Ieper: Larch Wood Cemetery, Zillebeke (West-Vlaanderen)
Information from the CWGC database:
Lieutenant George Strangman Shannon, 1st Bn., Dorsetshire Regiment; died 5 May 1915, aged 26; awards: MC, Mentioned in Despatches; buried in Larch Wood (Railway Cutting) Cemetery, Zillebeke, West-Vlaanderen (II. G. 3.); son of John S. Shannon, of 23, Castlegate, York: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/488633/SHANNON,%20GEO...
Lieut. Shannon was a Mathematical Master at Winchester House School in Deal from 1911 to 1914, before heading off to war. More information (and a photograph) can be found at: kidblog.org/whsblog/mrleach273145/we-will-remember-them-l...
The Times, 11 May 1915:
"SECOND LIEUTENANT G. S. SHANNON, 1st Dorset Regiment, son of Mr. J. S. Shannon, Principal of St. Martin's School, York, was killed in action near Hill 60 on May 6 [sic]. Lieutenant Shannon, who was in the teaching profession, joined the Special Reserve of the Dorset Regiment in 1913. He saw the fighting in the retreat from Mons and the advance to the Marne and around Ypres. He was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished conduct in the field and was awarded the Military Cross."
He was evidently a fine sportsman, playing cricket, football and golf.
He died at Hill 60 on the 5th May 1915, one described by CSM Ernest Shephard as a "bitter day" for the 1st Dorsets (Ernest Shephard, A Sergeant-Major's War: From Hill 60 to the Somme (Ramsbury: Crowood Press, 1987), p. 42). An account of the fighting at Hill 60 can be found in: Tony Spagnoly and Ted Smith, Cameos of the Western Front: Salient Points Three: Ypres and Picardy, 1914-1918 (Barnsley: Leo Cooper 2001) pp. 69-87. Spagnoly and Smith cite Shannon's fellow-officer, Captain A. L. Ransome:
Hill 60, on the 1st May; 1915, was the Dorsets' battle; the whole weight of the gas attack fell upon them; and they did not fail. In spite of their experiences on that day they did not hesitate for a moment when, five days later, they saw another unit, demoralised by gas fumes, streaming away to the rear. They faced again the forbidden weapon in the full knowledge of what its effects could be, either a painful death or severe illness with possible lasting after-effects. Led by four gallant officers - Lilly, Shannon, Mansel-Pleydell and Clayton - they went forward through the gas cloud to their old positions on the hill and remained at grips with the Germans throughout that long day, shelled sometimes by their own artillery and facing an enemy flushed with success and armed with hand grenades, so important in trench fighting, which were superior to their own. They held all their gains until relieved at night.
Commissioned, 6 June 1913: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/28726/pages/3994
Despatch of Field Marshal J. D. P. French, 14 January 1915: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29072/supplements/1664
Announcement of award of MC, February 1915: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29074/supplements/1694
From Special Reserve to Second Lieutenant, May 1915: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29168/supplements/4873
Ieper: Larch Wood Cemetery, Zillebeke (West-Vlaanderen)
Information from the CWGC database:
Lieutenant George Strangman Shannon, 1st Bn., Dorsetshire Regiment; died 5 May 1915, aged 26; awards: MC, Mentioned in Despatches; buried in Larch Wood (Railway Cutting) Cemetery, Zillebeke, West-Vlaanderen (II. G. 3.); son of John S. Shannon, of 23, Castlegate, York: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/488633/SHANNON,%20GEO...
Lieut. Shannon was a Mathematical Master at Winchester House School in Deal from 1911 to 1914, before heading off to war. More information (and a photograph) can be found at: kidblog.org/whsblog/mrleach273145/we-will-remember-them-l...
The Times, 11 May 1915:
"SECOND LIEUTENANT G. S. SHANNON, 1st Dorset Regiment, son of Mr. J. S. Shannon, Principal of St. Martin's School, York, was killed in action near Hill 60 on May 6 [sic]. Lieutenant Shannon, who was in the teaching profession, joined the Special Reserve of the Dorset Regiment in 1913. He saw the fighting in the retreat from Mons and the advance to the Marne and around Ypres. He was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished conduct in the field and was awarded the Military Cross."
He was evidently a fine sportsman, playing cricket, football and golf.
He died at Hill 60 on the 5th May 1915, one described by CSM Ernest Shephard as a "bitter day" for the 1st Dorsets (Ernest Shephard, A Sergeant-Major's War: From Hill 60 to the Somme (Ramsbury: Crowood Press, 1987), p. 42). An account of the fighting at Hill 60 can be found in: Tony Spagnoly and Ted Smith, Cameos of the Western Front: Salient Points Three: Ypres and Picardy, 1914-1918 (Barnsley: Leo Cooper 2001) pp. 69-87. Spagnoly and Smith cite Shannon's fellow-officer, Captain A. L. Ransome:
Hill 60, on the 1st May; 1915, was the Dorsets' battle; the whole weight of the gas attack fell upon them; and they did not fail. In spite of their experiences on that day they did not hesitate for a moment when, five days later, they saw another unit, demoralised by gas fumes, streaming away to the rear. They faced again the forbidden weapon in the full knowledge of what its effects could be, either a painful death or severe illness with possible lasting after-effects. Led by four gallant officers - Lilly, Shannon, Mansel-Pleydell and Clayton - they went forward through the gas cloud to their old positions on the hill and remained at grips with the Germans throughout that long day, shelled sometimes by their own artillery and facing an enemy flushed with success and armed with hand grenades, so important in trench fighting, which were superior to their own. They held all their gains until relieved at night.
Commissioned, 6 June 1913: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/28726/pages/3994
Despatch of Field Marshal J. D. P. French, 14 January 1915: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29072/supplements/1664
Announcement of award of MC, February 1915: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29074/supplements/1694
From Special Reserve to Second Lieutenant, May 1915: www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29168/supplements/4873