George Henry Shannon was born on 16 May 1915 at Ballarat, Victoria. He was the son of Francis and Eva Shannon. He was married to Gweneth Shannon. They lived in Geelong West.

George joined the Royal Australian Air Force on 18 August 1940. Nothing is known about his training but when in England, he was posted to 405 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force were he flew as a gunner on Halifax bombers.

On the evening of 2 October, 1942, Sgt Shannon and his crew took off from their base at Topcliffe, for a bombing raid on Krefeld. His crew consisted of:

Sergeant E.W. Murphy,
Sergeant D.G. Hachett,
Sergeant G.H. Shannon,

405  Squadron RCAF

Sergeant Maxwall Ben-Hertz,
Sergeant S. Messham,
Sergeant Charles E Neubert,
Sergeant L.H. Williams,

The crew was flying Halifax II, DG228. On the outbound leg the bomber was hit by flak over Noordwijk. Witnesses on the ground saw a small light that became bigger and turned into a burning plane. At 23:05h it crashed into the house of the Hogervorst family in Noordwijkerhout.

The father, Hendrick, and his son Wim were listening to the planes at the back of the house. Inside were mother Adriana and her two daughters, Clara and Alida. They had no time to escape when the plane crashed. Wim, covered with burning fuel, runs to a canal and jumps into it. Badly burned he made his way to the neighbors house were he is kept in a barrel full of rainwater until he can be brought to the hospital. The burns on his arms and legs are so severe that he dies in hospital two days later.

Daughter Clara is initially buried with her mother under the rubble. With the help of her mother she is able to free herself. When she finds her father unhurt, both return to the ruin to rescue her mother, Adriana. Adriana is looked after by a German doctor until she can be transported to the hospital. She recovers although her spleen was removed. Daughter Alida dies in the crash.

The whole crew perished in the crash. Their remains were found on 3 and 7 October, and buried at the Algemene begraafplaats Noordwijk on 8 October, 1942. Only Sgt Murphy is identified at the time.

Sgt George Shannon is buried, in a communal grave, at the Noordwijk General Cemetery, Plot 1. Joint grave 16.

Noordwijk, The Netherlands

See also:
Sgt E.W. Murphy
Sgt D.G. Hachett
F/S Lionel Williams
Sgt Maxwall Ben-Hertz
Sgt S. Messham
Sgt Charles E Neubert

Acknowledgements and Sources:
Mr. Dennis Peschier
War Service records, Canada Bank of Commerce, 1947
RAF Squadron crest © Crown Copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office

Directions to Noordwijk General Cemetery

Posted 14 July 2006

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This website is dedicated to the men and women who died and/or are buried in The Netherlands during World War II.

 

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