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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Edwin Charles Shepherd

In memory of:

Lieutenant Edwin Charles Shepherd

October 26, 1917

Military Service


Age:

38

Force:

Army

Unit:

Canadian Infantry (Central Ontario Regiment)

Additional Information


Son of Mrs. E. H. Shepherd, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario; husband of Nellie G. Shepherd, North Bay, Ontario. Held the rank of Major but reverted to Lt. in order to go to the front.

Commemorated on Page 325 of the First World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Panel 18 - 24 - 26 - 30

Location:


The Menin Gate Memorial is situated at the eastern side of the town of Ypres (now Ieper) in the Province of West Flanders, on the road to Menin and Courtrai. It bears the names of 55,000 men who were lost without trace during the defence of the Ypres Salient in the First World War. Designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield and erected by the Imperial (now Commonwealth) War Graves Commission, it consists of a Hall of Memory", 36.6 metres long by 20.1 metres wide. In the centre are broad staircases leading to the ramparts which overlook the moat, and to pillared loggias which run the whole length of the structure. On the inner walls of the Hall, on the side of the staircases and on the walls of the loggias, panels of Portland stone bear the names of the dead, inscribed by regiment and corps. Carved in stone above the central arch are the words:


TO THE ARMIES OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE WHO STOOD HERE FROM 1914 TO 1918 AND TO THOSE OF THEIR DEAD WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE.

Over the two staircases leading from the main Hall is the inscription:

HERE ARE RECORDED NAMES OF OFFICERS AND MEN WHO FELL IN YPRES SALIENT BUT TO WHOM THE FORTUNE OF WAR DENIED THE KNOWN AND HONOURED BURIAL GIVEN TO THEIR COMRADES IN DEATH.

The dead are remembered to this day in a simple ceremony that takes place every evening at 8:00 p.m. All traffic through the gateway in either direction is halted, and two buglers (on special occasions four) move to the centre of the Hall and sound the Last Post. Two silver trumpets for use in the ceremony are a gift to the Ypres Last Post Committee by an officer of the Royal Canadian Artillery, who served with the 10th Battery, of St. Catharines, Ontario, in Ypres in April 1915."

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

Send us your images

  • Photo of Edwin Charles Shepherd– Lieutenant. Edwin Charles Shepherd 4th CMR
  • Newspaper clipping– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of Edwin Charles Shepherd– Source: North Bay's Normal School Yearbook, 1918-1919, page 40
  • Photo of EDWIN CHARLES SHEPHERD– Lieutenant. Edwin Charles Shepherd 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles. Killed leading his men forward in an attack at Passchendaele October 26, 1917.
  • Newspaper Clipping– Local newspaper clipping showing photo of Lieut. Edwin Charles Shepherd 4th CMR. Shepherd was killed by a sniper while leading his company in an attack at Passchendaele on October 26, 1917.
  • Medals– British War and Victory Medals, Canadian Memorial Cross, and 4th Canadian Mounted Rifles cap badge of Lieut. Edwin Charles Shepherd.
  • Attestation Paper– Officer's Declaration Paper
Source: Soldiers of the First World War, CEF.  Library and Archives Canada
  • War Memorial– War Memorial
Submitted by: Operation Picture Me
  • War Memorial (2)– War Memorial
Submitted by: Operation Picture Me
  • Grave Marker– Inscription to the memory of Major EDWIN CHARLES SHEPHERD on the family grave marker in the cemetery of St Mark¿s Anglican Curch, Niagara-on-the Lake, Ontario.
  • Inscription on Menin Gate– Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Inscription on Menin Gate– Inscription on the Menin Gate … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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