Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Army
- Conflict
- World War II (1939-1945)
- Date of Enlistment
- 28/11/1941
- Date of Discharge
- 14/12/1945
- Place of Enlistment
- Canberra ACT
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Date of Birth
- 09/01/1923
- Place of Birth
- Braidwood NSW
- Address (at enlistment)
- Helemon Street, Braddon ACT
- Occupation
- Painter
- Next of Kin
- Eugene and Ethel Sullivan (parents), Helemon Street, Braddon ACT
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- N243358
- Final Rank
- Private
- Final Unit
- 36 Australian Infantry Battalion
Notes
Sullivan was a well-known local rugby player when he was mobilised in Canberra in August 1941. He served with the 3rd Battalion (militia) on the Kokoda Track at Ioribaiwa during September 1942 until being evacuated sick - he would be hospitalised five times with malaria during his war service. There is a reference in Kennedy to an 'AS' who served with the 3rd Battalion at Gona in November 1942 but his service record does specify his location at the time. When the 3rd Battalion was disbanded in 1943 Sullivan was transferred to the 36th Battalion. He served in New Guinea from July 1943 to June 1944 before he and his unit were sent to Open Bay, New Britain in October 1944. By May they had forced the Japanese to retreat about 100 miles towards Rabaul.
A report in The Canberra Times describes how Sullivan's company met the Japanese at the mouth of the Sai River. His platoon had been flooded out of their perimeter position by the river which had been swollen by torrential rain. Ammunition, rations and equipment had been swept away and the jungle track was covered by three feet of water. Yet despite the conditions the Japanese were repulsed. He returned to Australia in June 1945 and was discharged in December 1945.
Description - height 5 feet 8 inches, fair complexion, fair hair , green eyes, birthmark right rib, Catholic.
Sources
WWII Nominal Roll http://www.ww2roll.gov.au
ACT Electoral Rolls 1916 to 1967 http://canberraheritageportal.org/default.php
NAA RecordSearch - Series B884 (Citizen's Military Forces Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947)The Canberra Times - 3 May 1945
Colin Kennedy, 'Port Moresby to Gona Beach 3rd Australian Infantry Battalion 1942', 1992 (p.149)