SHANNON, Charles Melville

NAME                    SHANNON          Charles Melville
RANK                     Flight Sergeant                  80520                                                                                                                               Group 3 - RAF Bomber Command                                                                                SQUADRON          RCAF No. 419 “Moose”
                               “City of Kamloops”
                               “beware of the moose”
                               RAF Mildenhall Airfield in Suffolk
                               Squadron markings VR 8                                                                                                      Born                       September 25, 1917 - Walton - Townships of Grey, Morris and McKillop - County of Huron  Residence              Toronto - Ontario                                                                                                                    Died                        May 9, 1942          24 years   7 months
Cemetery               Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Charlottenburg - Berlin - Germany
                               8 B 2-7
Wife                       Mrs. Yvonne Shannon of Toronto
Parents                  Mr. John and Mary Shannon of Toronto

Charles was from Walton and born on September 25, 1917. He would have attended Walton Memorial United Church. He had the measles, mumps and whooping cough as he grew up. He enjoyed soccer, physical training, gymnastics, softball and basketball. He took his Public Schooling at Ledbury which is in North York - Ontario 1925-30 and he went to Seaforth Collegiate 1930-36. He then took a correspondence course from Stratford Business College 1936-37. Charles had been part of the Militia with the Irish Regiment of Canada 1838-39. Prior to his enlistment he was a Policeman in York Township.

Canada

February 

October 25, 1940 was the day he enlisted into the RCAF in Toronto and received the rank of Aircraftsman 2. He stood 5' 10" and weighed 190 pounds. He had a medium complexion with brown eyes and hair. He was then assigned to No. 2 Manning Depot in Brandon - Manitoba. On December 3 his first posting took him to No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School in Mossbank - Saskatchewan.                                                                                  In the middle of January 1941 he was posted to No. 2 Initial Training School in Regina - Saskatchewan and while her he was 21 in a class of 115 and had an average of 85%. He received the rank of Leading Airvraftsman while here. His next posting took him east to Fort William - Ontario to No. 2 Elementary Training Flying School and he placed 5 in a class of 25 and in Flying Training he had 67% and in Ground Training he had 87%. Early in May his next posting took him to No. 5 Service Flying Training School in Brantford - Ontario and here his average was 62% in Flying Training and 72% in Ground Training. He obtained the rank of Sergeant while here. His training in Canada was complete and on July 17 he went east to No. 1 "Y" Depot in Halifax - Nova Scotia. While here he volunteered for the RAF Training Pool on August 9. 

Overseas

Sergeant Shannon then embarked from the shores of Canada on August 10 and disembarked in the United Kingdom on August 28 and then travelled to Bournemouth - Dorset the next day and reporting to RAF No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre. He remained here until September 8 when he was posted to RAF No. 20 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Lossiemouth - Moray - Scotland As the year was closing he was posted to RCAF No. 419 Squadron based at RAF Station Mildenhall - North Yorkshire

In the Field

On February 1, 1942 Sergeant Shannon was given the rank of Flight Sergeant.                                                    The mission of May 8/9 was mission 12 for Flight Sergeant Shannon and this crew had flown 10 times with him. On a previous mission the hydraulics of X3703 had successfully bombed their target and on the return leg developed hydraulic problems but Flight Sergeant Shannon successfully brough the aircraft back to base and landed safely. The target for this mission was Warnemunde and from the Squadron there had been 8 aircraft detailed. The aircraft of which Flight Sergeant Shannon was a crewmember was Wellington X 3703 and he was the Captain of this mission. Flight Sergeant Shannon and his crew were airborne at 22:13 hours of May 8th. During this mission to Warnemunde in Germany, X 3703 was carrying 3,420 pounds of bombs when it
went missing. The load was 48-40 lb. incendiaries along with 3-500 lb. bombs. A second aircraft from the squadron was also lost but was shot down by enemy night fighters and this could also have been the fate of Flight Sergeant Shannon and his crew.  The crew was originally buried at Neuer Friedhuf - Pocking - Bavaria. Warnemunde was a target because it housed and Heinkel factory and it was a major transit point for the enemy going to Denmark and Norway.

During the month of September 1942 both his wife Tvonne and his mother Mary received the Memorial Cross. In April of 1946 his wife received his Operational Wings along with the medals awarded to Charles which included the 1939-45 Star, the Aircrew Europe Star, the War Medal and the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp.

Flight Sergeant Shannon is honoured and remembered on the Memorial Plaques of Walton Memorial United Church and Seaforth Collegiate. His name is on the Seaforth Cenotaph. He is honoured and remembered in the Books of Remembrance located in the Centre Block of Canada's Parliament in Ottawa and on the Memorial Plaque of the RCAF Bomber Command Memorial. He is also in the Canadian Virtual War Memorial.