Albert Edward Shepherd

He seized a machine gun and led his men to their final goal.

Albert Edward Shepherd was born in Royston, near Barnsley, Yorkshire, on 11 January 1897. The son of a coal miner, he attended Royston School and worked as a pony driver at New Monckton Colliery before joining the Army. He served in France and Belgium with the 12th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, including fighting on the Somme and at the Third Battle of Ypres.

On 20 November 1917, the opening day of the Battle of Cambrai, Shepherd was a company runner near Villers-Plouich, France. A German machine gun firing at point-blank range stopped his company's advance. Despite being ordered not to attack it, he rushed forward with a Mills bomb, killed two gunners and captured the weapon.

The company advanced again but met machine-gun fire from its flank. When every officer and non-commissioned officer had become a casualty, Shepherd took command. He ordered the survivors down, went back about seventy yards through severe fire to obtain support from a tank, and returned to lead the company to its final objective. These actions earned the 20-year-old rifleman the Victoria Cross.

Victoria Cross citation

“For most conspicuous bravery as a company runner. When his company was held up by a machine gun at point-blank range he volunteered to rush the gun, and, though ordered not to, rushed forward and threw a Mills bomb, killing two gunners and capturing the gun. The company, on continuing its advance, came under heavy enfilade machine-gun fire. When the last officer and the last non-commissioned officer had become casualties, he took command of the company, ordered the men to lie down, and himself went back some seventy yards under severe fire to obtain the help of a tank. He then returned to his company, and finally led them to their last objective. He showed throughout conspicuous determination and resource.”

King George V presented Shepherd with the Victoria Cross at Buckingham Palace on 9 March 1918. He later became a corporal and left the Army in January 1919. Returning to Royston, he worked as caretaker of the colliery offices and married twice. He died in Royston on 23 October 1966 and is buried in Royston Cemetery. His medal group is preserved by the regimental museum in Winchester, and a memorial gate in Royston commemorates him.