LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant Oscar Dudley SHEPHERD
Service No: Not Assigned
Born: Goulburn NSW, May 1887
Enlisted in the Army: 23 October 1916
Unit: No. 6 (Training) Squadron, Australian Flying Corps
Died: Aircraft Accident, England, 11 August 1918, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Leighterton Church Cemetery, Leighterton, Gloucestershire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederic and Anna Laura Gibbion Shepherd, of Teneriffe, Goulburn, New South Wales
Place of Association: Goulburn NSW
Remembered: Panel 188, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Crookwell War Memorial, Crookwell NSW
On 11 August 1918, Second Lieutenant Shepherd was killed in the crash of SE5A aircraft D/363 at Minchinhampton. A witness observed Second Lieutenant Shepherd’s aircraft diving on the target. A portion of the right hand tail plane flew away from the aeroplane. As soon as this happened, the machine straightened out. Immediately the right planes and then the left planes crumpled up and the machine crashed from a height of about 300 feet. In a previous dive, Second Lieutenant Shepherd has pulled out rather quickly but when the accident happened the machine was in a safe diving angle. The Court of Enquiry concluded the cause of the accident was due to the machine being pulled out of a steep dive too quickly, the strain causing the wings to collapse and the machine to crash to the ground.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, SHEPHERD OSCAR DUDLEY
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line