William James Gunn MURRAY

Regimental number5147
Place of birthMurray Hill, Warracknabeal, Victoria
SchoolWarracknabeal and Batchica State Schools, Victoria
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationMechanic
AddressState School, Horsham, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation19
Next of kinFather, W Murray, Murray Hill, Warracknabal, Victoria
Previous military serviceServed in the 73rd Area Citizen Military Forces.
Enlistment date31 January 1916
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name6th Battalion, 16th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/23/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A23 Suffolk on 1 April 1916
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularFor conspicuous bravery as a runner to "C" Company 58th Battalion he was twice mentioned in despatches. He was admired by his officers and comrades for his gallant conduct and exemplary life. (Written to his parents by the late Lieut Kidd (58th Batt)
Place of death or woundingLagnicourt, France
Age at death20
Age at death from cemetery records20
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian 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
166
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Elizabeth MURRAY, Murray Hill, Warracknabeal, Victoria
Family/military connectionsBrothers: 1379 Sergeant George Alex Hugh MURRAY, 14th Bn, killed in action, 30 March 1918; 627 Sergeant Leslie Harold MURRAY, returned to Australia, 11 May 1919.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal