Arthur Henry SHANNON

Badge Number: 36141, Sub Branch: State
36141

SHANNON, Arthur Henry

Service Number: 17159
Enlisted: 10 September 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: Army Medical Corps (AIF)
Born: Kensington, South Australia, 10 September 1891
Home Town: Norwood (SA), South Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Butcher
Died: 4 August 1950, aged 58 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: AIF Cemetery, West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide, South Australia
Section: KO, Road: 11, Site No: 34
Memorials: Somerton Park Sacred Heart College Men of "The Marist Brothers Old Scholars Association" Honor Roll WW1
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World War 1 Service

10 Sep 1916: Enlisted
23 Jun 1917: Involvement Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '23' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: ''
23 Jun 1917: Embarked Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), HMAT Borda, Adelaide
25 Aug 1917: Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), At Plymouth
9 Oct 1917: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, Attached for duty to Group Clearing Hosp. Godford
21 Feb 1918: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Army Medical Corps (AIF), to Group Clearing Hosp, Godford.
26 Jun 1918: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Army Medical Corps (AIF), overseas to France ex England
1 Jul 1918: Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, Taken on strength of 3rd Field Ambulance, France
11 Aug 1918: Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, Wounded by gas shell
12 Aug 1918: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Transferred to 12th U.S. Gen. Hosp., Rouen, with Gas wound
19 Aug 1918: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Transferred to Con. Depot, Rouen
17 Sep 1918: Transferred AIF WW1, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Transferred to 2nd A.G.H., France ex A.G.B.D
11 Nov 1918: Involvement Private, 17159
24 Oct 1919: Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 17159, Army Medical Corps (AIF), Discharged from the AIF
Date unknown: Wounded 17159, 3rd Field Ambulance

Help us honour Arthur Henry Shannon's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.

Biography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College

Arthur Henry Shannon was born in Norwood, SA. His father’s name was Patrick Shannon and he was a cattle buyer, his mother’s name is Mary Shannon. He weighed 150 pounds and had hazel eyes, brown hair, he was not married until after the war and his religious denomination was Roman Catholic. His occupation before the war was a butcher.

Arthur Henry Shannon enlisted in the A.I.F on 11th September 1916 and was 23 and a half years old when he signed up. He was assigned to the medical corps with the rank of Private. He was assigned with the service number 17159 and embarked for active service abroad on 23rd June 1917 on the ship HMAT A30 Borda, Adelaide. He disembarked at Plymouth on the 25th August 1917 and was attached for duty to Group clearing hospital, Codford on the 9th October 1917.

Clearing Hospitals are emergency medical facilities that were located right behind the front lines that treats soldiers that were wounded very badly and were on the brink of death, so they can have enough time to be transferred to a normal hospital. Arthur was becoming unwell while he was treating soldier’s wounds and remained to be treated at the same hospital he worked in, he remained there for approximately 5 months until he made a full recovery and immediately was attached for duty to the Australian Dermatological Hospital in Bulford which was a specialist hospital for skin diseases.

On the 26th June 1918, he went overseas to Rouelles in France and moved in to the Australian General Base Depot for 4 days until he was taken on the strength of the 3rd field ambulance in France. A field ambulance was a front line medical unit manned by troops of the Army Medical Corps that would treat wounded soldiers that were close to the war zone. The wounded soldiers were treated but some were sent over to other countries to be treated, like France which is where Arthur Henry Shannon treated soldiers.

On the 12th of August 1918, he was transferred to the 12 U.S General Hospital, Rouen because he was wounded by a gas shell wound. He recovered within 7 days and was transferred to the 11th convalescent depot in Rouen which was for people returning to the front, people who did not need hospitalisation but was unfit to join their units again. He was again transferred to another depot before transferred to the 2nd Australian General Hospital in France. On the 20th of December 1918, he was admitted to the 39th general hospital in Havre because he was not yet diagnosed. A letter was also sent home to his mother that he was discharged from the hospital to a convalescent hospital and stayed there for 22 days.

On the 27th January 1819, he was moved to a command depot in Sutton, Veny to regain his strength. 2 months later and he was attached for duty from the Australian Army Medical Corps to the Australian Imperial Force Headquarters in London. 5 months later after that and he left England and embarked on the HT Ceramic. He disembarked at Adelaide a month later and was discharged from the AIF a month after he disembarked.

Arthur Henry Shannon won the British war medal and the victory medal. The British war medal was a campaign medal of the British Empire, for service in WW1. Most of the medals were made up of solid silver, the ribbon included stripes of white, black and blue.

The victory medal was given to people who served in the war. The medal is made up of bronze and a winged figure of Victory on the front. On the back includes the words ‘The great war for civilisation’ surrounded by a laurel wreath. The ribbon included a double rainbow with the violet colours on the outside while the red colours meet up in the medal.

My soldier showed true ANZAC spirit through his actions. He was gassed while treating his own patient’s wounds. and was treated for the gas wound. After he was treated, he didn’t go back home but he carried on and was transferred to other hospitals to continue the work he was doing.

After the war, he got married to a woman called Gertrude Rachel Webb when he was 26 years old. Sadly, Arthur Henry Shannon passed away on the 4th of August 1950 and is buried at the AIF cemetery (Row 11, Grave No.34), West Terrace, Australian in South Australia       

 

 Bibliography:

Western Front 2012, Map, Pearsons, accessed 15 March 2018, <https://reader-sin-prod.gls.pearson-intl.com/readBook>.

Grave and Portrait n.d., Photograph, Rsl virtual war memorial, accessed 14 March 2018, <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/projects/15029/edit?t=1519782464928>.

3rd Field Ambulance n.d., Photograph, Beckerexhibits, accessed 15 March 2018, <http://beckerexhibits.wustl.edu/gh21/ww1/index.htm>.

Unit dairy: Unit Dairy 2017, accessed 15 March 2018, <https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1350523?image=13>.

A30 - Borda1 n.d., Photograph, Adoptadigger, accessed 14 March 2018, <http://adoptadigger.org/gallery/troopships/troopships/a30-borda1-356>.

British war medal n.d., Photograph, Forces-war-records, accessed 14 March 2018, <https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/medals/british-war-medal>.

AIF Project n.d., General Info, accessed 14 March 2018, <https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=271216>.

Arthur Henry Shannon n.d., accessed 15 March 2018, <https://sarcib.ww1.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/soldier/arthur-henry-shannon>.

Medical record n.d., accessed 15 March 2018, <http://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/sarcib/SRG76_1_6694.pdf>.

1900's butcher n.d., accessed 15 March 2018, <http://www.1900s.org.uk/1900s-edmonton-butcher.htm>.

Field Ambulances in WW1 n.d., accessed 15 March 2018, <http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/soldiers/a-soldiers-life-1914-1918/the-evacuation-chain-for-wounded-and-sick-soldiers/field-ambulances-in-the-first-world-war/>.

Service Record n.d., accessed 14 March 2018, < https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=8077988&S=1>.

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