Born in South Australia, Sullivan worked for the National Bank of Australasia prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in April 1918 for service in World War I.

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 played golf and Australian rules football, and was the secretary of the Maitland Patriotic Society, which organised farewells and welcome home events for local men who had enlisted or returned from the war.

[4][7] After the parade, the attendees congregated at the town recreation grounds, where a sports carnival was held, and volunteers for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) were encouraged to come forward.

[16] The convoy in which the Marathon travelled sailed via Albany, Western Australia, Durban and Cape Town, South Africa, and Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Upon arriving in Tilbury in the UK on 27 September,[17] Sullivan was briefly allocated as a reinforcement to the 10th Battalion before transferring to the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery training camp at Heytesbury, Wiltshire, on 5 October 1918.

[5][23][24] 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.

Sullivan was allotted to the 45th Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (45th RF), part of the NRRF brigade commanded by Brigadier General Lionel Sadleir-Jackson.

[34] A 50-man detachment of the advance party was almost immediately sent up the Dvina River by paddle steamer to the village of Pinega,[35] where they stayed for five days, ostensibly to quell rioting, although they actually encountered no trouble.

[40] D Company of the 45th RF, which included Sullivan and about 20 other Australians,[41] was to push down the western side of the Dvina and take the villages of Sludka and Lipovets from the rear.

At 12:00, the D Company column, which included Sullivan's 16 Platoon, launched its assault, although without the support of the mountain guns and cavalry that had been left behind owing to the difficult terrain.

[4][7][25] About 02:30 on 11 August, having covered 12 miles (20 km) in eight hours, the column crossed the Sheika River, which at this point resembled a deep swamp about 330 feet (100 m) wide.

As the long column crossed in single file, it was hit by Bolshevik rifle and machine gun fire at a range of less than 330 feet (100 m).

[1][7][25][48][49] The first man that Sullivan saved from the swamp was Lieutenant Charles Henry Gordon-Lennox, Lord Settrington, who had been wounded prior to falling off the bridge.

The fourth man was some distance away and Sullivan waded out with a piece of broken handrail from the temporary bridge that the soldier was able to grab and be pulled to safety.

The platoon to which he belonged, after fighting a rearguard covering action, had to cross the river by means of a narrow plank, and during the passage an officer and three men fell into a deep swamp.

It was a splendid example of heroism, as all ranks were on the point of exhaustion and the enemy less than 100 yards distant.When told of his award, Sullivan said that his comrades were also worthy of recognition and stated that his VC should be raffled, although the latter did not occur.

Sullivan wished to return to Australia immediately without waiting for his investiture by King George V. He left England on 1 November aboard the troopship Nestor, and travelling the reverse of the route he had followed in 1918, Sullivan returned to Adelaide, the South Australian capital, on 12 December where he was greeted as a hero and afforded a reception at the Adelaide Town Hall.

[4] Arthur Sullivan was a very popular man, and his reputation as the "Shy VC" was enhanced by his "unassuming character and reluctance to talk of his exploits".

[1][4] Upon his return to Australia, he resumed his former employment with the National Bank of Australasia, initially at Maitland from 9 February 1920, and re-immersed himself in the local community and sports.

[1][4] He was closely involved with the community, was president of the local Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia sub-branch, and was widely admired and respected in the town.

[76] The ACC went into camp in Melbourne on 1 February, where they were subjected to drill, physical exercise, route marches and picquet duty for two weeks.

[4][79] Oronsay sailed via Adelaide, Perth, Colombo, Aden, Suez, Naples, Monte Carlo and Toulon, including several opportunities for shore leave.

[80] Sullivan handed his friend's ashes to representatives of the British Legion at Lytham St Annes in Lancashire on 27 March, and they were passed on to Evans' sister.

Despite an intense schedule of parade ground drill, the main purpose of the visit was ambassadorial and ceremonial, so leave was granted most afternoons and evenings and there were many offers of hospitality.

[81] On 9 April 1937, a little over a month before King George VI's coronation, Sullivan attended an afternoon tea in St James's along with about fifty members of the ACC.

He left the tea party early in order to get ready for a reunion dinner that evening at the Royal Fusiliers regimental headquarters located in the Tower of London.

Sullivan's death deeply affected the members of the ACC as well as both governments, with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth sending a message to the Australian high commissioner and former prime minister of Australia, Stanley Bruce, to express their sadness.

A pallbearer party including nine VC recipients was one element of a long procession from Man O'War Steps to the Northern Suburbs Crematorium with much of the route lined with onlookers.

[9] In the same year, a bronze plaque was made by a member of the ACC, but owing to World War II it was not placed upon the iron railings of Wellington Barracks, close to where Sullivan was killed, until January 1946.