Exploring History: Maj. Charles Edwin Shepherd

Charles Edwin Shepherd, known as Ted to his friends and family, was born and raised in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where he attended the local elementary and high schools. Like many young people, he eventually left home, settling in North Bay, where he married. When the First World War was declared, his decision to enlist came as little surprise to those who knew him, particularly as he had attended an officer’s course in Toronto in the years before the war. On Oct. 26, 1917, amid mud, rain, cold and wind, Edwin led an attack and was killed. He is believed to have died during the Second Battle of Passchendaele. In a letter to his wife, one of the men who served under him wrote: “It will I know, be some consolation to you and your family to know that your husband died facing the enemy and showing that example of coolness and bravery which made the reputation of Canadians as fighting men what it is today.” Letters from fellow officers shared similar accounts. They remembered his cheerful nature, courage and composure under fire, as well as his concern for the welfare of the men who served under him. Edwin was one of many Canadians who never returned from the fields of Flanders. His story brings to mind the lines of John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields,” written just two years earlier: We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.