John Shepherd

John Shepherd, (20 July 1919 – 22 January 1946) was a British flying ace who served with the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. He was credited with having shot down at least thirteen aircraft as well as seven V-1 flying bombs.

From Edinburgh, Shepherd was served as ground crew in the Royal Auxiliary Air Force before training as a pilot in April 1939. He was called up for service with the RAF just before the outbreak of the Second World War and in September 1940 was posted to No. 234 Squadron, serving with it during the final stages of the Battle of Britain. He achieved his first aerial victories during the Circus offensive of 1941. Early the following year, he was posted to No. 118 Squadron, serving with this unit for nearly two years before being rested, having been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice during this time. He returned to operations with No. 610 Squadron in mid-1944, and over the next several weeks destroyed a number of V-1 flying bombs during Operation Diver. He briefly commanded the squadron until it was disbanded in March 1945. He was then appointed commander of No. 41 Squadron which he led until the end of the war. In the immediate postwar period he was awarded the DFC for the third time. Still commanding No. 41 Squadron, he was killed in a flying accident on 22 January 1946.

Early life John Bean Shepherd was born on 20 July 1919 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He joined the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in a ground crew role and served with No. 603 Squadron. When an opportunity came up to train as aircrew, he applied and was accepted in April 1939.

Second World War In late August 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Shepherd was called up for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) and commenced further training. His flying training was at No. 11 Elementary & Reserve Flying Training School at Perth and from there, he went to No. 7 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Hawarden to train on the Supermarine Spitfire fighter.

Shepherd was posted as a sergeant pilot to No. 234 Squadron, which operated Spitfires from Middle Wallop, in September 1940. Although part of No. 10 Group and therefore not directly involved in the Luftwaffe's campaign against London, the squadron had been involved in several major engagements during the Battle of Britain and had lost many of its pilots. Shortly after Shepherd's arrival, the squadron moved to St Eval for a period of duty at a lowered operational tempo, with fewer sorties.

Circus offensive

No. 234 Squadron moved to Warmwell in early 1941 and began to reequip with the Spitfire Mk II. It switched to an offensive role as part of the RAF's Circus offensive, flying on sorties and bomber escort duties to German-occupied France while also carrying out convoy patrols. On 23 March he and two other pilots shared in damaging a Junkers Ju 88 medium bomber over the Isle of Wight. He shared in the destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter to the northwest of Cherbourg on 17 June. He was credited with a half share in a Ju 88 that was probably destroyed over Veere on 12 August. Shortly afterwards he was commissioned as a pilot officer. He shot down one Bf 109 and damaged a second near Le Havre on 15 October.

In early 1942 Shepherd was transferred to No. 118 Squadron to serve as one of its flight commanders. The following month, he was recognised for his successes with an award of the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). The citation for the DFC was published in The London Gazette and read:

Towards the end of 1942 and into 1943, No. 118 Squadron was regularly on bomber escort duties and often encountered Luftwaffe fighters. On 18 July, on a sortie to Holland, Shepherd destroyed two Bf 109s, one of which shared with another pilot. By this time, his acting rank of flight lieutenant had been made substantive. He damaged a Bf 109 near Schipol on 25 July and claimed another Bf 109 as probably destroyed on 2 August. Later that month, he was awarded a Bar to his DFC; the published citation read:

Later war service A Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV fighter of No. 610 Squadron, used during its campaign against the V-1 flying bomb In June 1944, Shepherd, who had been taken off operations for a rest the previous October, was posted to No. 610 Squadron. On 22 January 1946, he was taking off in a Hawker Tempest fighter when it suffered an engine failure. The aircraft crashed into an anti-tank ditch beyond the airfield and Shepherd was killed on impact.

Shepherd is credited with having shot down thirteen aircraft, five of which shared with other pilots, as well as seven V-1 flying bombs. He claimed one aircraft as probably destroyed, with a second shared, and three damaged, one of which was shared.