Name
Alfred Shepherd
1898
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
12/08/1916
18
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
5290
Hertfordshire Regiment
1st/1st Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ST. QUENTIN CABARET MILITARY CEMETERY
I. A. 28.
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
I WILL LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND TAKE MY REST
UK & Other Memorials
St Peter's Church Memorial, Ayot St Peter, St Peter's Church Roll of Honour, Ayot St Peter, 4 Co' Hertfordshire Reg' Territorials’ Memorial, Hitchin, St Mary's Church Roll of Honour (Book), Hitchin, Kimpton Village Memorial, St Peter & St Paul Church, Kimpton, Hertfordshire Regimental Memorial, All Saints Church, Hertford
Pre War
Alfred Shepherd was born in 1898 in Ayot St Peter, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, the illegitimate son of Mary Ann Shepherd. Although Alfred’s service record suggests that his father was deceased
At the time of the 1901 Census he was living at Ayot Green, Hertfordshire, with his grandparents, William and Martha Shepherd, his mother Mary and half-siblings, William aged 12 and Gertrude aged 9. His grandfather, aged 74 was working as a bricklayer and his mother, aged 37 was a dressmaker.
On the 1911 Census he was living with his mother, uncle Charles and brother William at Kimpton Green, Welwyn, Herts. His half-sister Gertrude was working as a scullery maid at the All Saints Home, Hawley, Blackwater, Hants. (The home/school was run by the Sisters of Mercy for girls and young children from the slums of London without homes of their own or "exposed to evil influences".)
His half-sister Gertrude married Herbert William Groom in Hitchin in 1918 and they were living in Church Lane, Hitchin with her mother Mary on the 1939 register.
Wartime Service
Alfred enlisted in Hertford on 19 June 1915 and joined the Hertfordshire Regiment with the reg. 5290 and served in '4' Company. He went to France from Southampton on 20 April 1916, landing in Rouen the following day.
After his death the local newspapers reported that Alfred was attached to the Gloucestershire Regiment when was killed, and his service record confirms that this was on 11 July 1916 – a month before he died.
Coincidentally, Randall John Harwood, who was also from Ayot St Peter and serving in the Hertfordshire Regiment was also attached to thew Gloucestershire Regiment. They were killed together on 12 August 1916 and are both buried in Plot I, Row A, Graves and 28 and 30 in the St. Quentin Cabaret Military Cemetery, Heuvelland, Wes Vlaanderen, Belgium.
Lives of The First World War 1914-1918 (by John1797) gives the following information from press cuttings in Scrapbook 1914-1923 compiled by Alf Bigg: “News of the death of another Kimpton soldier to make the supreme sacrifice was received on Sunday morning by the mother of Private Alfred Shepherd, Hertfordshire Regiment, attached to the 8th Gloucesters. Only 18 years of age last June, the death of this young lad came as a great shock to the people of Kimpton and much sympathy has been expressed with his mother in her great loss. He enlisted in June 1915, being then only 17 years old, but gave his age as 19, being determined to do his bit for King, Country and home. He had only been in France since the end of April, leaving the shores of England on Good Friday. In the last letter his mother received, he said he hoped to be home again before many months. Private Shepherd was formerly a member of the choir at Kimpton Parish Church, taking the solos at some festivals. Before enlisting he worked for Mrs Cherry-Gerrard at Lamer House.”
Letter from 2nd Lieu. Pope, the letter dated 13 August 1916 stated "I am very sorry indeed to have to write and tell you that your son Private A. Shepherd was killed in action this morning at about 4 am. He was doing sentry duty in the front line trench, when he was shot through the head and died at once. Your son died in the performance of his duty as a soldier and an Englishman, and although this cannot make up for his loss, yet it will be a great comfort to know that he died as a brave man should, carrying out his duty."
Additional Information
His mother received a war gratuity of £4 and pay owing of £3 12s 6d. While living at The Green, Kimpton, Welwyn, Herts., she ordered his headstone inscription: "I WILL LAY ME DOWN IN PEACE AND TAKE MY REST".
A pension of 3 shillings a week was awarded first to his mother and then paid to Nominee Gertrude Groom ( his married sister) of 21 Church Lane, Kimpton, Hitchin, Herts. A note on the medical certificate section of the pension card states that his mother was capable of "nothing beyond her housework". N.B. Ancestry military service record for Alfred Shepherd appears to have been mixed with that of Robert Shepherd, who also served with the Hertfordshire Regiment (Reg. No. 5436) and George Sharp also Herts Regiment (No. 4779)
Acknowledgments
Brenda Palmer
David C Baines, Jonty Wild, Brenda Palmer, www.bedfordregiment.org.uk/hertsrgt
