The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2791) Private Thomas Sullivan, 24th 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (2791) Private Thomas Sullivan, 24th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2791 Private Thomas Sullivan, 24th Battalion, AIF
KIA 15 November 1916
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 15 November 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Thomas Bruce Sullivan, who was killed while fighting in France in the First World War.

Thomas Sullivan was born in 1898, the eldest son of five children of Thomas and Louisa Sullivan of Devonport in northern Tasmania. The family moved to Warrnambool on the Victorian south-west coast when Thomas was young, and his parents managed the National Hotel there. During his schooling he participated in senior cadets as part of the compulsory military training scheme. He later worked as a clerk and then as a farmer in the Warrnambool area.

Sullivan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Melbourne in July 1915. After a period of training at Broadmeadows Camp, he sailed for Egypt with a reinforcement group for the 24th Battalion. The Gallipoli campaign had ended by the time he arrived, and the following months were spent training as the AIF underwent a major restructure in preparation for its departure for the Western Front. The 24th Battalion sailed for France in March 1916, but Thomas remained in Egypt for some time afterwards owing to a bout of mumps and enteric fever, followed by a fractured foot which required his evacuation to England. After recovering, a medical board at Number 2 Command Depot at Weymouth found Thomas to be “permanently unfit for general service but fit for home service”, but he was later reclassified by an Australian consulting surgeon, who deemed him “fit for general service”. He embarked for France soon after.

Sullivan was spared the bitter fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm, where the 24th Battalion had suffered heavy losses. He joined the battalion in Belgium as it recuperated and was brought up to strength with fresh reinforcements, while holding a relatively quiet part of the line near Saint Eloi. In November, the battalion returned to the Somme and took up positions between the villages of Flers and Gueudecourt. A combination of autumn rains and months of artillery bombardments had turned the battlefield into a quagmire of thick, glutinous mud. Conditions were made all the worse in the following weeks as the troops endured the coldest winter in France for well over 40 years.

Although little fighting took place in the winter, the Australian front line was on most days pounded by German artillery. The 24th Battalion spent most of November rotating in and out of the line near Longueval with the other battalions of 6th Brigade, and when not holding the front line they worked as stretcher-bearers, formed ration parties, cleared roads, and built light railways behind the lines. After a day helping stretcher-bearers carry the wounded to the nearest dressing station, Thomas was wounded in the head by fragments of a German shell that exploded nearby. He was carried to the 6th Field Ambulance Dressing Station, but succumbed to his wounds later that night. Aged 19, he was buried at Thistle Dump Cemetery near Longueval.

Thomas Sullivan is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

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

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section