Sydney born John Shepherd enlisted at the start of the war aged 31. Shepherd worked as a printer for the Castlereagh Street firm of S.T. Leigh and Co.
He spent time with the Naval Brigade in Wellington (New Zealand) but had been back in Australia for five years before the war broke out. Shepherd was best known in Sydney football circles for being one of the game’s leading referees.
He was serving as a Lance Corporal in the 4th battalion at the time of the Gallipoli landings.
Killed on 27 April 1914 just a few days into the Gallipoli campaign, he has no known grave and is commemorated at the Lone Pine memorial.