S10367
SHEPHERD, Eric John
| Service Number: | 8381 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 September 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 2nd Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Hindmarsh, South Australia, 19 June 1894 |
| Home Town: | Mount Gambier, Mount Gambier, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Mount Gambier High School, Adelaide High School, Adelaide University |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Died: | Natural causes, Adelaide, South Australia, 31 August 1967, aged 73 years |
| Cemetery: |
Dudley Park Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Adelaide High School Great War Honour Board, Adelaide University of Adelaide WW1 Honour Roll, Mount Gambier High School Great War Roll of Honor, Mount Gambier Knight & Cleve Pictorial Honour Rolls, South Australian Education Department Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Sep 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 8381, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Nov 1915: | Embarked AIF WW1, Gunner, 8381, 6th Field Artillery Brigade , --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Persic embarkation_ship_number: A34 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 8381, 6th Field Artillery Brigade , Enlistment/Embarkation WW1 | |
| 14 Sep 1917: | Honoured Military Medal, Third Ypres, On the 14th September, 1917, at ZILLEBEKE, the 18th Battery position was heavily shelled from 3 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. with 5.9" and 8". At 3.36 p.m. an ammunition dump alongside No. 1 gun was hit and it and the gun pit caught fire. These men [8360 M.A. COCKER, 8381 D.D. BRADBURY, (8381) Lt E.J. SHEPHERD, (10762) Lt L. CARTHEW] on Lieutenant DODD calling for a party rushed out of the shelter trench in the face of the heavy fire and with water from adjacent shell holes succeeded in putting it out. Later the pit was again hit and it and the ammunition and an adjacent pit caught fire. These men again went out with Lieutenant DODD in the face of the shelling and succeeded in saving the guns and ammunition. They displayed great gallantry and determination in the face of very considerable danger.' | |
| 5 Dec 1918: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 6th Field Artillery Brigade | |
| 2 Mar 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade |
Awarded the Military Medal
On the 14th September, 1917, at ZILLEBEKE, the 18th Battery position was heavily shelled from 3 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. with 5.9" and 8". At 3.36 p.m. an ammunition dump alongside No. 1 gun was hit and it and the gun pit caught fire. These men [8360 M.A. COCKER, 8381 D.D. BRADBURY, (8381) Lt E.J. SHEPHERD, (10762) Lt L. CARTHEW] on Lieutenant DODD calling for a party rushed out of the shelter trench in the face of the heavy fire and with water from adjacent shell holes succeeded in putting it out. Later the pit was again hit and it and the ammunition and an adjacent pit caught fire. These men again went out with Lieutenant DODD in the face of the shelling and succeeded in saving the guns and ammunition. They displayed great gallantry and determination in the face of very considerable danger.' Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 31
Date: 7 March 1918
Submitted 20 November 2016 by Steve Larkins
Biography contributed by Graeme Roulstone
8381 Eric John SHEPHERD was born at Hindmarsh, South Australia, on 16 June 1894 and was enrolled at Mount Gambier High School by his father, Charles Shepherd, carpenter, of Powell Street, Mount Gambier. According to the school register he left school on 30 June 1909, having been recently appointed an unpaid monitor. Appointed pupil teacher soon after, the local newspaper reported on him giving a lesson on Longfellow’s story of Hiawatha during the annual visit by the Board of Advice to Mount Gambier Public School on 31 October 1913. He was reported as having won first prize in a Fancy Dress Tennis Competition held by the Methodist Club but open to all in late 1913.
He enlisted in Adelaide on 7 September 1915 (21, student, single, Methodist) naming his mother, Mrs Ida Elizabeth Shepherd of Penola Road, Mount Gambier, as his next of kin. He embarked from Melbourne on the ‘Persic’ on 22 November 1915, disembarked at Suez in Egypt on 21 December and was attached to the 6th Field Artillery Brigade on 20 January 1916. He embarked at Alexandria in Egypt on 17 March 1916 and disembarked at Marseilles in France on 23 March.
He was promoted to the rank of Corporal on 30 July 1917 and granted leave to England from 30 July to 15 August 1917. He was awarded the Military Medal for his actions on 14 September 1917. His commendation reads:
On the 14th September, 1917, at Zillebeke, the 18th Battery position was heavily shelled from 3pm to 4.30pm with 5.9” and 8”. At 3.35pm an ammunition dump alongside No.1 gun was hit and it and the gun pit caught fire. These men [Sgt Marshall Albert Cocker, Sgt Doric Dudley Bradbury, Cpl Eric John Shepherd, Gnr Lancelot Carthew] on Lieut. Dodd calling for a party rushed out of the shelter trench in the face of heavy fire and with water from adjacent shell holes succeeded in putting it out. Later the pit was again hit and it and the ammunition and an adjacent pit caught fire. These men again went out with Lieut. Dodd in the face of the shelling and succeeded in saving the guns and ammunition. They displayed great gallantry and determination in the face of very considerable danger.
He was promoted to Sergeant on 1 January 1918 and sent to Officers Training Corps on 17 March 1918, being promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 15 December 1918. He returned to France on 21 December 1918, joined the 6th Field Artillery Brigade on 4 January 1919, and was transferred to 5th Field Artillery Brigade on 9 March 1919. He was sent to England in April and granted leave from 1 May to 1 November to attempt a jeweller’s course. He left England for return to Australia aboard the ‘Ypiringa’ on 15 November 1919, disembarked on 1 January 1920, and was discharged from the AIF on 2 March.
Published in Ours: the origins and early years of Mount Gambier High School and Old Scholars who served in the Great European War by Graeme Roulstone
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