Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

08/03/1916

Date of Discharge

26/07/1919

Place of Enlistment

Brisbane, Queensland

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

20/02/1897

Place of Birth

Harrington NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Student

Next of Kin

Annie Murdoch (mother), Bexhill Public School, Richmond River NSW

Final Rank

Lieutenant

Final Unit

41 Battalion AIF

Mention in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette No.57, 18 April 1918)

Murdoch (spelt 'Murdock' in some sources) entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon in February 1915 but was discharged at the end of that year before enlisting in early 1916. He left Australia as a Sergeant with the 41st Battalion in May 1916 and arrived in France in November 1916. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and then to Lieutenant following the Battle of Messines in Belgium in June 1917. The 41st Battalion were part of the 3rd Division of the AIF and fought at Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele in October and November 1917. He spent the beginning of 1918 in hospital in England with scabies and a deviated septum and rejoined his battalion in the Somme in April 1918. During the major offensive of August 1918 the 41st Battalion advanced along the northern side of the Somme River. Murdoch spent two months as Adjutant for the 42nd Battalion but ended the war with his original unit. Note that the AWM entry for his Mention in Despatches is under 'Keith Adrian Murdoch'.

Description - height 5 feet 7½ inches, weight 145 pounds, chest 34-37 inches, fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, Presbyterian, scar back of the neck and left forearm.

Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
AWM Honours & Awards