Alfred Stanley Shepherd DSO MC (1893 - 1917)

Ancestors

Biography

Alfred Stanley Shepherd was a World War I fighter ace, credited with 10 aerial victories. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order [DSO] and Military Cross [MC] for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.

Alfred Stanley Shepherd was born at Nowra, NSW, on 13 April, 1893.^[1] He was the son of James Shepherd and Emma Montgomery. His father died when he was 15 years old.

He was educated at Bomaderry Public School, and graduated with honours from University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. While at University of Sydney he served four years in the Sydney University Scouts (now Sydney University Regiment - an officer-training regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. After graduation he was working as a civil engineer.^[2][3]

He enlisted in the AIF on September 8, 1915 at Warwick Farm, Sydney with a mate Percy Eric Palmer. At that time he was living at Miller St, Petersham. His military papers described him as 5 feet 6 1/2 inches tall, with a florid complexion and brown eyes and hair, and two vaccination scars. He was a Methodist. He embarked as officer in charge of the 4th Reinforcements of the 30th Battalion, and was given command of a salvage corps after reaching France. In October 1916, he and Palmer transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He was promoted to Captain on the 13th of July, 1917.^[2][4]

He was killed in action near Zonnebeke, Belgium, in 1917. According to a story published in the South Coast Register 19 July 1917, his friend Percy Palmer was shot down while Shepherd was on leave, and his grief led him to throw himself at the German enemy without consideration for his own safety. His friends tried to dissuade him from doing anything rash, but when he was out leading three other planes, 12 German machines appeared, and he drove straight into the thick of them. It was a wild fight, but he was killed in action when his Nieuport 23 was shot down over Zonnebeke by an Albatros D.V flown by Alfred Niederhoff of Jasta 11. Niederhoff was one of the Red Baron’s henchmen. He was the German’s sixth victory. Niederhoff was shot down and killed by RFC 29 Squadron eight days later.^[2]

Memorials

There are memorials at Arras Flying Services Memorial, Pas de Calais, France, Nowra Methodist Church Memorial Vestry, the Berry War Memorial, the Berry School of Arts Memorial Plaque, and the Nowra Post Office Memorial Plaque. A memorial plaque was also placed on his parent's headstone in the Nowra General Cemetery.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ NSW BDM: birth 27140/1893 SHEPHERD, ALFRED S, father: JAMES, mother: EMILY, registration district: NOWRA
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3} Crawford, Robert (2017, July 19). Centenary of death of Nowra-born fighter ace. South Coast Register. Viewed 17 Jan 2021.
3. ↑ Alfred Shepherd. Wikipedia entry viewed 17 Jan 2021.
4. ↑ Military record available online at the National Archives of Australia website: National Archives Australia: 8081669 SHEPHERD Alfred Seymour : Service Number - Lieutenant : Place of Birth - Nowra NSW : Place of Enlistment - Warwick Farm NSW : Next of Kin - (Mother) SHEPHERD Emma

• Wikidata: Item Q4723436, en:Wikipedia
• Alfred Shepherd. Military Wiki. Viewed 17 Jan 2021.
• National Archives of Australia National Archives Australia: 6039333 SHEPHERD Alfred Seymour (Captain) - RFC - His sister Edith J. Adair's application for the 'gratuity' on his account, as his parents were both dead.