In 1947, tribute was paid to three past community members who served with armed forces and lost their lives during WW2.
The Langdon and Venemore familes farmed in North Shackleton at Erikin. Norm Venemore and Ron Langdon enlisted on the same day 30th October 1940 and became drivers with ‘D’ Company, 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion.
Tragically neither men returned home.
Langdon died of cardiac beri beri at the age of 32, at Sime Road Camp, Singapore having returned with ‘H’ Force from working on Burma-Thai Railway. He was a father of two young children.
Norm Venemore perished at the age of 28 years in the South China Sea, September 1945 when his ship ‘Rakuyo Maru’ transporting POWs to Japan from Singapore, was torpedoed and sunk by Allied submarines.
The loss of life of Venemore, Langdon and Mills devastated their families and was widely felt by the Shackleton community.