The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1867) Corporal Thomas Bernard Sullivan, 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Richard Cruise, the story for this day was on (1867) Corporal Thomas Bernard Sullivan, 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF, First World War.

1867 Corporal Thomas Bernard Sullivan, 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF
KIA 15 August 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Corporal Thomas Bernard Sullivan.

Thomas Bernard Sullivan was born in 1890 in Narrogin, south-east of Perth in Western Australia. Known as “Tom” to his family and friends, he was the second son born to Mary Ann and Thomas Sullivan. When Tom Sullivan was just five years old, his father died of typhoid fever, leaving behind a pregnant wife and four children less than nine years old. Sullivan’s mother later re-married, and Sullivan eventually grew up in the gold mining town of Southern Cross, nearly 400 kilometres east of Perth, with five brothers and sisters, and six step-brothers and step-sisters.

Sullivan attended the local Sisters of St Joseph School in Southern Cross and later worked as a teamster. He was also a member of the local fire brigade.

Sullivan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 23 September 1915, and after a brief period of training, sailed from Fremantle for the war on the Western Front.

Sullivan served in the 51st Australian Infantry Battalion, which formed part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division. He joined this unit for the first time in the field on 14 December 1916 while they were enduring the freezing conditions at Buire in northern France. He did not remain at the front for long. Less than a week after arriving, he was hospitalised with the mumps, and did not re-join his unit until February 1917, when they were based at Flers. just north of the River Somme.

Sullivan spent the next few months enduring the hardships and horrors of trench warfare. From March 1917, he and his unit took part in a series of operations as Australian forces advanced, following the German retreat to a series of well-defended defences known as the Hindenburg Line.
Throughout his service, Sullivan showed himself to be a reliable soldier, and on 22 April 1917, he was promoted to the rank of corporal.

In May 1917, Sullivan and the 51st Battalion moved north to the Ypres sector of Belgium.

Between 7 and 12 June, Sullivan and his battalion participated as reinforcements in the bloody Battle of Messines. This was a successful operation, but came at the cost of nearly 6,800 casualties.

On 31 June 1917, Sullivan was hospitalised once more, this time with influenza. He went to England for recovery, and did not re-join his unit until November 1917.

In March 1918, the Germans launched a major offensive in an effort to break the stalemate on the Western Front. In response to the renewed attack, Sullivan and his division moved to a defensive position at Dernancourt near the River Ancre. On the night of 24/25 April 1918, Sullivan participated in a battle now known as the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux.

In this action, Sullivan was taking part in the defence against a strong German counter-attack when he realised that the officers in his company had been either killed or wounded. Under heavy fire, Sullivan took it upon himself to organise two platoons and to continue the Australian advance.

As they reached the final objective, Sullivan at great personal risk organised his men and consolidation the defence of their new position. Sullivan was later awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his actions at Villers-Bretonneux. His citation reads, “Throughout the operations this N.C.O. showed splendid initiative and devotion to duty.”

The Roll of Honour states that Sullivan was killed in action on 15 of August 1918. On this day, his battalion were resting behind the lines near Chipilly on the River Somme when it came under German high explosive and shrapnel shell-fire. It is likely that Sullivan was killed by this enemy artillery fire. He was 28 years old.

Today his remains lie buried in the Heath Cemetery in France, where nearly 1,500 soldiers of the First World War lie.

His grieving mother applied to have the following inscription carved on his grave:
Our Tom is sleeping
his last long sleep,
in a grave we may never see.
Some gentle hands,
in that far distant land,
may plant a small flower for me.
RIP.

However, the requested inscription was too long to be put on his headstone, and his grave now reads: “In loving memory, killed in action, R.I.P.”

His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal Thomas Bernard Sullivan, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.