Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Enlisted and served under alias of Joseph Sullivan 

Reginald James EPTHORP was born in Thornleigh, Sydney on 1st March, 1889

His parents were Hugh John EPTHORP & Elizabeth Susan REEVE who married in Sydney in 1879

Joseph Sullivan was born Reginald James Epthorp at Thornleigh NSW on 1st March 1889, the third son of Hugh and Elizabeth Epthorp. He attended school at Thornleigh and then engaged in a dentistry apprenticeship.

Reginald Epthorp moved to Howard some time before 1914, where he assumed the name of Joseph Sullivan and was apparently employed as a miner. His brother, Hugh, who was also a dentist advised in a letter written after the war that his brother had enlisted under another name for family reasons. Given that his name appears on the Howard Memorial as J. Sullivan, it is reasonable to assume that he assumed his new identity and occupation when he relocated to Howard. For simplicity, I shall refer to Reginald using the name under which he served.

Joseph enlisted in Maryborough on 17th September 1914, soon after recruiting opened. He named his sister, Nellie Stanley of Burwood NSW as his next of kin. Joseph presented as 26 years old and stated his occupation as miner. He was given a travel warrant to take a train to Brisbane and then to the newly established training camp at Enoggera where he arrived on 24th September.

In camp, Joseph was allocated as an original recruit for the 15th battalion which was being raised under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel James Cannan. Recruits were issued with a pair of boots, a pair of dungarees (overalls) and a floppy white hat. Camp life was very basic to begin with but gradually the troops began to gain the necessary equipment and skills. In the beginning of December, the 15th Battalion travelled by train (requiring several changes of gauge) to the large training camp at Broadmeadows on the outskirts of Melbourne where the battalion joined three other battalions that had been raised across the nation to form the 4th Brigade AIF under Colonel John Monash.

After further training at brigade level, the troops boarded the “Ceramic” at Port Melbourne on 22nd December and sailed in convoy with transports carrying a New Zealand contingent. The battalion landed in Alexandria, Egypt on 3rd February 1915 and then travelled by train to the Aerodrome Camp on the outskirts of Cairo. Training continued at brigade level and was intensified once the decision was taken to land troops on the Gallipoli Peninsula as part of the naval assault on the Dardenelles.

The 15th Battalion embarked at Alexandria on 11th April 1915 and sailed to Mudros Harbour on the island of Lemnos, which had become the staging point for the landings on the peninsula. Troops practiced climbing down rope ladders and nets in the harbour to waiting boats. There were no barracks on shore so the troops remained on their transport ships.

When the landings began at Anzac Cove from the early morning of 25th April, the 15th battalion remained on board their transports; being held in reserve. It was not until the evening that part of the battalion landed at Anzac. When the rest of the battalion landed the next morning, the 15th Battalion moved up a steep gully that would soon be called Monash Valley to a point at the head of the gully. The position was extremely precarious as the attackers were no more than twenty metres from Turkish positions and were overlooked by snipers on the ridges above. To the Australian rear was a step drop into the gully below. This position which was held on the first day and remained in Australian hands until the evacuation of Gallipoli seven months later was known as Quinn’s Post, named after Major Quinn of 15th Battalion.

Joseph’s file indicates that he was killed in action at Quinn’s post on 1st May 1915, barely a week after arriving on the peninsula. He was one of almost 400 casualties suffered by the 15th Battalion in the first few weeks at Quinn’s Post. The records indicate that Joseph was buried at Quinn’s Post with a Reverend Wray in attendance. More than half the burials recorded in the Quinn’s Post Cemetery are 15th Battalion men, including Major Quinn.

Nellie Stanley, as next of kin, was advised of her brother’s death and in due course, received his personal effects which amounted to a single identity disc. She also accepted Joseph’s medals and memorial plaque.

When the War Graves Registration Unit arrived on Gallipoli in 1919, many of the markers that had been placed  over Australian graves were missing. It was first assumed that local farmers had taken the wooden crosses as firewood but it is more likely that in the ensuing four years, weather and erosion had obliterated vital information.

Joseph Sullivan resumed his true name in death. He is commemorated on a special memorial headstone in the Quinn’s Post cemetery under the name Reginald James Epthorp: Believed to be buried in this cemetery, actual grave unknown. His family requested the following inscription: WE ASKED FOR HIM LIFE, THOU GAVEST EVERLASTING LIFE.