The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (7879) Private Sylvester Sullivan, 4th 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 (7879) Private Sylvester Sullivan, 4th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

7879 Private Sylvester Sullivan, 4th Battalion, AIF
KIA 23 August 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Sylvester Sullivan.

Sylvester Sullivan was born on 24 October 1883 in Trangie, New South Wales, the 11th child of James and Catherine Sullivan. Catherine, known as “Kitty” was the daughter of an Aboriginal woman, also known as Kitty.

The area around Trangie was originally inhabited by the Wongaibon people. While some European inhabitants came with the establishment of the cattle station known as “Weemaabaah”, it wasn’t until the arrival of the railway in the 1880s that Trangie – allegedly named after the local word for “quick”– came into being.

The Sullivans are still remembered as a significant part of the history of Trangie, and Sylvester was believed to have lived there from the time of his birth until he turned 24.
Sylvester attended school at Gin Gin. He and his brothers also played cricket for Gin Gin and Trangie. Like his brothers, he worked as a shearer and stockman on the neighbouring properties.

In 1909, he married Alice French in Dubbo, and the following year a child, named Vincent, was born to the couple.

By 1913, Sylvester Sullivan was working as a groom and living in Bowen Park near Gin Gin in Queensland, while his wife remained in Trangie. The following year, a warrant was issued for his arrest for failure to support his wife.

By 1914, Sullivan was back in Trangie, and on the 11th of December he was part of a large group of men from the town who attempted to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force.

While the Defence Act specifically exempted those “not of substantial European descent” from service, many army recruiters chose to ignore this rule; for them, a potential soldier was a potential soldier, regardless of the colour of his skin.

Because of the potential difficulties in enlisting, many Indigenous recruits made multiple attempts, travelling to other recruiting offices if they were at first rejected. Some tried four or five times before succeeding.

Over 1,000 Indigenous soldiers served in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War, around 147 of whom made the ultimate sacrifice. We now know of at least 70 Aboriginal men who served on Gallipoli, 13 of whom were killed in action.

These men had many reasons for enlisting. As well as the allure of travel and adventure, soldiers could send money home to their families. In the AIF, everyone was paid the same, and the pay was good.

In February 1916, another warrant was issued for Sullivan’s arrest for failure to support his wife, who was now around six months pregnant. Notes appeared in the police gazette that he had been “recently seen in Sydney” and “may attempt to enlist”.

In fact, he had already successfully enlisted. On 25 January 1916, Sullivan successfully enlisted at Liverpool, near Sydney, giving his name as Samuel Brown, and claiming to be a labourer from Dubbo. He was earmarked for the Australian Camel Corps, a camel-mounted infantry brigade that had been raised in 1916 to deal with the revolt of pro-Turkish Senussi tribesmen in Egypt's Western Desert.
As Sullivan went into camp and began training, the pressures of military discipline began to cause problems. He was first found absent without leave in March. In May, Alice Sullivan gave birth to a son, Elder Clement Sylvester Sullivan. In June Sullivan was again charged for being absent without leave.

In September Sylvester admitted that he had enlisted under a false name. After signing a statutory declaration, he was allotted a new service number and again became Sylvester Sullivan. Shortly afterwards, he was again charged with being absent without leave. In early 21 21st of October he was absent without leave until his arrest 26 days later. Sullivan was taken to the garrison hospital and lodged in the guard room pending his escort to Darlinghurst.

During this period, Alice Sullivan wrote to Lieutenant Wiseman, who had charge of Sylvester while he was training for the camel corps, and asked:
Will you please let me know why I have received such a small sum this pay. I have made an agreement with the police not to have my husband arrested if I am sent the correct sum each pay. If he does not think he can allot me so much please let me know. I am very disappointed today as I had such a lot to do with the money if it had been sent to me.

By the afternoon of 19 November, Sullivan had had enough. After taking money from the headquarters office, he stole a black “Speedwell” bicycle with broken brakes and deserted from Menangle Park.

Rather than this being the end of Sullivan’s involvement with the AIF, on 6 December 1917, he again enlisted for service, this time in Albury, claiming to be Darcy Wills, a groom from Lockhart in New South Wales, and giving his wife’s name as Mary Wills.

On 28 February, Private Wills left Melbourne aboard the troopship Nestor with reinforcements for the 4th Battalion.
Arriving in England in April, he joined a training battalion at Sutton Veny, and on 17 July proceeded to France, joining the 4th Battalion in France on the 23rd.

In August the battalion was in the Amiens area, where it was to take part in the final Allied offensive of the war—the Hundred Days Offensive—which was launched on the 8th of August 1918. The initial attack broke through German lines, sowing panic and confusion. The collapse in German morale led General Erich Ludendorff to dub it “the Black Day of the German Army”. As the Allies continued the advance, the Germans were forced back to the Hindenburg Line, and fighting continued as the advance pushed forward.

In the pre-dawn dark of 23 August 1918, the 4th Battalion prepared to make a dawn attack, with the 5th and 1st Battalions on their right and left respectively. Positions were taken before 4 o’clock, and shortly before 5 the assault began. By this late stage of the war, the organisation was detailed and comprehensive; the battalion cooperated with a group of six tanks, and there was planned coordination with trench mortars and Vickers machine-guns. Ground flares would signal to aeroplanes to counter-attack and drop ammunition.

Despite meticulous planning, a demoralised enemy, and the success of the attack, casualties were almost inevitable.
Among the dead was 34-year-old Sylvester Sullivan, still wearing the ID tag that identified him as Private Darcy Wills.

Unsurprisingly, no trace of Darcy Wills’ next of kin could be found by military authorities.

In November 1923 Alice Sullivan wrote to military authorities to inquire about her husband’s war medals, and identified Darcy Wills as the alias of Sylvester Sullivan. An investigation began, and after interviews with Sylvester’s parents, the police sergeant of Trangie, and a veteran who had known his as both Sullivan and Wills – in 1925 it was concluded that Samuel Brown, Darcy Wills, and Sylvester Sullivan were all one and the same person.

Today, Sylvester Sullivan’s remains lie in Heath Cemetery in France.

His name 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.

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

Duncan Beard, Editor
Military History Section