Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Crimea 1854-56, 4 clasps, Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, Sebastopol (Sergt. Willm. Shepherd, 11th Hussars) engraved naming in upright serif capitals, light contact marks and one or two edge bruises, otherwise very fine £1200-1500

William Shepherd, who was born in Newbridge, Co. Kildare, was wounded and taken prisoner in the charge of the Light Brigade on 25 October 1854. His service record notes that he was discharged in December of the following year, having been ‘rendered unfit for service from [a] grape shot wound on [the] outer and lower part of the left leg, followed by exfoliation of a portion of the fibula, resulting in weakness of the limb and union of the soft parts to the bone.’

Notes which accompany the Medal state that Shepherd actually had three horses shot from under him and that he personally received 14 wounds. As a result, he was repatriated in April 1855 and spent six years on crutches after being discharged. Certainly he was recommended for a special pension and is known to have attended the annual dinners of 1895 and 1899. The gallant Shepherd, who was married three times and had 16 children, died in July 1900, aged 63 years.

Honour the Light Brigade states:

‘An engraved medal with 4 clasps sold at Glendining’s on 17 June 1924, but believed to be not original. Another badly engraved medal to “Sergeant William Shepherd” sold by auction in Birmingham on 18 March 1896 and at Glendining’s on 26 April 1912, 28 June 1917 and 22 June 1923. This medal now in the National Army Museum.’