Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Arthur Beaumont Shannon

Arthur had an affinity for nature and a dual passion for broadening both his own knowledge and instilling in others a love of learning.  This quiet, gentle man born on the 12th February 1915, grew up in the small country town of Yarrawonga on the Murray. Despite his local Primary School having no library, Arthur still developed a lifetime belief and appreciation of the power of literacy and reading; a passion which coloured his entire life. His was a well-balanced childhood as Arthur was a talented athlete as well as a very capable academic student. The family engendered a strong Christian belief as evident at the annual conference of the Churches of Christ in June 1942 when Gold medals for ten years unbroken attendance at Sunday school were awarded to all three children, Arthur, Elsie and George. Arthur was also an astute observer and recorder of information both in written documentation but also through his minutely detailed drawings.

Inevitably, post his own schooling, Arthur became a Junior Primary School teacher with his first position on the outskirts of Melbourne where many of the children were affected by the deprivations of the Depression in terms of clothing and footwear. Still a teenager, Arthur initially taught Reception and within two years was teaching Grade 7 – a huge range of skill-set being displayed. Knowing that teaching was his calling, Arthur then attended the Melbourne Teacher’s College and also studied for an Arts Degree. He was subsequently appointed to a one teacher school at Mena Park in the western districts. In 1936, Arthur authored a book to celebrate the Centenary of his school. Pamela, one of his young students won an award for letter of the week in The Age with her reporting of the event which also included a brass band, school ball and the singing of songs by past students; ‘Mr. Shannon is our teacher, and Mr. Walker our head teacher Mr. Shannon is doing a lovely book on the Centenary, and he is helping us to do one, too.’

As well as his fascination with nature and skills in drawing a wide range of native flora, especially orchids, Arthur was also an enthusiast of French Peugeot cars and planes. The interest in the former never waned throughout his life.

Arthur’s interests continued to broaden and expand.  He was a keen gardener, keeping meticulous daily rainfall reading at his home for 35 years. From his fascination with Geology, engendered at Melbourne High, Arthur painstakingly documented, mapped and photographed volcanoes in Victoria. But he was also fascinated with so many aspects of nature which he captured, noted or collected throughout his life. These included an extensive collection of minerals, crystals fossils and rocks. As a Rat of Tobruk serving in Gaza, for example Arthur noted in his diary that ‘It is very stony and the stones contain fossils’; later identifying some fossils as Echinoids, while in Derna he collected coral and calcite from the limestone.

Ironically it was his interest in planes which became so important during the World War II.  Arthur was able to immediately identify an extensive range of planes including Blenheims, Hurricanes and Wellingtons, Fairy Swordfish planes, Fiat CR 32 fighters, Savoia 79s, Brenda 65, Lysanders and Miles Magisters Messerschmitt ME 110, Henschel 126, Junkers JU 87s and 88s, Heinkel 111s, Stukas, which, as he commented in his diary of April 23rd 1941; ‘I am getting all aircraft jobs because of my interest in planes’. But his love of plants was also evident, despite the privations of the war. In El Gazala Arthur planted a little garden of wild flowers and potatoes. In fact Arthur was constantly identifying wild flowers including Arbutus, watsonias, statice, lilliums and wild cyclamens which were picked and brought back to camp in Syria.

Of course Arthur maintained a meticulous diary with observations of the progress of the war but also small cameos of those with whom he served including an entry prior to moving to Dimra that ‘Our tent let down and pulled over by an officer in grip of the grog.’ Another wry observation was made of visiting bazaars and markets where everything was claimed to be handmade; ‘Every father seems to be the owner of dozens of sons, and the boys have several fathers.’

Arthur’s interest in history and his strong faith were constantly evident; consequently he utilised each period of leave to visit ancient and religious sites including Old Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Cairo, Palestine and the Garden of Gethsemane where he and my father picked then pressed some flowers to send back home (and which I still have today).

Post war, Arthur returned to teaching at Ormond State School until 1951 when he decided to travel. On his return he taught at several schools including Vermont, Moorabbin and Cheltenham East before retiring from active classroom teaching in 1973. However Arthur was not only a passionate teacher; he was a lifelong educator, learner and communicator so it was inevitable that the desire to instil a love of learning continued. He next volunteered to take youngsters from St John’s Boy’s Home for Saturday outings. Some were fortunate to experience interstate outings to our family in Adelaide, of course in Arthur’s French Peugeot!

 Inevitably Arthur returned to Balwyn Primary each Monday and Tuesday every week as a volunteer class support, mentoring and tutoring boys to develop reading skills. Aged 89, Arthur also delighted in taking on an extra role working with children from Korea and China to help with their acquisition of English. Initially Arthur drove his beloved Peugeot, then he caught trams and finally used taxis to get to the school. This contribution continued until two months before Arthur died. In letters he often commented how much he enjoyed these days with the children and teachers, saying “I’ll be struggling to find activities to fill in the two weeks” of school holidays, adding the he hadn’t “the strength and energy to go travelling around now.” In another letter Arthur described having 14 boys to help with their reading for 15 minute sessions, commenting that “they are a very pleasant group.” He became an honorary grandfather to the children of those he supported. Arthur was quietly delighted when in 2003 an ex-student from Primary school, Kim Butler, chose to do a Year 10 project featuring Arthur’s war years. The two maintained a lifelong friendship.

Arthur’s enthusiasm for gardening was lifelong. Early in 1970 he purchased a small former farmland area at Dereel which he revegetated with Australian natives as well as exotics. Naturally he kept meticulous notes on their origins and development as well as sketching many of the flowers. He was also an active member of the Caulfield Gardening Club and grew most of his own vegetables. In his early 90’s Arthur wrote about “re-arranging the front garden with several new plants and shrubs for it to look bright and colourful in the Spring and Summer.” In a later letter he commented on doing a long walk in the Botanic Gardens “and am suffering for it this afternoon. That will teach me to be more careful.” In a further letter he conceded that he was having help with mowing and weeding – a small concession.

On hearing of my interest in documenting my own father’s background, Arthur sorted out the portions of his Middle Eastern diary where the two had time together and forwarded these. Dad (Bryan Holmes SX8133) and Arthur met at HQ26 Brigade when Dad moved from the 2/48th and Arthur from the 26th Brigade in Gaza. It was fascinating typing these observations which Arthur modestly admitted was “rather scrappy in parts – because of circumstances. When some bits have been removed (many years ago) it was because I had second thoughts about recording them!” These ‘bits’ were meticulously and in some cased minutely removed, evidently by razorblade. Subsequent questions about his diaries were met with detailed responses. For example, the name Tobruk had several spellings in his diary. Being the consummate teacher, Arthur added extra detail to his explanation that Libya was an Italian colony so when the Australians moved into North Africa all their maps were in Italian, obtained by the Sixth Division when they captured Tobruk. The Italian spelling was Tobruch. There also was another spelling Arthur discovered when, on leave in Cairo, he found (and kept) a French paper, La Bourse Egyptienne, which carried a bold front page headline, ‘14,000 prisonniers à Tobrouk’ which he thought would also be of interest! Ever generous, Arthur also included with his handwritten diary, a Rats of Tobruk Association badge for me, something that had been unavailable for many years.

Arthur was a regular attendee at monthly meetings held in Tobruk House in Albert Park. He admitted that he enjoyed attending but with his poor hearing he could not understand much of what was said. He commented also on the dwindling numbers of Rats at the meetings. While his letters were always treasured, informative and in his neat hand he did admit that he found writing a strain, especially on his eyes. Not unexpected for a 91 year old.

Arthur developed lymphoma and died on the 3rd October 2007. He is buried with his parents at Brighton Cemetery Melbourne. This selfless, consummate teacher and educator had a lifetime of service and generously shared the power of literacy as his legacy.

Contributed by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes' (SX8133) from memoires, letters and conversations, plus research.