Volunteer Home Guard Russell Percy Evans Mullen
13th Gloucestershire (City of Bristol) Regiment
Date of Birth: September Quarter of 1912
Place of Birth: Teignmouth, Devon
Date of Death: 25th of September 1940, aged 27
Buried: Teignmouth Old Cemetery, plot CC90
Awarded The Defence Medal (United Kingdom)
Son of Joseph Thomas and Mabel Ellen Mullen of Teignmouth, Devon.
Russell Percy Evans Mullen married Marion Elizabeth Gilpin in the 4th quarter of 1936 and in the 1939 census, they were living at 5, Fourth Avenue, Sodbury, Gloucestershire.
Local Defence Volunteers
In 1940 the Local Defence Volunteers were formed. They consisted of individuals too old or too young to be assigned to front-line units, or people in reserved occupations.
Volunteer Home Guard - National Army Museum Out of Copyright
The organisation was eventually re-titled the Home Guard and was a defence against possible German invasion.
The units were improvised and poorly equipped, but they were dedicated to their duties and helped maintain morale during the dark days of 1940.
There is an entry on the Bristol & District Blitz War Memorial -
MULLEN, Russel P. * (28) of 5 Fourth Avenue, Northville, Bristol and of Teignmouth, Devon.
* Indicates a BAC employee who is commemorated on the company memorial situated in their headquarters at Filton House. This would indicate that Russell was in a reserved occupation.
R.P.E Mullen Volunteer, plot CC90, Teignmouth Old Cemetery
