Shannon, Robert (Flight Sergeant; b.1921 - d.?)

Collection relating to Flight Sergeant Robert Shannon (A21994 : 411231), 10 Squadron RAAF during the Second World War.

The collection is comprised of 2 notebooks. One notebook contains training notes in range taking, recorded when Shannon was a Private with the 13 Platoon, 36th Battalion, 2nd Division, 8th Infantry Brigade. The notebook also contains a diary of his experiences between 2 April 1942 to 26 March 1943, including the voyage on the Strathallen, training in England and the loss of various friends who were reported missing or killed in action. Also contains entries on his first air operations aboard aircraft including G for George.

On 29 June 1943, Flt Sgt Shannon was a gunner on the Halifax aircraft V for Victor. Shot down by an enemy fighter, Flt Sgt Shannon bailed out of the aircraft into enemy territory. The sole survivor of his crew, he was captured four hours later and transported to Stalag Luft III, Lager A, and later to Stalag 357 in Fallingbostel, Germany as a POW. The second notebook in the collection (a standard 'Wartime Log' issued by the War Prisoners Aid of the YMCA) contains drawings, recipes and three diary entries kept during his period of captivity as a prisoner of war. A diary entry dated 17 April 1945 is entitled 'on the loose', suggesting that Flt Sgt Shannon escaped from the column that were compelled to march from Stalag 357 on April 6, 1945 in order to be transferred to Lubeck camp. The entry describes scrounging for food and the anxiety of avoiding re-capture.