Canada, Dominion. A Victory Medal, 260Th Infantry Battalion, Canadian Siberian Expeditionary Force

(885329 L. CPL. T.M. BULLIVANT. C.S.E.F.). Naming is officially impressed. Very light contact, original replacement ribbon, near extremely fine. Accompanied by copies of his Index cards, Attestation Paper, Service Records, Medical Records, Pay Records and Discharge Certificates.

Footnote: Thomas Munton Bullivant was born on November 5, 1884 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England. He was a resident of Alix, Alberta, 55 kilometres east of Red Deer, when he signed his Attestation Paper as a Rifleman (885329) with the 191st Infantry Battalion "South Alberta Regiment", on August 2, 1916 in Alix, at the age of 31, naming his next-of-kin as his wife, Mrs. Thomas Bullivant, stating that he had one years' previous service with the 15th Light Horse (the predecessor of the South Alberta Light Horse), that he was Married, that his religion was Church of England and that his trade was that of Farmer. Four months later, he was admitted to Red Deer Hospital and hospitalized for two weeks, from November 28 to December 12, 1916, with "Le Grippe" (Pneumonia), making a full recovery. Six months after his release from hospital and still with the 191st Infantry Battalion, Bulllivant was in Calgary for a medical examination. In his Medical History of an Invalid, dated June 21, 1917 at Calgary, it was noted that he had had Flat Feet prior to enlistment and that it was currently causing his problems. The attending physician noted that Bullivant had "injured (his) right foot, and then (the) left broke down on account of weight". He also went on to say that "both feet are decidedly flat. Arches broken. Man of 210 lbs. Rigid type. Cannot invert the right foot. Left can be inverted, but with difficulty. Some pain in peroneal muscles after marches", the Medical Board determining that his condition was "Permanent" in nature. He was transferred to the 13th Special Service Company, Canadian Expeditionary Force on July 7, 1917.

Early in the new year, Bullivant was appointed Lance Corporal at Calgary on January 31, 1918 and by the Fall, was posted to the 1st Depot Battalion at Sarcee, Alberta as of September 24, 1918. He was posted to the 260th Infantry Battalion at Military District No. 11 in Victoria, British Columbia, on October 1, 1918. Lance Corporal Bullivant was with the 260th Infantry Battalion when he embarked from Victoria aboard the Blue Funnel liner S.S. Protesilaus on December 26, 1918 with 1,800 enlisted men and 170 officers. The ship had been hastily retrofitted to accommodate the 2,000 soldiers: half were quartered in bunks while the remainder slept in hammocks strung haphazardly below deck. Conditions aboard the S.S. Protesilaus at sea were grim, which later resulted in a Court of Inquiry by the Canadian command. The ship was heavily overloaded and battled rough weather all the way to Vladivostok.

On December 30th, four days after leaving Victoria, the ship encountered a storm. 2768761 Private Harold Butler was killed and two other soldiers injured when a large case of ice and meat broke loose from its mountings and crushed them. Private Butler was buried at sea. Two days later, a Chinese crew member went overboard during a storm and died. As the ship approached Russia, it encountered bad weather again, losing its port propeller and becoming stuck in the ice, fifty kilometres east of Vladivostok. The Protesilaus sent an S.O.S. message by wireless. When word reached Vladivostok, Siberia, two British cruisers were readied for departure. However, the Protesilaus sent a second wireless with its location and the message “no assistance required.” As Captain Eric Elkington recalled seven decades later “We were rescued by a Japanese war ship". The Protesilaus limped towards Vladivostok on the power of a single propeller, arriving on January 15, 1919. While in Siberia, Lance Corporal Bullivant was punished for being Absent Without Leave from 12:01 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on April 9, 1919, forfeiting one days' pay by R.W. and was awarded forfeiture of four days' pay. After four months' service in Siberia, he returned to Canada, sailing from Vladivostok aboard the Empress of Japan, on May 9, 1919, arriving in Vancouver on the 21st and was posted to Military District No. 13 in Calgary. Lance Corporal Thomas Munton Bullivant, 260th Infantry Battalion was discharged upon demobilization at the Discharge Section, Military District No. 13 in Calgary, Alberta, on May 23, 1919, at the age of 34, credited with having served in Canada and Siberia, entitled to wear the War Service Badge, Class "A", number 251865. For his First World War service, he was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. He died on January 6, 1939, at the age of 54.