Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"LATE PTE. T. P. SHANNON.

Mr. and Mrs. T. Shannon, of William street, Norwood, have been notified that their eldest son, Pte. T. P. Shannon, was killed in action in France on August 16. The deceased left for the front in February last. He was educated at the Christian Brothers' College, Adelaide, and was for nine years in the employ of Messrs. Robert Reid & Co., Limited. He was well known in athletic circles. His loss will be keenly felt by a large circle of friends, among whom he was highly esteemed." - from the Adelaide Register 23 Sep 1916 (nla.gov.au)

Completed by Charles Campbell College

Thomas Patrick Shannon was born on the 13 February 1887 to parents Thomas and Louisa Shannon in Kensington, South Australia. Shannon was raised Roman Catholic and spent his schooling years attending Christian Brothers College. After school Shannon worked as a salesman at Messrs. Robert Reid & Co. Limited for nine years up to his enlistment in the war. The store was first opened in 1919 and was founded by Hon. Robert Reid and James Wright. The store soled clothing and footwear products and had stores in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide.
At the age of 28 Shannon enlisted on the 28 September 1915 in Adelaide, South Australia. Shannon then started his training at Morphettville training camp as part of the 2nd depot battalion on the same day till 15 October 1915. He was then moved to the 1st depot battalion located at Mitcham Camp from the 16 October 1915 till the 1 December 1915.

Shannon departed Adelaide on the 7 February 1916 on the ship HMAT Miltiades and disembarked in Heliopolis, Egypt on the April 2 1916. Shannon was sent as 9th reinforcements for the 27th battalion. While training on 2 April 1916 Shannon was taken on strength to the 50th battalion. The 50th battalion consisted of new soldiers from Australia (mainly South Australia) and veterans from Australia’s 10th Battalion. This battalion was created on the 26th of February 1916 as the ‘combining of the AIF’. Three days later on 5 April he was elected to join the British Expeditionary Force at the rank of Private. Shannon disembarked on the 12 June 1916 at Marseilles, France. There is no record of his embarkment.

The first known records of the 50th battalion dated back to July 1 1916. Shannon started his journey in Fleur – Baix where one casualty was evacuated to the field hospice. The following days on 3 and 5 July The 50th battalion faced heavy bombardment by the enemy. On 7 July 1916 a gas alarm was raised at midnight and multiple others rung throughout the day. They also faced heavy bombardment by the enemy. On 8 July 1916 the 50th battalion started artillery fire and aerial observation. The next few days the battalion faced multiple rounds of bombardment, destroying of their billets and ariel observation from the enemy. By 11 July 1916 the battle was over and the 50th battalion started their march. Their first journey was from Fleur – Baix to Estaires. They departed around 11pm and arrived at 3.30am. They faced no shelling or gunfire. On 12 July 1916 the battalion marched from Estaires to Rouge – Croix. The next day the A Coy left Rouge – Croix and marched to Ballieul with B,C and D Coy leaving 2 hours later. Later that evening the Battalion began the march from Ballieul to Pernois. On 15 July 1916 the battalion rested while waiting for further instruction to move. The following day while still waiting for conformation church parades were held at 10am with a parade route march in the afternoon. 17 July 1916 the battalion marched a distance of about 9 miles but orders of move were later cancelled. From 18 July 1916 to 22 July 1916 the battalion conducted several marches totalling around 22 miles. 23 July 1916 while still in Pernois a Roman Catholic church parade was held at 9am while a Christian church parade was held at 10am. Soldiers then had an afternoon parade followed by a bathing parade. The following day the battalion marched another 7 miles and then completed an Afternoon parade and a General Parade. Final preparations were made on 26 July 1916 when four parades were held, a morning parade, a coy parade, an afternoon parade finished off with battalion parades. The unit war diaries stated on 27 July 916 at 3pm it was stated that the battalion was in attack. The following day soldiers participated in another coy parade, afternoon parade and a bathing parade. The following month on 29 July 1916 the battalion marched from Pernois to Hèrissart leaving at 9.20am and arriving at about 4.30pm completing a distance of about 12 miles. 98 men fell out without permission. On 30 July 1916 the battalion completed a church parade with an afternoon and battalion parade held later in the day. The last day in July the battalion completed a route march from 9am till 12pm. They then had an afternoon parade. All of this training was to help prepare the soldiers for their time on the front line. Every soldier had trained for hours every month just for their hard work to lead up to this first big battle. No one would know what horrors were ahead of them no one knew if they would live.

On 1 August 1916 the 50th battalion completed a route march then left from Hèrissart arriving at Vandencourt settling in the woods at the rear of the village. The following day while camping in the woods awaiting orders soldiers completed 2 coy parades while the officers attended a lecture held by Lieutenant RG. August 3 1916 soldiers completed a physical drill and then attended coy parades with a parade also being held for specialists. Soldiers then received instructions on how to load a gun. The following day soldiers completed more physical drills and coy parades. 5 August 1916 a syllabus was forwarded to the brigade and an order to move that night was received. 6 August 1916 the 50th battalion arrived in Brickfields. They situated themselves on top of a hill receiving food and shelter. They faced shelling throughout the night. A church parade was held. 7 August 1916 the battalion was awaiting orders. They experienced shelling but no damage was done nearby. August 10 1916 soldiers were still stationed at Brickfields. General parades were held and they faced light rain. 11 August 1916 orders to move was received to leave at 6am the next day. 12 August 1916 the battalion arrived at the front line and were stationed at wire trench. This was the beginning of the 50th battalion’s first big battle of Mouquet Farm from the 13th to the 15th of August 1916. This battle affected the battalion greatly causing them to loose many numbers. They faced heavy fog while waiting for orders to be received. Orders were then received from the 11th battalion to proceed to the front line as quickly as possible. A coy moved out followed by B,C +D Coy’s. The soldiers faced heavy bombardment and shelling on the way to the trench and immediately on arrival. Later that day they faced constant shelling. It was impossible for D coy to take over from the 16th battalion until the barrage ended. There were many casualties and many being moved to the dressing station. The 50th battalion’s aeroplanes were active, observing enemy fire. One plane took down an enemy’s plane but it fell close by to where the soldiers were situated. The enemies fire were reportedly very active. The battalion had received orders to attack that night. The after report of the attack stated that the battalion completed a “terrific barrage”. The battalion faced heavy bombardment and there were reports of numerous soldiers feeling fatigued. The next few days soldiers faced much heavy bombardment and artillery fire. On Shannon’s final day the battalion received orders along with the 1st brigade to move out during bad weather. Even though casualties were slight, according to the unit diary, during this move Shannon lost his life. He was killed in field just prior to the Battalion’s withdrawal from the front. There are no specific details of his death. Private Thomas Patrick Shannon is buried at Courcelette British Cemetery (Fig.3). During service he received both the British War Medal and the Victory Medal (Fig.1). His mother received his wristwatch after his death. There are many memorials around Australia that contains Thomas Patrick Shannon’s name. There is the Norwood War Memorial, Fallen Soldiers War Memorial in Rose Park, The Adelaide National War Memorial and the Australian War Memorial.

Reference List:

Australian National University, 2010, Robert Reid and Company Limited - Archives (anu.edu.au), September 6 2024

Australian War Memorial, 2024, (Thomas Patrick Shannon | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)

, June 2024

Australian War Memorial, 2024 (50th Australian Infantry Battalion | Australian War Memorial (awm.gov.au)) , June 2024

Australian War Memorial, 2024 AWM4 Subclass 23/67 - 50th Infantry Battalion | Australian War Memorial , June 2024

National Archives of Australia, 2005 (Item details (naa.gov.au) , June 2024

Observer, 1916 (23 Sep 1916 - Family Notices - Trove (nla.gov.au) ,  June 2024

The journal, 1916 22 Sep 1916 - LATE PTE. T. P. SHANNON. - Trove (nla.gov.au) , July 10 2024

Virtual War Memorial (Virtual War Memorial | Thomas Patrick SHANNON (vwma.org.au) , June 2024

Virtual war Memorial (Virtual War Memorial | 27th Infantry Battalion (vwma.org.au) , July 2024

Virtual war Memorial (Virtual War Memorial | 50th Infantry Battalion (vwma.org.au)