Ronald Sheppard

This story and photos are shared by the Trust with kind permission from Adele Whelan, whose grandfather was friends with Ronald Sheppard

Ronnie Sheppard was from Stambermill, Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England where my grandad and I'm from. He was the son of Alfred and Elizabeth Sheppard.

I think they enlisted together and he joined the Warwicks and was posted to the 2nd Battalion.

When back on leave they would go for a drink together. He is buried at Bayeux Cemetery, M2 grave 10.

My grandad found the grave the year of the 40th anniversary when he was one of the chosen veterans who were flown out by the Ministry of Defence (in a Hercules) in the June.

In the August of that year we as a family drove over to see where grandad landed on Juno with the Canadians. We went to all the war sites and cemeteries where we found Ronnie's grave. We visit every time we go to France and leave a poppy, as although he did have siblings, I don't think they ever visited his grave. In the 80's my grandad's brother gave Ronnie's sister a photo of it and she broke down as she'd never seen it.