Died: Killed in action
Address / Local links: Charlotte Cottages, Wickham Street, Welling
Family / Relatives: Son of Walter and Mary Sheldon of Welling
Local Papers / Websites: BHO 30th June 1944
Other Information: Attended Welling Central school, worked for Mr Charles Rice in Bexleyheath
The Forgotten Army was often how soldiers who fought in the Italian campaigns between 1943 and 1945 were often described – a cruel reflection on one of the hardest and fiercest theatres of war…
This was the army that Richard Dennis Sheldon of 5th Battalion, The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) was involved in. The 5th Battalion was a Territorial unit that took part in the campaigns in Sicily and Italy with 36th Infantry Brigade of 78th Division. Here “The Buffs earned a reputation as the British Eighth Army’s best mountain division”.
“In May 1944, the Italian Campaign of World War II saw several major events, including the Allied breakout from Anzio, the capture of Cassino, and the controversial decision by U.S. General Mark Clark to move toward Rome instead of cutting off the German retreat:
The Anzio breakout
On May 23, 1944, seven Allied divisions broke out from Anzio. The breakout was the result of a combined assault by the Fifth and Eighth Armies, which included British, American, French, Polish, and Canadian corps.
Capture of Cassino
After four days of fighting, the Allied armies broke through the German defenses from Cassino to the Tyrrhenian Sea”
It was during these fiercely fought battles that our Richard Sheldon was killed in action.
Today, he lies buried in the Cassino War Cemetery.
Cassino War Cemetery lies in the Commune of Cassino, Province of Frosinone, 139 kilometres south-east of Rome.
History information; “On 3 September 1943 the Allies invaded the Italian mainland, the invasion coinciding with an armistice made with the Italians who then re-entered the war on the Allied side.
Progress through southern Italy was rapid despite stiff resistance, but by the end of October, the Allies were facing the German winter defensive position known as the Gustav Line, which stretched from the river Garigliano in the west to the Sangro in the east. Initial attempts to breach the western end of the line were unsuccessful. Operations in January 1944 landed troops behind the German lines at Anzio, but defences were well organised, and a breakthrough was not actually achieved until 18 May, when Cassino was finally taken. The site for CASSINO WAR CEMETERY was originally selected in January 1944, but the development of the battle during the first five months of that year made it impossible to use it until after the Germans had withdrawn from Cassino. During these early months of 1944, Cassino saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Italian campaign, the town itself and the dominating Monastery Hill proving the most stubborn obstacles encountered in the advance towards Rome. The majority of those buried in the war cemetery died in the battles during these months.
There are now 4,271 Commonwealth service personnel of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Cassino War Cemetery. 289 of the burials are unidentified.
Within the cemetery stands the CASSINO MEMORIAL which commemorates over 4,000 Commonwealth casualties who took part in the Italian campaign whose graves are not known”…
Richard’s parents, Walter and Mary Sheldon, seemed to have lived an itinerant life, moving often between Bexley/welling and east London.
Walter was born in 1877 – the family lived at the unpromisingly named Mount Misery Farm in Bexley – and worked as fruit growers (much of the area then was given over to farming, market gardening and fruit growing). However, it seems that the family may have fallen on hard times, or been forced to move to Bow in the East end of London – Walter is recorded as being a labourer there.
In 1906 he married Mary Maria Bailey. By the mid 1930s they and their children had moved back to the area to Welling – 1 charlotte Cottages Upper Wickham Lane where the 1939 register lists Walter as being a ‘ builder’s Labourer – Heavy’…
Richard, their youngest child, had been born in in the spring of 1923 when parents were well into their 40s. Both Walter and Mary died 1965.
The newspaper cutting tells us that Richard had 3 older brothers all serving in the forces during the war – happily, they all survived. From what we can tell, of these elder brothers all mentioned in newspaper cutting, it seems that Henry and Jack both postwar moved to New Zealand, while Edward got no further than Crayford…
The news cutting also tells us that Richard had attended Welling Central School and, before being called up, had worked for Mr. Charles Rice of Bexleyheath (a scrap merchant in Mayplace Road West).
Richard was just 21 years old.
Pictured, along with newspaper cutting from the Bexleyheath Observer, are a map of Mount Misery Farm (where Richard’s father came from), Welling Central School, Soldiers of the 5th Battalion, The Buffs in Italy in 1944, and the Cassino War Cemetery.
…………………………………………………….
If anyone is able to add any extra information, provide more family details, or suggest any corrections, please let us know – also, if anyone has any more photos of this individual listed on our memorials, please get in touch. Thank you.
Commemorated
- St. Michael’s East Wickham Church Memorial Tablet
- Cassino War Cemetery, Italy
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Richard Dennis Sheldon, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.