MURRAY, John William
| Service Number: | 5875 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 26 June 1916, Enlisted at Royal agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 17th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Derby, England, 8 January 1889 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Ganger (chief track worker) |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 15 April 1917, aged 28 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Remembered on Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France |
| Memorials: | Gunnedah & District Great War Honour Roll L-Z |
World War 1 Service
| 26 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5875, 17th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Royal agricultural Society Showgrounds, Moore Park, Sydney | |
|---|---|---|
| Date unknown: | Involvement Private, 5875, 17th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
John William MURRAY (Service Number 5875) was born on 8th January 1889 in Derby, England. He is first recorded as working in the Permanent Way Branch in the Northern Division as a labourer from 27th April 1911, In 1911 he became a fettler (track worker) between Werris Creek and Narrabri, and by 1915 had progressed to be a ganger.
He was granted leave to join the Expeditionary Forces on 24th June 1916 and enlisted on the following Monday, 26th June 1916, at the Royal Agricultural Society Showgrounds Sydney. Because he was unmarried, he nominated his father still living in Derbyshire as his next of kin. He was allotted to the 17th Infantry Battalion. He embarked HMAT ‘Ceramic’ at Sydney on 7th October 1916 and reached Plymouth (England) on 21st November 1916. He only had a month in England before he proceeded overseas to France through Folkestone aboard ‘Princess Clementine’. He marched into the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples on 29th December. It was early February before he was taken on the strength of the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion in France.
He was killed in action on 15th April and buried in the vicinity of Lagnicourt, sheet 57c NW. No details as to the location or circumstances of his death survive and as the once recorded location of his remains has been lost in the subsequent chaos of the battlefields, he has no known grave. He is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France.
- based on the Australian WarMemorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board