Arthur Shepherd was born in Rochdale, Lancashire in 1895, the fourth of six children of James Shepherd and his wife Sarah Holt who married in Rochdale in 1884.
James and Sarah's first three children were all daughters: Ada in 1885, Lilian on 6 January 1889, and Eleanor on 17 February 1891. In the Census taken on 31 March 1891, the Shepherd family of five lived at 157 Louise Street in the Wuerdle district of Rochdale. James was a coal agent. After the birth of Arthur, the family was completed by the arrival of twins, May and James, in 1897.
The Shepherd family had left Rochdale by the time of the 1911 Census, although James was still actively involved in the coal company. They moved to Ansdell Gate, 3 Ansdell Road South, Lytham. After leaving school, Arthur joined the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank, working as a clerk in its South Shore branch at 91 Lytham Road.
Arthur enlisted into the King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment on 18 August 1914. He was sent to the Mediterranean on 13 June 1915 and took part in the Gallipoli Campaign. The news of Arthur's death was conveyed in a letter from Lance Corporal William Thomas Roskell of the same regiment to his father who lived on Fleetwood Road. By then, Arthur's parents had moved to Rossendale Bungalow, Victoria Road, Thornton. The letter read:
"I have some very bad news for you this time. Last Monday, 9th August, about 20 men and an officer were sent to guard a gully, Arthur Shepherd amongst them. They had not been in very long before they were attacked by a very strong force of Turks. Arthur and another chap were killed, and the officer and several men wounded. Vic Windsor (a chum) went up there, and saw him buried all right, and got the contents of his book and gave them to me to send home. I will send them to you the first chance I get. Will you tell Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd, for I dare not, and convey Vic Windsor's and my deepest sympathy to them. It upset us both, we could hardly believe it. On Tuesday morning we left a set of trenches to make an attack on a hill. As we were leaving the trenches they opened artillery fire on us. One of our officers had his arm blown off, so I went down to the hospital with him and saw him safe on to the boat. By the time I got back, the worst part of the attack was over, and most of our boys were either killed or wounded. They were simply mowed down. It was an awful sight. Of the 1,200 officers and men who left England with our Battalion, only about 350 are left, including three officers. Our company has no officer left, so you see we were in the thick of it. I got wounded on Thursday morning. We were making up a sap to the well, and it was my turn on with my men. We had been at work an hour, when they opened fire on us with shrapnel. One bullet hit me on the right shoulder blade, hit the bone, and glanced off. It is only a slight wound. I am writing this on board the hospital ship going down to the base. I have not received a parcel or letter from you for ages, and I don't know how I shall get any now. Remember me to all at Thornton."
Arthur was aged 20 and unmarried. Cpl. Arthur Shepherd, 11539, 6th Battalion, King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment is remembered on Panel 32 and 33, Helles Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey and on the Martins Bank Memorial at Barclays Bank Head Office, Canary Wharf, London.
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