Corporal Arthur Percy Sullivan V.C.

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Memorial Plaque -Crystal Brook RSL

RSL (Port Pirie Sub Branch) Inc.

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Arthur Percy Sullivan was born in Crystal Brook, South Australia, on the 27th November 1896. His parents were storekeepers Arthur and Eliza Sullivan (nee Dobbs).

In 1904, he was enrolled as a pupil of Crystal Brook School and later Gladstone District High School, before joining the staff of the local National Bank.

Arthur enlisted in the Australian Infantry Force (AIF) in Port Pirie, South Australia, on the 27th April 1918. He attended a public farewell and social evening on the 17th June 1918 in the Crystal Brook Institute Hall. A big crowd assembled at the railway station the next morning to farewell to Private Sullivan with three cheers and singing 'God Bless our Splendid Men’.

On the 23rd July 1918, Arthur embarked in Melbourne on HMAT A74 Marathon and disembarked in England 2 months later. He was attached to the Reserve Brigade Australian Artillery as a gunner but the war ended before he saw any active service.

Instead of returning home, Arthur discharged from the AIF on the 12th June 1919 and joined the 45th Battalion Royal Fusiliers in the British Army. He volunteered for the North Russia Relief Force (NRRF), a unit formed to assist the withdrawal of British troops stationed in Russia following the Bolshevik uprising of 1917.

Corporal Sullivan was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions on the 10th August 1919 at Sheika River, Archangel, in Russia.

His citation reads:

“For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. The platoon to which he belonged, after fighting a rear guard covering action, had to cross the river by means of a narrow plank, and during the passage an officer and three men fell into a deep swamp. Without hesitation, under intense fire, Corporal Sullivan jumped into the river and rescued all four, bringing them out singly. But for this gallant action his comrades would undoubtedly have been drowned. It was a splendid example of heroism as all ranks were on the point of exhaustion and the enemy less than 100 yards distant.”

Arthur was part of the Australian Coronation Contingent (ACC) to attend the Coronation of King George VI in London in 1937. He was returning to his lodgings at Wellington Barracks in Westminster when he was besieged by autograph hunters. He slipped on the kerb trying to cross the road and fell heavily to the ground, fracturing his skull. Arthur died on the 9th April 1937, aged 40 years.

On the 13th of April 1937, Gunner Arthur Sullivan VC was given a full military funeral at Wellington Barracks; among the many dignitaries attending were nine VC winners.

Following the funeral, he was cremated in London and his ashes were returned to Sydney and interred at the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, North Ryde, NSW.

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