LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Colin McTaggart SHANNON DFC
Service No: 415055
Born: Narrogin WA, 13 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1941
Unit: No. 76 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Holme upon Spalding Moor, Yorkshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 17 August 1943 (Citation Title: No. 76 Squadron RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 76 Squadron Halifax aircraft LK892), France, 10 August 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, Pas de Calais, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Pultney Malcolm Murray Shannon and Eva Johnson Shannon, of Narrogin East, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Narrogin WA
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
DFC Citation (Joint Citation with the award of the DFC to Pilot Officer William Claude Ellis, RAF): “One night in July 1943, these officers were pilot (Shannon) and wireless operator air gunner respectively of an aircraft detailed to attack Essen. When nearing the target, one of the port propellers was shattered and the engine caught fire. In spite of this, Flight Lieutenant Shannon went on to make a successful bombing run. The wireless apparatus was unserviceable as the aerials had been destroyed but Pilot Officer Ellis resourcefully erected an emergency aerial and thus was able to re-establish contact with base and obtain bearings which proved to be of material assistance to his pilot on the return flight. Both these officers displayed great skill and tenacity, setting an excellent example.” (London Gazette 17 August, Page 3682)
Halifax LK892 took off from RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor at 2250 hours on the night of 9 August 1943, detailed to bomb Mannheim, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. When homebound LK 892 was hit by flak and crashed in flames astride a railway line near Pointe de Garennes at Wimereux-Aubengue (Pas-de-Calais), 5 kms north of Boulogne, France. All the crew were killed and they are buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery.
The crew members of LK892 were:
Sergeant Torrance Buchan (655439) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant James Dobson (1320668) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer William Claude Ellis DFC (132386) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Colin McTaggart Shannon DFC (415055) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Smith (928040) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Austin Turner (113498) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Frederick Walton (1436208) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/37/171
Bibliography:
Chorley W R, To See the Dawn Breaking: 76 Squadron Operations, W R Chorley Devon UK, 1981