REGINALD SHEPHERD
Reginald Shepherd was born in 1895, the youngest child of James and Amelia Shepherd. There were 6 elder siblings but curiously they all had the surname Williams and were described as step son/daughter in the 1901 Census when the family were living at 22, Gruneison Road, Stamshaw, off Twyford Avenue. At the 1911 Census the family had moved to 15 School Lane where the surnames for all the children still at home was listed as Shepherd.
In September 1914, aged 19, Reginald Shepherd enlisted in the Hampshire Regiment. He served in the UK until February 1916 when he was posted to France. He took part in much of the heavy fighting on the Somme but was killed on 3rd September 1916, probably during the attack delivered between Hamel and Beaumont-Hamel.
Reginald's brother Leonard, who volunteered in November 1915, was killed in January 1918.
FURTHER INFORMATION
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission list Private R. Shepherd (12820), 14th Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, died 03/09/1916. Buried in the Ancre British Cemetery, Beaumont-Hamel, (Grave Ref: ll.B.48).
Reginald Shepherd is remembered on the All Saints Church WW1 memorial, the Buckland United Reformed Church WW1 Memorial and on the Cenotaph. He is listed in the 'National Roll of the Great War', Section X, Page 207.
Tim Backhouse
January 2014