British Army Veterinary Corps
James SHERLEY
Captain
Died 27 November 1917 · Aged 51
His story
Captain James Sherley MRCVS was born at Twickenham and baptised there on 30 September 1866. He was the son of William Rolfe Sherley and Rebecca Sherley and qualified MRCVS in June 1888. Before the war he practised at Bedale, Yorkshire. He married Jessie, who later lived at 39 Zetland Street, Southport.
Sherley entered wartime veterinary service as a temporary officer. The London Gazette records that he relinquished a temporary commission on 22 October 1915. By November 1917, however, he was again serving, now as a Captain in the Army Veterinary Corps attached to the 70th Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. The surviving record of this return to commissioned service still needs to be identified.
On 27 November 1917 Sherley was killed by shrapnel. He was buried in Gouzeaucourt New British Cemetery. Commonwealth War Graves Commission records associate his grave with the recovery of an unidentified Army Veterinary Corps officer, a reminder of the difficulties involved in recovering and identifying bodies after the fighting.
The spelling Sherley is used consistently here because it is the form supported by the official casualty and family records.
Photographs and documents
Before the war
- Nationality
- British
- Date of Birth
- September 1866
- Place of Birth
- Twickenham, Middlesex, England
- Veterinary College and Date of Graduation
- London - June 1888
Military service
- Last Rank
- Captain
- Regiment/Service
- British Army Veterinary Corps
- Secondary Regiment
- Royal Field Artillery
- Secondary Unit
- 70th Brigade
- First Theatre of War
- France
Medals and commemoration
- Name on RCVS Honour Board
- Yes
- Name In Officers who died in Great War
- Yes
Death and burial
- Date of Death
- 27 November 1917
- Age at Death
- 51
- Place of Death
- France
- Cause of Death
- Killed in action when hit by sharpnel
- Cemetery
- Gouzeaucourt, New British Cemetery
- Location
- Gouzeaucourt, France
- Grave Reference
- VII.D.13
- Commonwealth War Grave
- Yes - CWGC Headstone
- Emblem or Badge on Headstone
- British Army Veterinary Corps
Sources and further reading
- CWGC casualty and commemoration record
- Find a Grave memorial
- War diary record of Captain Sherley's death — reproduced document
- The Yorkshire Post December 6, 1917 — reproduced document
Cite this biography
Graham Hodgkins and Pete Matthews, “James Sherley”, Veterinary Virtual War Memorial, https://vetsremembered.org/people/james_sherley/.
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