Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

03/08/1915

Date of Discharge

25/10/1919

Place of Enlistment

Dubbo NSW

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

29/09/1884

Place of Birth

Surry Hills NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Canberra ACT

Occupation

Labourer

Next of Kin

John Murray (father), 'The Rectory' Canberra ACT

Service Number

2493

Final Rank

Lance Corporal

Final Unit

5 Field Company Engineers AIF

Queanbeyan RSL Wall of Remembrance, Crawford St, Queanbeyan NSW

Harry Murray was born in Sydney but grew up at Michelago and Cowra Creek near Bredbo. He was working in the Dubbo area when he enlisted on 2 August 1915, giving his address as Canberra where his father ran a bakery and store. He embarked for overseas in October 1915 with the 5th Field Company Engineers and was treated for bronchitis and pleurisy in Egypt in June 1916. In November 1916 he was appointed a Lance Corporal. He received a severe gun shot wound to the right leg at the Second Battle of Bullecourt in May 1917 and didn't rejoin his unit until February 1918. The following June he was wounded in action a second time. Murray returned to Australia in October 1919 with his English wife Elsie and was given a welcome home at the Acton Amusement Hall where he was presented with a gold mounted pen. In 1920 he acquired a soldier settler's block in the Ainslie area but surrendered it a couple of years later after he and his wife moved to Sydney. During the Depression he worked for his brother Ernest who held a block in the Stromlo area (in the modern-day suburb of Coombes). His brothers Ernest, John, Roland, Malcolm and James all enlisted for service in either or both World Wars. Harry Murray died on 17 October 1948 at Marrickville Hospital in Sydney aged 64 years. He was cremated at Rookwood Crematorium.

Description - height 5 feet 9 inches, weight 160 pounds, chest 37-39 inches, dark complexion, black eyes, black hair, Church of England.

First World War Unit Embarkation Rolls
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
James Murray, 'Canberra's First Anzac', 1982 (unpublished biography of Ernest Murray)
Queanbeyan Age - 18 May 1917, 29 May 1917
Sydney Morning Herald - 18 October 1948, 19 October 1948