Frank Ritchie Bullen was a Soccer Anzac who played for the 16th Battalion in France in some of the many organized games that took place behind the lines and after the Armistice.
Born in Dulwich, London, he was in Adelaide by 1914 when he enlisted in the AIF at Keswick Barracks in November. He listed his occupation as “photographer” and his age as 24. There is no record of him playing for a club in Adelaide before the war. He married his fiancée Lily Tansell before being shipped overseas.
His time at Gallipoli was interrupted by an ankle injury and influenza, and time spent in hospitals on Mudros and Malta. Bullen tried to obtain an officer’s commission in 1915, but was not successful. However, things went well for him in France. He remained unwounded, finished as Company Quarter-Master Sergeant, and was mentioned in despatches.
Frank Bullen was noted in the battalion diary as playing two matches for the 16th in the first week in September: against the 15th Battalion AIF and the Royal Engineers. He does not seem to have played again – absences on detachments and on leave may have prevented him; or he simply may have been dropped for a better player!
He was returned to Australia and discharged in April 1919. The desire to play was still there, however, as Bullen was noted in the published teams for North Adelaide reserves in 1923. He played against Port Adelaide reserves on 23rd June and Norwood Imperials on 14th July. Imperials finished the season as Second Division champions. He may have played more games as team lists in the early 1920s were not published in the press as frequently as they were in the pre-war era.
Frank Bullen died in Adelaide in 1958; his occupation was noted as “commercial traveller”.