MURPHY, Sydney Rupert
| Service Number: | 127 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 January 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | 1st Avenue, East Adelaide, 12 August 1891 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 22 August 1918, aged 27 years |
| Cemetery: |
Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery No known grave Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Payneham District Council Roll of Honor, St. Peters East Adelaide Public School Roll of Honour, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 127, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 127, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 22 Aug 1918: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 127, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 127 awm_unit: 43rd Australian Infantry Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1918-08-22 | |
| Date unknown: | Wounded 127, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
War service of Sydney Rupert Murphy
Enlisted at Adelaide at 24 years and 5 months of age, on 17 January 1916.
Allotted army number 127 and the rank of Private.
Embarked at Adelaide for the middle east with the 43rd Battalion on HMAT 'Afric' on the 9 June 1916.
Appointed Lance Corporal on 16 June 1916.
Proceed overseas to France on 25 November 1916.
Promoted to Corporal on 5 June 1917.
Wounded in action on 3 July 1917.
Admitted to the 11th casualty Clearing Station on 3 July 1917.
Transferred to the Canadian Hospital on 5 July 1917.
Transferred to the 5th General Hospital on 24th July 1917.
Transferred to England and admitted to the 1st Southern General Hospital on 28 July 1917.
Taken on strength of the Overseas Training Brigade on 8 September 1917.
Proceeded Overseas to France on 14 October 1917.
Appointed Temporary Sergeant on 1 november 1917.
Killed in action on 22 August 1918.
Burried in Villers Brentonneaux War Cemetery, France.
Medals issued, British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Sydney Rupert Murphy was the youngest son of Arthur Thomas Murphy and Eleanor Bowes.
Sydney was never married and had no children.
Submitted 21 November 2014 by John Murphy
Biography
Regimental number 127
Religion Baptist
Occupation Labourer
Address Wellington Road, Payneham, South Australia
Marital status Single
Age at embarkation 24
Next of kin Mother, Mrs Eleanor Murphy, same address
Enlistment date 17 January 1916
Rank on enlistment Private
Unit name 43rd Battalion, A Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/60/1
Embarkation details Unit embarked from Adelaide, South Australia, on board HMAT A19 Afric on 9 June 1916
Rank from Nominal Roll Sergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll 43rd Battalion
Fate Killed in Action 22 August 1918
Place of burial No known grave
Commemoration details Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France
Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.
The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.
On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.
After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
Australian War Memorial 137
Other details
War service: Western Front
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
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