The McMurray Brothers in the Great War

CEFRG presents the story of the McMurray Brothers in the Great War. Lieutenant-Colonel William Hamilton McMurray, OBE, MC, ED, MID (10 March 1889 – 29 November 1985) was a Canadian soldier who served in both world wars as a member of 1st and 5th Divisional Signaling Companies in the Great War, and with the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals in the Second World War. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, London Gazette, No. 31370, 3 June 1919. William’s older brother, Bombardier Robert John McMurray, was wounded during the Battle of Hill 70. He had a difficult recovery, and was invalided home to Canada in May of 1918.

Robert John McMurray 311436

Early Life

Bombardier Robert John McMurray 311436 was born 24 September 1884 in Belfast, Ireland. He was a Carpenter. Robert enlisted with the 3rd Divisional Column on 1 February 1916 at Toronto, Ontario. Robert stood 5′ 11″ tall, 135 pounds, with dark complexion, hazel eyes, and dark brown hair. His mother was Mrs. Sarah McMurray, of 317 Dupont Street, Toronto, Ontario. His father was deceased. Prior to his enlistment, Robert was the bread-winner in the family, contributing $45 a month to his mother.

Service

Robert was the second of the McMurray Brothers to enlist in the Great War. He enlisted with the 6th Canadian Infantry Battalion and was soon T.o.S. by No. 2 Section, 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column (D.A.C.), 1 March 1916. Transferred to 54th Field Battery, 12th Brigade C.F.A., C.E.F., 11 March 1916. To England from Halifax on 11 September 1916, disembarking Liverpool, 22 September 1916.

Transferred from 16th Brigade C.F.A. to 15th Brigade C.F.A. upon divisional realignment, and posted to 54th Battery, 22 January 1917. Overseas to France on 20 March 1917. Appointed Fitter, 20 March 1917. Wounded 16 August 1917 at Lens during Battle of Hill 70. Shrapnel in left foot, left knee, left hip and right foot. Robert was carrying back a dead officer immediately after an action when he was hit by Shell Splinters.

Recovery

Admitted No. 1 C.C.S. 16 August 1917. Operation for drainage, several pieces of shrapnel removed. Admitted No. 7 General Hospital, St. Omer, 18 August 1917, GSW left leg – severe. Invalided to England, admitted Queen Alexandria Military Hospital, Millbank, 8 September 1917. All wounds very septic on admission. Left leg amputated, 10 September 1917. Admitted Westminster Hospital, 8 September 1917, progressing satisfactorily. Further operations required for painful nerve endings. Robert has a total of six operations, four on his left stump, and two on his right foot.

Admitted Granville Canadian Special Hospital, Buxton, 6 February 1918. Pain constant. Discharged 22 April 1918. Admitted No. 5 Canadian General Hospital, Liverpool, 24 April 1918. Transferred to Kirkdale, 22 April 1918. Invalided to Canada 6 May 1918, sailing No. 56 from Avonmouth. On 19 May 1918 Robert contracted Measles. To Casualty Depot, 26 August 1918. To Military Orthopedic Hospital, 28 August 1918, loss of left leg and partial loss of function of right foot. Discharged as physically unfit, 14 September 1918.

Civilian Life

Robert lived with his mother at 279 Major Street, Toronto. Robert, being the eldest of the McMurray Brothers in the Great War, died 27 September 1967 at Sunnybrook Hospital. He was eighty-two years old.

William Hamilton McMurray 5719

Early Life

William Hamilton McMurray 5719 was born 16 March 1889 in Armagh, Ireland. He was the younger of the two McMurray Brothers to serve in the Great War. William emigrated to Canada with his family. He completed his high school education in Toronto where he worked at a bank for a time before proceeding out west. Ending up in Winnipeg, he first worked for the provincial government on their telephone system but later he worked as a clerk for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

William was working in construction for the Canadian Pacific Railway when he was the first of the McMurray Brothers to enlist in the Great War. He enlisted with the Canadian Signal Corps (C.S.C.) on 12 August 1914 in Winnipeg Manitoba. He had his medical exam on 23 September 1914 at Valcartier, Quebec.

Warrant Officer George Birbeck had little trouble convincing William to enlist with the C.C.S., for he had joined the C.C.S. in 1910. William had 4 years previous service with the 1st Divisional Signal Company, C.C.S. He had learned Morse code, semaphore with flags, and the use of heliograph. William stood 5′ 9″ tall, 142 pounds, with fair complexion, brown eyes, and dark brown hair. He was a strikingly handsome man. William was Presbyterian.

Service

In Winnipeg, William had joined the Militia with No. 10 Section, C.S.C. in 1910 and served until the outbreak of the Great War. He quickly attested for active service and proceeded to Valcartier to join the 1st Canadian Divisional Signal Company. William proceeded to England onboard SS ANDANIA on 4 October 1914 with the First Contingent. He noted the terrible living conditions while in training on Salisbury Plain.

Western Front

He proceeded to France in February 1915 as a member of No. 4 Section, the section of 1st Canadian Divisional Signal Company permanently attached to 3rd Canadian Infantry Brigade and which was commanded by Captain Forde. While serving in Belgium, William experienced the first poison gas attack at Ypres, protection against it was very primitive. The men ordered to breathe through their own urine-soaked handkerchiefs.

Having reached the rank of Sergeant on 24 May 1915 in the field, William commissioned as a Temporary Lieutenant 6 February 1916 in the Canadian Engineers (London Gazette, No. 29483). It is worth noting the C.S.C. was run by Canadian Engineers, so it was into that Corps he was commissioned despite his service with the C.S.C.

Photos of William show that regardless, he continued to wear the badges of the C.S.C. and he doesn’t seem to have thought himself as an ‘engineer’. Upon commissioning, he was given command of No. 2 Section, 1st Canadian Divisional Signal Company, which was attached to 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade.

Admitted to No. 7 General Hospital, St. Omer, 24 April 1916, suffering from a bout of Rubella and another of German measles, and discharged 4 May 1916. Admitted to No. 1 Divisional Resting Station, Mont des Cats, with Influenza on 9 July 1916, and discharged 13 July 1916.

Military Cross Citation

Lieutenant McMurray was awarded the Military Cross in 1916 for actions in the Battle of the Somme. Military Cross Citation – London Gazette, No. 29824, 14 November 1916:

“For conspicuous gallantry in action. He maintained communications with the front line during our successful attack and the subsequent enemy bombardment. He was under heavy fire, and, when most of his lines-men had become casualties, he personally maintained the lines with total disregard of his own safety.”

Battle of Vimy Ridge

During the Battle of Vimy Ridge, William had to move off with the first wave of attackers so that with bayonets stuck in the ground he could mark the path for the cable layers. Following the battle, on 29 April 1917, William is transferred to the Canadian Engineer Training Depot where he joined the newly forming 5th Canadian Divisional Signal Company as the 2nd in Command.

William promoted to Temporary Captain effective 10 May 1917. It was decided to break up the Division in order to provide reinforcements to the four Canadian divisions already in the field, so, Captain McMurray joined the C.S.C. Signal Company in November 1917.

Motorcycle accident

In May 1918, while riding a motorcycle, he collided with a motorcar and suffered a compound fracture of the index finger on his left hand. Granted two weeks Leave on 14 June 1918, rejoining his unit in the field, 29 June 1918. William goes on to participate in Canada’s Last Hundred Days, and following a week of celebration in Mons, after the Armistice, he is selected for the March to the Rhine.

Demobilization

In Bonn during the Allied Occupation of Germany, William granted 14 days leave to England, on 3 January 1919. He returns to his unit, on 20 January 1919, the day after they had arrived in Huy, Belgium. William spent the next three months here awaiting demobilization. He devotes much of his time as an Instructor at Khaki School.

For his work with the Corps Headquarters of the Army of Occupation after the Armistice, William becomes an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. It was during this time that he had an opportunity to interact with Lt.-Gen. Sir Arthur Currie on a regular basis. William still recalled his admiration for Currie in an interview in 1979.

William returned to England on 17 April 1919 and transferred to the 1st Canadian Engineer Reserve Battalion to proceed back to Canada. At Seaford, crushed left index finger re-examined and deemed fit for service on 9 May 1919. Following the awarding of his O.B.E., in June of 1919, he demobilized on 8 July 1919 and was S.o.S. at Medical District No. 3, Winnipeg, Manitoba. On the same day, Mentioned in Dispatches, London Gazette, No. 31448, 8 July 1919.

McMurray rejoined the military, in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, in 1940 where he served in a training role until 1945 when he demobilized for a second time.

Civilian Life

William moved to 505 Newman Street, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Later, having declined an offer to join the post war permanent force as a Major in the C.S.C., McMurray returned to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway.

Of the two McMurray Brothers in the Great War, William out-lived his older brother by 18 years. William McMurray died in Victoria, British Columbia, on 29 November 1985.

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