Brigadier-General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Gordon Strachey Shephard, (9 July 1885 – 19 January 1918) was a

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

commander. He was the highest-ranking officer of the flying services to be killed in service during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life and military service

The second son of Sir Horatio Shephard, a judge, and Lady Shephard, of 58 Montagu Square, London, Shephard attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

from 1898 to 1903, then the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

. He belonged to the Royal Cruising Club, where his skills as a yachtsman would prove useful later in life. He was gazetted second lieutenant to a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

battalion of the

Royal Fusiliers The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in continuous existence for 283 years. It was known as the 7th Regiment of Foot until the Childers Reforms of 1881. The regiment served in many wars ...

on 28 January 1905. He transferred to the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

(RFC) in 1912, the year of its formation. However, in July 1914, he used his skills as a yachtsman for a quite different purpose, to surreptitiously assist his friend Erskine Childers (who was executed by the Free State government in 1922 during the

Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War ( ga, Cogadh Cathartha na hÉireann; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United ...

) in landing a consignment of weaponry at

Howth Howth ( ; ; non, Hǫfuð) is an affluent peninsular village and outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The district as a whole occupies the greater part of the peninsula of Howth Head, which forms the northern boundary of Dublin Bay, and includes ...

aboard Childers' yacht, The ''Asgard'', on behalf of the

Irish Volunteers The Irish Volunteers ( ga, Óglaigh na hÉireann), sometimes called the Irish Volunteer Force or Irish Volunteer Army, was a military organisation established in 1913 by Irish nationalists and republicans. It was ostensibly formed in respons ...

, an action which, had it become known, would have resulted in, at a minimum, the termination of Shephard's military career, if not far more drastic punishment. His covert operations came to an abrupt halt when he and a companion were briefly detained by the German authorities at

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

, after they were seen taking photographs in a sensitive area.Gordon Strachey Shephard extensive biodata
/ref> On 22 August 1914, Shephard landed near

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

for

petrol Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

, where he was given first-hand accounts of the fighting from French cavalry falling back from the Sambre canal. On 24 August 1914, he and Lieutenant

Ian Bonham-Carter Air Commodore Ian Malcolm Bonham-Carter, (31 July 1882 – 31 December 1953) was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force from the Bonham-Carter family. Bonham-Carter was the second son of Hugh Bonham-Carter, younger son of John Bonham-Cart ...

reported to the Staff that General von Kluck's right wing would swamp the British Army unless the retreat was continued. On 4 November 1914, Shephard narrowly escaped after the

longeron In engineering, a longeron and stringer is the load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural ...

of his BE2b, "487", was shot through. At the start of 1915 Shephard assumed command of the newly formed No. 10 Squadron, which was then assigned to a training role at Farnborough. Two months later and before No. 10 Squadron deployed to France, Shephard was reassigned to command No. 6 Squadron. In 1917 Shephard was promoted to command I Brigade RFC and was promoted to the rank of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

, which gave him greater opportunity to further the careers of able pilots.

Death

On 19 January 1918, aged 32, Shephard decided to visit the aerodrome at

Auchel Auchel (; pcd, Auchez) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography An ex-mining town, nowadays a light industrial & farming commune, situated southwest of Béthune and southwest of ...

, where three of his squadrons were stationed. His Nieuport Scout "B3610" spun into the ground. He was lifted from the wreckage but died several hours later in hospital. He was the highest-ranking officer of the flying services to be killed in a theatre of war in the First World War, and was buried in the Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, in the

Pas de Calais The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait (french: Pas de Calais - ''Strait of Calais''), is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, separating Great Britain from continent ...

, France (plot VI, B15).

Legacy

The Gordon Shephard Memorial Essay Prize was established as a memorial to Shephard.Gordon Shephard Memorial Prize Essay (PDF)
/ref> Shepard's father, Sir Horatio, left a sum of money in trust to award annual prizes for essays on reconnaissance and related subjects submitted by RAF officers and airmen.

References

External links

"Roland Sargent Collection Journals Cross and Cockade, Great Britain", ''Journal of the British Society of World War I Aero Historians''

Profile of Gordon Strachey Shephard excerpted from ''"Bloody red tabs: general officer casualties of the Great War 1914–1918"''

Centre for World War I Studies (UK)

Air Power Studies website (UK)
*[http://afloat.ie/blogs/sailing-saturday-with-wm-nixon/item/32383-hms-caroline-shared-belfast-commemoraton-expresses-new-attitude-to-world-war-i-in-ireland HMS Caroline: Shared Belfast Commemoration Expresses New Attitude To World War I In Ireland] by W. M. Nixon in Sailing on Saturdays, ''Afloat'' magazine, 28 May 2016 * ''Memoir of Gordon Shephard'', edited by Sir Shane Leslie, privately printed in 1924, held in the library at Castle Leslie in County Monaghan , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shephard, Gordonstrachey 1885 births 1918 deaths British military personnel killed in World War I Knights of the Legion of Honour Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst People from Chennai Royal Fusiliers officers People educated at Eton College Royal Flying Corps officers Military personnel of British India

Early life and military service

Death

Legacy

Other reading

References

External links