The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (1) Saddler Sergeant James Patrick Shannon, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (1) Saddler Sergeant James Patrick Shannon, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer War.

1 Saddler Sergeant James Patrick Shannon, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
DOW 4 January 1902

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Saddler Sergeant James Patrick Shannon, who died of wounds during the Boer War.

James Shannon, known as “Jimmy” was probably born in Queensland around 1880. At the turn of the century he was living in Charters Towers, where had been for a number of years with his mother, brothers and at least one step brother. He was the first to enlist for active service when the 5th Contingent of the Queensland Imperial Bushmen was raised in early 1901, and left Australia within weeks with the service number 1. The arrival of the contingent sparked interest in Cape Town with newspapers noting “they were a very fine lot of men … the Queensland Imperial Bushmen is one of the finest bodies of men ever landed here.”

Shannon’s contingent arrived in South Africa after the major set-piece battles and sieges were over and an extended period of guerrilla-type skirmishes with the Boers had begun. By late 1901 the Queenslanders were very busy on patrol and regularly met with the enemy. One of Jimmy Shannon’s fellow members of the Queenslanders, Trooper William Lilley, described one skirmish they had in December 1901. He wrote, “We have had a good ‘cut’ at [the Boers] and for about an hour the bullets came down as thick as a shower of rain. There were 11 of our men wounded and one killed. We had another ‘go in’ yesterday … I can assure you the Boers ‘went’ very smartly. We knocked a few of them over, however … we gave the Boers a hot time.”

Less than two weeks later the Queenslanders again engaged the enemy near the town of Onverwacht. Boer forces made small attacks at various points, drawing the larger force into an area where they were outnumbered. Another friend of Shannon’s, Trooper Charles Bryce, wrote “we simply marched into a huge trap amongst the hills, and we were surrounded in a few minutes. We tried to make a stand, but found it was no use.” Outnumbered, the Australians were forced to withdraw, the Queenslanders suffering 12 casualties in the process. Eleven of those were killed in action, and Sergeant Shannon was badly wounded.
Bryce described what happened to Shannon: “I owe my life and escape to a sergeant of ours, named Jimmy Shannon, No. 1 of the contingent, who galloped into the firing line.” Bryce had fallen from his horse, and Shannon pulled him up onto his own horse to get him out. Sergeant Shannon then caught Bryce’s horse and gave it to two other men pinned down by Boer fire, ensuring their escape. Bryce found another horse and got out; Shannon returned to help more men.

Trooper William Walsh watched Shannon rush back to rescue more wounded men. He later wrote, “he picked up one wounded man and carried him about 200 yards away, and put him safely under cover. While he was doing this, there was a terrific fire going on from the enemy… when he had put the man safely away, he rushed back for another, but, poor chap. He just bend down to pick up a man when he was hit.” Bryce arrived back to find Shannon ‘laid out on the ground, not dead, but shot through the neck and spine.”

Sergeant Jimmy Shannon was taken to hospital, an arduous journey over rough roads in an ambulance wagon. Although he was made comfortable in hospital, nothing more could be done for him, and he died of his wounds shortly afterwards.

In his last letter home, Shannon “wrote hopefully of leaving Africa to attend the coronation ceremonies” in England, after which he would come home. His mother later put a poem in the local newspaper to mourn his death. It reads in part:
Only the death of a boy at the front,
Only a weeping mother at home,
Bewailing the war where she lost her son,
Breaking her hear because he would roam.

And no one cares, for they daily die
Out there on the veldt in the cruel war.
What if mothers weep and brothers mourn?
They cannot be heard mid the cannon’s roar.

Trooper Walsh later wrote, “there is one thing to be proud of, no matter how things go, he proved himself to be as brave a man as ever fought.”

Jimmy Shannon died aged 21. His name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among 605 Australians who lost their lives in the Boer War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Saddler Sergeant James Patrick Shannon, and all those Australians who have given their lives in service of our nation.

Meleah Hampton