page_title: Arthur Sullivan (Australian soldier)
section_title: To Russia
hierarchical_section_title: Arthur Sullivan (Australian soldier) / Military service / To Russia
caption_attribution_description: AWM caption&#160;: North Russia. Unidentified members of the 45th Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, taking a smoke break. Australian members of the battalion retained their former AIF uniforms while in Russia. One of the men to the left is wearing a fur hat.
context_page_description: Arthur Percy Sullivan VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to a member of the British Armed Forces. Born in South Australia, Sullivan worked for the National Bank of Australasia prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force in April 1918 for service in World War I. He had arrived in the United Kingdom, but had not completed training when the Armistice came into effect on 11 November of that year. Sullivan was promoted to corporal in March 1919, but, wanting to see active service, sought his discharge from the AIF on 28 May. On the same day he enlisted in the British Army for service with the North Russia Relief Force, part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War.
  Sullivan was deployed to North Russia with the relief force. Following a successful attack, he was a member of the rearguard of a column withdrawing across the Sheika River. As his platoon crossed the river on a crude one-plank bridge, it came under intense fire from Bolshevik troops, and four members fell into the river.
context_section_description: Sullivan was hospitalised with gonorrhea at Bulford between 25 November 1918 and 11 March 1919. He was promoted to acting corporal on 23 March, and served as a camp orderly room corporal at Codford. He was keen for a tour of active duty with the North Russia Relief Force (NRRF) as part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. This intervention had begun after the Bolsheviks had overthrown the Russian government and made peace with the Central Powers in 1917. Allied troops had become involved in the ongoing civil war, and after the Armistice in November 1918, their involvement continued, albeit with poorly defined objectives. In March 1919, the NRRF was conceived to intervene against the Bolsheviks and create a situation where the original force could be withdrawn. Although no Australian contingent was being sent with the NRRF, it was recruiting amongst Australians then in the UK, and a recruiting officer visited Codford in April. Sullivan was attracted by the high pay and potential for adventure. The Australian government specified that Australian recruits to the NRRF had to forego their repatriation rights and could not be married. Sullivan was discharged from the AIF on 28 May, and enlisted in the British Army on the same day as a corporal.
  The NRRF was an 8,000-strong force of two brigades that included about 150 Australians who had been awaiting repatriation in the UK. Sullivan was allotted to the 45th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (45th RF), part of the NRRF brigade commanded by Brigadier General Lionel Sadleir-Jackson. The Australians were permitted to continue wearing the Australian uniform, and wore the NRRF colour patch on their sleeve. The commanding officer of the 45th RF was Lieutenant Colonel Charles Davies, an Australian who had commanded the 32nd Battalion on the Western Front. Sullivan and the other Australians went into camp at Sandling in Kent where they prepared for their deployment. The Australians who volunteered for the NRRF were concentrated in two units; the 45th RF, and the 201st Company, Machine Gun Corps. 
  Sullivan sailed directly from Leith to Russia with an advance party on board the Steigerwald on 9 June, and travelling via Murmansk landed at Archangel on 20 June. A 50-man detachment of the advance party was almost immediately sent up the Dvina River by paddle steamer to the village of Pinega, where they stayed for five days, ostensibly to quell rioting, although they actually encountered no trouble. They returned downstream to the village of Osinovo where they were reunited with the rest of the advance party. Osinovo was about 19 miles (30 km) behind the frontline at the village of Seltso, and the camp contained about 4,000 troops. At Osinovo, they went into camp with the rest of the advance force, and underwent intensive training. On the river was a flotilla of British monitors and gunboats. The main body of the NRRF arrived in Archangel on 11 July, following two mutinies by British-led White Russian battalions in the area. The Bolsheviks held a fortified line about 25 miles (40 km) south of Osinovo.
caption: Members of the 45th Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers in North Russia in 1919, including a seated Australian wearing a slouch hat
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