MURPHY, Richard
(Service number 80095)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 20/12/1896 | Place of Birth | Cheviot |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 24 September 1917 | Age | 20 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/- N. Fitzgerald, Ashburton | ||
| Occupation | Horse-driver | ||
| Previous Military Experience | 12th Nelson Territorials | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | T. Murphy (father) Cheviot | ||
Military Service
| Served with | New Zealand Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 42nd Reinforcements A Company | ||
| Date | 1 August 1918 | ||
| Transport | HMNZT109 Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, New Zealand | Destination | London, England |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | 42nd Reinforcements | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal, Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru | ||
Biographical Notes
Richard Murphy was born at Cheviot on 20 December 1896, the son of Timothy and Mary Murphy who had emigrated from Ireland. Richard was working as a horse driver for Mr N. Fitzgerald of Ashburton, living on the property when he enlisted at Ashburton on 24 September 1917. His medical described him as a single man, Roman Catholic, 5ft 8in, 156lbs, of fresh complexion, with blue eyes, and dark hair. He had previous military experience with the 12th Nelson Territorials. He joined A Coy, 42nd Reinforcements and embarked for the UK at Wellington on 1 August 1918. It seems unlikely that Richard Murphy ever got to the Front. There is no mention of it in his records. He was admitted to the NZ hospital at Hornchurch in east London on 19 November 1918 suffering from the influenza that was to infect 500 million people worldwide – about a third of the world's population at the time – in the Spanish flu pandemic. He was sent back to New Zealand on 3 December 1918 on the troopship Tahiti and discharged 9 February 1919 no longer physically fit for war service due to influenza and bronchitis having served 256 days. His intended address was Belt St, Waimate, so he is probably the Richard Murphy in the 1919 Waitaki electoral roll, a labourer, resident at the Criterion Hotel. But then the trail runs cold. What happened to Richard Murphy after 1919 has not been established.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [August 2013 * June 2021]; Commonwealth War Graves Commission website (http://www.cwgc.org/); NZ Defence Force Personnel Records [June 2021]
External Links
Related Documents
Researched and Written by
Maree Bowen, SC branch NZSG; Carol Bell, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.