Frederick H Guy SHEPARD.
Flying Officer
Royal Air Force No. 1 Communication Sqdn.
Awards:A F C

On 2nd October 1919, Flying Officer Frederick Hubert Guy Shepard AFC, and Lieutenant A. Page, of No.1 Communication squadron, took off from Kenley at 5.37am in De Havilland DH4 (K5783) bound for Newcastle to deliver official mails.
The journey was expected to take about 2 hours and 40 minutes but a fairly strong head wind slowed their progress. Over Durham, with fuel in the main tank dwindling, it became necessary to switch over to the gravity tank, which should have given them 20 minutes flying – enough time to get to Newcastle – but on the southern outskirts of Newcastle, the engine spluttered to a halt. Shepard decided to try and make it to St.James' Park football field, but the strong wind held them back and he was forced to attempt a landing in Strawberry Lane. He pulled up over the baths, narrowly avoiding the glass roof, but their wing clipped the coping stones on the roof of the house at the corner of Strawberry Lane and St. Andrews' Place, crashing onto the pavement. Shepard was trapped under the fuselage but Lieutenant Page got him out. An ambulance removed Shepard to the Royal Victoria Infirmary where he was admitted, at 8.55am. Having made sure Shepard was in good hands, Page turned his attention to the mail on board the aircraft, which he delivered within an hour of the crash. Shepard succumbed to his injuries at 9pm.

Frederick H Guy SHEPARD.
Flying Officer
Royal Air Force No. 1 Communication Sqdn.
Awards:A F C

On 2nd October 1919, Flying Officer Frederick Hubert Guy Shepard AFC, and Lieutenant A. Page, of No.1 Communication squadron, took off from Kenley at 5.37am in De Havilland DH4 (K5783) bound for Newcastle to deliver official mails.
The journey was expected to take about 2 hours and 40 minutes but a fairly strong head wind slowed their progress. Over Durham, with fuel in the main tank dwindling, it became necessary to switch over to the gravity tank, which should have given them 20 minutes flying – enough time to get to Newcastle – but on the southern outskirts of Newcastle, the engine spluttered to a halt. Shepard decided to try and make it to St.James' Park football field, but the strong wind held them back and he was forced to attempt a landing in Strawberry Lane. He pulled up over the baths, narrowly avoiding the glass roof, but their wing clipped the coping stones on the roof of the house at the corner of Strawberry Lane and St. Andrews' Place, crashing onto the pavement. Shepard was trapped under the fuselage but Lieutenant Page got him out. An ambulance removed Shepard to the Royal Victoria Infirmary where he was admitted, at 8.55am. Having made sure Shepard was in good hands, Page turned his attention to the mail on board the aircraft, which he delivered within an hour of the crash. Shepard succumbed to his injuries at 9pm.