Gregory John O’Sullivan (Sullivan) was born on 23rd June 1896, his parents were Dennis Augustine O’Sullivan and Sarah Elizabeth (nee Dancer). Growing up in Auburn Sydney, he shared the family home with brothers Francis and John, and his sisters Constance, Mary, and Veronica.
Dropping the ‘O’ from his surname Gregory was 19 years old when he enlisted on the 19th August 1914 with the 1st Field Company Engineers Australian Imperial Forces and was allocated regimental number 155. Gregory had been a blacksmith working for Clyde Engineering, a large steelworks company in Clyde a suburb adjoining Auburn.
Fellow workers at the Clyde factory also enlisted, most notable being original sappers 149 Charles Akins an electrician, and 213 Roy Denning a carpenter. Gregory had also been serving with the civilian force of the 5th Coy. Australian engineers. Originally noted as a bugler on his service record, Gregory was remustered as a Driver on the nominal roll.
After two months of training in Sydney, on Sunday the 18th of October 1914, the men of the 1st Field Company Engineers were finally ready to embark on a seven-week voyage at sea. The drumbeat sounded – Reveille – at 5.00 and the 1st FCE broke camp at Moore Park and marched to the trams to take them to the wharf at Woolloomooloo Bay and then they were taken by Ferry to board the troopship A19 – Afric.
Gregory Sullivans’ signature appears on the Afric souvenir postcard of fellow sapper 101 John Hoey Moore – just under the copyright tag.
The ‘Afric’ left Sydney at around 5.00 pm. It was raining heavily, and they were experiencing gusty winds and rough seas. Many men at sea for the first time were sick as soon as they had left Sydney Heads. The ferry whistles, launch sirens and all the farewell cheering and music had faded in the distance and as 213 Spr. Roy Denning described everyman was now silent, occupied by his own thoughts.
The 1st FCE “Short Account” shows the seven-week voyage on the ‘Afric’ finally arrived in Alexandria on the 5th December 1914. Four days later, with the exception of No1. section which stayed behind to look after the wagons and unload the horses, the 1st FCE was entrained at Alexandria at 8.00am for Mena Camp or “Camp Pyramids” arriving in the afternoon at 3.30.
In the following months, the sappers of 1st FCE reinforcements merged with the original 1st FCE unit, boosting their number and continued training completely unaware of where and when they were headed. In February, 151 Ernest Murray gave his account of the sappers’ progress at Mena Camp.
“February has been a busy month with all branches of the Forces at Mena & elsewhere in Egypt. There has been all kinds of speculation & opinion as to where we would go & when. During the month the Engineers have been very busy training at Field work & during that time we have been supplied with Pontoons & have done a good deal of Bridging with them & have got on very well”. – February 1915 – from the Diary of 151 Ernest Murray
On the 28th Feb 1915 the men of the 1st FCE left Mena Camp and the mystery of the great Pyramids and entrained to Alexandria and on the 2nd March embarked on the troopships ‘Suffolk’ and ‘Devanha’ for Lemnos Island.
151 Ernest Murray recorded the following in his diary……
“2-3-15 About 8 am we steamed away from Port there was a fresh breeze blowing & a fairly choppy sea & a good many of the boys were sick…….. At our first Parade we were informed that our destination was Lemnos Island an Island about 40 miles from the Dardanelles. The breeze freshened during the day & there was a fair swell –
3-3-15 A very stiff breeze all day a fairly rough sea during the day one of our horses died – and we can ill afford to lose many of them. A lot of the boys are sick still. Things going well generally.
4-3-15 The morning broke clear with a very cool breeze blowing – many Islands being in sight – while on several mountains in the distance was to be seen snow. All day we drew closer to the snow covered mountains & the wind became very chilly. About 4 P.M. we entered the Harbor in Lemnos Island. The harbor has a wide entrance to the ocean but hidden inside is a fine sheltered harbor where were lying at anchor several Battleships ships – Cruisers & Sub-marines beside supply ships. All around the harbor is gently rising country being mostly cultivated while there are a number of quaint villages, while a striking feature are a great number of wind mills – apparently used as a primitive method of grinding the grain. The place gives one the impression of having been inhabited for many centuries as no doubt it has – the people no doubt living a very simple & primitive life. Taken in all it is a pretty place & interesting – but one thing that strikes the eye is the entire absence of trees. As we steamed in a number of recently large guns were to be seen on the foreshores.” – Courtesy Mitchell Library NSW
Over the following days the 1st FCE disembarked and were soon engaged erecting jetties, a signal hut, barracks, digging wells and laying water pipes.
Sapper 40 William Alexander Sutherland in a letter to his father back home in Newcastle Australia gave an account of life at Lemnos and the great work that was achieved by the Engineers.
“We landed on the Island of Lemnos. We formed a base for No. 1 stationary hospital. Our first job was to build a landing pier. It took us over three weeks to do this. The pier consisted of 100 feet of stone work, and 100 feet of wood work, and when finished was christened the ‘Australian Pier.’ We got praise for it from the Imperial Royal Engineer Colonel.
Our next work was in connection with the water supply, and to get this we had to sink about a dozen wells 30 feet deep and had also to lay 3000 feet of pipes. I can assure you we were not idling our time away. We also had to construct a road from the pier to the hospital – a distance of about a quarter of a mile. I will be able to turn my hand to anything when I get back.” – 40 William Sutherland
84 William Echlin Turnley also described the great work of the Engineers in his personal narrative “200 days at ANZAC “ Turnley described how the men of the 1st FCE spent a full seven weeks forming a base camp, sinking wells, building a reservoir, erecting horse lines and drinking troughs, putting up navigation posts around the harbour and building shelters for the wireless stations. Turnley also mentions their greatest achievement, the construction of the stone and wooden jetty known as the Australian Pier.
While the Engineers were preparing the Island for the increasing number of troop arrivals, all the latest news was that they would soon be preparing for a landing on the Dardanelles.
In early April the company boarded the “Ionian” and started building Barrel Piers, with work continuing until the 20th when the men of the 1st Field Company Engineers were told they would form part of the first landing party. The following day they went ashore and started landing rehearsals with the Infantry.
Gallipoli
On the 25th April 1915 landing day, Gallipoli, NCO Sergeant 168 John Flackfield was in charge of the mounted section of the Company and responsible for the designated drivers, the farriers (shoeing smiths), horses, wagons and equipment. Driver Gregory O’Sullivan and his section were separated from the main body of the company and were standing on the deck of the “Nizam’ offshore, awaiting orders to land.
Watching the events of the morning unfold with the mounted section, Gregory would find out that the mounted section, the horses and the equipment could not be offloaded. He was in the company of approximately 25 fellow drivers, many of whom were also former blacksmiths and farriers, 16 Marcus Clarke, 178 Walter Blattman and 218 Mervyn Lambert, just to name a few.
As the drivers were unable to land their horses on the peninsular, with a few exceptions, the majority of this rank later returned to Egypt and were encamped at Mex near Alexandria, for the duration of the Gallipoli occupation.
However, Gregory O’Sullivan’s service record indicates he spent some time at Mudros prior to returning to Alexandria and joining the other drivers and mounted section. For reasons unknown, the record shows on the 21st June he embarked on the HMT SS ‘Minnetonka’, arriving at Alexandria camp Mex on the 26th June, stating he joined for duty from Gaba Tepe Peninsula. This was identical to the service record of 189 Reginald Weames, who was Batman to one of the original officers but who is still unidentified at this stage.
Very little information is available regarding the drivers and those attached to what was often described as the mounted section; however, the diaries of Driver 160 Percy Thompson and accounts from blacksmiths and farriers such as 16 Marcus Clark continue to add to the story of the originals. 16 Marcus Clark had sent a letter home to his family detailing the landing day events and his birds-eye view while anchored just 1/2 a mile offshore from Anzac Cove.
“Where they landed was just one mass of high hills, supposed by the Turks to be impregnable………Pinnaces took the men ashore from the troopships. The water was too shallow for the boats to go in close…. there were only 1000 of our boys in the first charge and as they charged they let out a murderous yell…………….We were anchored within half a mile of the shore. We could hear the rifles (sic?) and see the shrapnel bursting over our boys heads…..the cruisers were continually planting shells among the Turks. The hospital ship was near, and she got full in no time for the snipers played havoc with our chaps and were very keen on shooting Officers and Red Cross men. By about sundown we were in close…………..All day Sunday and Sunday night the firing was terrific. Although we were so near the fighting, we would not get any news until about four days after when about twenty of our wounded chaps came on board. All the above happened on Sunday the 25th April, on Tuesday 27th the “Goebens” (German destroyer) started shelling…… several shells landed close by us and one went through the ships rigging……………On Friday the 7th May she started shelling us again and hit one of the boats, but did very little damage. We have not been able to land the horses as the country is too rough, they have to use mules. We left this morning 12th May, on our way back to Alexandria…….we arrived back in Alexandria on May 14th.” – 16 Marcus Clark
When the drivers of the 1st FCE had returned to Egypt and settled back in camp they were just five miles from Alexandria and only a mile from the sea. The weather was dry and extremely hot; however, they were able to enjoy bathing every night. Marcus described the daily work schedule of the farrier’s…………….
“We are camped with New Zealander’s and English, and there are a lot of horses. We have reveile at 5.30, and my mate and I shoe from 6 to 7.30, and knock off at 11, when we are finished for the day. None of the troops work after dinner…… Our food is good now, being supplied by the English A.S.C. It is too hot to wear long trousers and leggings, so we cut off our trousers at the knees, and wear white shoes without socks, which is far more comfortable. Only five of us sleep in one tent which is supposed to hold 15, so we have plenty of room. We have as much leave as we want, but without pay. All of our officers are at the Dardanelles and a Sergeant is in charge of us……We may be here for a couple of months and then we take the horses to England very soon.” ………. Marcus Clark (The Sergeant that Marcus makes reference to is John Flackfield)
According to Marcus Clark, the mounted section was under the impression they would be making their way to England but that was not the case.
On the 19th March 1916 the entire 1st Field Company, including the mounted section and 20 drivers under L/Cpl 174 Eveleigh Hodges, left Serapeum and entrained for Alexandria, arriving the following day. On the 21st March the 1st Field company and the drivers then embarked for Marseilles, France on the S.S ‘Invernia’, arriving at Marseilles on the 28th March 1916.
Gregory O’Sullivan, attached to the mounted section, also left Alexandria embarking on the ‘Knight Templar’ and arrived at Toulon, France a day earlier. According to the 1st FCE “Short Account” the mounted section would later join up with the drivers and sappers on the 18th April at Bac St.Maur, with pontoons, G.S wagons, tool carts and the company were all billeted in a local factory.
As a driver Gregory O’Sullivan and a member of the 1st FCE, he was never far away from the action in the field. The diaries of fellow driver 160 Percy Thompson and scattered accounts from drivers throughout this time brings awareness to the difficult and demanding tasks set for the drivers at the pointed end of the assaults. From the Battle of the Somme to Hellfire Corner and the Battles of Ypres, the 1st Field Company Engineers were on the front line and always instrumental in keeping support for the infantry.
Gregory O’Sullivan served in France with the 1st Field Company Engineers throughout most of the campaigns at the front with a brief ten-day leave in September 1917.
On the 13th April 1918, Gregory was charged with misconduct for “creating a disturbance at Borre” which seems trivial considering the conditions. However, he was reinstated to driver a few months later.
As the war was approaching an end, Gregory embarked on the ‘Darwin’ and disembarked in Australia on the 26th of December 1918.
After his return, Gregory John Sullivan married Monica Mary Ryan in 1920 in Sydney. It appears Gregory returned to his trade as a blacksmith, perhaps Clyde Engineering, where he was employed prior to the war.
Together Gregory and Monica had six children and in 1930, along with his sister Veronica were living at 27 Gibbons Street Auburn.
On the 2nd December 1940, he enlisted with the Army Citizen Forces at Paddington, familiar grounds to where he enlisted thirty-six years earlier. He was 44 years of age and still blacksmithing and was attached to the F.C Maintenance and Repair Coy. During the war, he was later deployed to Darwin and Queensland and in August 1944 he was medically discharged, he was 48 years old.
Gregory John O’Sullivan died on 1st June 1957 and was laid to rest at Liverpool Cemetery and crematorium. His younger brother John Daniel O’Sullivan died 16 days later on the 17th June.
Story by Vance Kelly Copyright 2018
Sources and Acknowledgments:
AWM, NAA, NLA
Photo of Gregory, courtesy of Caroline Head, relative.
NZ National Library – Knight Templar Image
Jack Moore Collection of Photos
1st Field Company Engineers - Australian Imperial Forces 