RIFLEMAN HERBERT SHEPHARD: 592564
London Regiment (London Irish Rifles)
Herbert was born in Bridport, the second of four sons born to John and Alice Shephard. His siblings were John, Cecil and Ralph.
The family lived at 53 East Street, where Herbert’s father, a master brush maker, ran his business. By 1911, both Herbert and his older brother John had joined their father in the shop.
After the start of the Great War, Herbert enlisted in Bridport, joining the London Regiment – London Irish Rifles. In 1916, whether on leave or before being deployed to France and Flanders, Herbert was back in Bridport. He married Lily Eveleigh in the Baptist Chapel in Victoria Grove and they made their married home at 4 Mount Pleasant, Allington.
The men of the London Regiment were engaged in many battles along the Western Front and in 1917 Herbert was on the Ypres Salient, in the area of the Messines Ridge.
Just three days before the high-explosive mines placed under the German lines were detonated, Herbert was wounded and taken to the Casualty Clearing at Lijssnthoek near the main road leading to Ypres.
Despite treatment there, Herbert died from his wounds on June 4th, 1917.
He is buried at the Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery and remembered on the London Irish Rifles Memorial
The inscription on Herbert’s headstone reads;
“NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN. FROM HIS LOVING WIFE, FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHERS”