attack near Fresnoy, France. He is commemorated on the Vimy Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, and on the Brant War Memorial in Brantford, Ont.
Content notes:
The majority of the collection’s letters were written by Gullen to his wife, children, parents, sister Irene and brother Frederick Cecil (wife Agnes).
Gullen used a secret code in some of his letters to bypass the military censors, adding dots below characters to spell out his location. An editor’s note listing all of the collection’s “code letters” has been added at the end of the letter section, see letter dated “2024.”
Originally posted early in the project’s history (~2003/2004) a significant review of all materials was done in August 2024 and the updated, reorganized collection was completely reposted at that time, including the addition of a number of previously unposted materials. Also added at this time were audio recordings of six letters by author Kristen den Hartog, which may be accessed through the Gullen letters’ main index page under “Collection Contents” below.
External links:
Pte. Gullen’s service record (Serv/Reg# 772521) can be viewed/downloaded through Library and Archives Canada.
Burial information is available at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
A memorial page honouring Gullen can be visited online at the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.
[Collection reviewed/updated Aug. 2024.]
