My Grandads Experiences

My Nan (June [King] Shepherd) told me this story a few months a go just before she died. My granddad (Jack Shepherd) died when I was a baby so if the details to my story are a little vague in places this is because I don’t have any one to ask to clarify. Before the war my granddad was in the merchant navy so when the war started, it made sense for him to join Royal Navy and I believe he spent most of it in and around the Pacific Ocean. One day his ship (I don’t know the name of the vessel or what year this happened) was sunk by I am assuming the Japanese. I was told he spent a number of days in a raft surrounded by sharks and was finally picked up by the New Zealand Navy. When he was picked up he gave a false name and some how got back to England without permission of the armed forces. The reason he did this was because just before the war, he met a woman (my Nan) back at home in Walthamstow, East London and he wanted to be with her. Apparently he got away with it for a few weeks before it was discovered who he really was and was sent to fight the Germans in North Africa. This is only story I know about what my granddad went though during the war and it’s a shame because by all accounts, he was a right character and I am sure there are a few more stories about him I wish I knew.

© Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.