Sgt O'Sullivan was one of four brothers who served in the War, his correct name was actually Richard and it would appear that he lied about his age when he enlisted
and possibly used his older brother Michael's birth certificate to gain entry into the RAF.
Richard O'Sullivan was born on 16th November 1921 at Newcastle West, Limerick, Ireland and was the son of Daniel and Hanora (nee Tobin) O'Sullivan. His brother Michael was born on 28th October 1918 at Ardagh, Limerick, Ireland. Richard almost certainly used his brother Michael's birth certificate to enlist into the RAF and from then on assumed his brother's identity. A casualty list supplied to Canadian families of those who died at Felixkirk give his date of birth as being 28th October 1918 which clearly must relate to his brother. His body was returned to his family and buried under private arrangements in Castlemahon Old Graveyard, County Limerick, Republic of Ireland.
I thank his niece, Ms Mary Murray for contacting me in April 2011 and for the information and photograph she was kindly able to provide this account. The CWGC gave his age as being twenty six when he died, where as his gravestone gives his age as twenty three. CWGC have since removed his age from their online records.
He and Geoffrey Walton were flying in Halifax LK878 as an extra pilot and flight engineer for experience when the accident occurred, they were two of a seperate seven man crew.
