PTE Victor George MURRAY

Victor Murray was born 29 July 1909 in Brewarrina, NSW and a member of the Ngemba tribal group.  He married Bessie in 1929 and they lived on the Aboriginal Reserve in Condobolin, NSW.  They had three children Beryl, Olive and George.

He was an extraordinarily talented young man, a clever mechanic, and designed an ingenious water system that reticulated water from a creek off the Lachlan River to his house on the reserve.

He enlisted in Paddington, Sydney on 29 May 1940 and his experience as a mechanic gave him the opportunity to be drafted as a Sapper into the Engineers’ 2/4th Field Company, 7th Division.  On 29 July 1940 he was posted to the position of a specialist engine hand with Group III at Ingleburn army camp, NSW, but after only five months service he was discharged from the Army as medically unfit.

A year later on 3 June 1941, Victor determinedly reapplied for enlistment and was drafted as a Private, initially into ‘B’ Infantry Training Brigade but then transferred to 5th Training Battalion at Dubbo.  He was almost immediately embarked at Sydney and arrived in Singapore on 16 August 1941.  Here he was involved in basic jungle training and the preparation of Singapore defences. He suffered severe bouts of recurrent malaria and blinding trachoma and was hospitalised on several occasions in Singapore from 1-12 December 1941.

He returned to his unit in Malaya in January 1942 to face a determined attack from Japanese troops in the Battle of Muar.  With a lack of aerial support, they were soon overpowered and started a slow, dogged fighting withdrawal south through Malaya and finally to Singapore.

On 27 January 1942 he was evacuated sick with recurrent malaria and blinding trachoma to the Australian General Hospital in Singapore. He was placed on board HMAS Bendigo in Singapore harbour.  Scarred by bomb shrapnel from aerial attacks, HMAS Bendigo left Singapore harbour on 6 February 1942 for Freemantle, picking up survivors from ships sunk by enemy aerial attacks along the way.  Victor disembarked from HMAS Bendigo in Freemantle on 8 March 1942 and was then shipped on to Sydney.

He assumed general duties with the Special Training Depot at Cowra and Lowanna NSW, before being evacuated 8 December 1942 to the 2/5th Australian General Hospital at Armadale with acute recurrent malaria.  After resuming general duties inSydney, on 10 July 1943 he was diagnosed with Class D Trachoma and an injury to his left knee.

Victor was discharged on 26 August 1943, being Medically Unfit For Further Military Service.   He worked in the shearing industry before returning to Hay to live with his daughter Beryl Kennedy.  He proudly attended most Anzac Day marches in Hay, even when partly incapacitated by a stroke.

His experiences caused a severe change of character that affected his relationship with his wife Bessie and they separated some years later.

Victor Murray died in hay hospital on 8 May 1976, age 67 years.