Бірінші дүниежүзілік соғысының батыры: Генри Уильям Мюррей

Recipient of the Victoria Cross

Henry William Murray, (1 December 1880 – 7 January 1966) was an Australian grazier, soldier, and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Decorated several times throughout his service in the First World War, Murray rose from the rank of private to lieutenant colonel in three and a half years. He is often described as the most highly decorated infantry soldier of the British Empire during the First World War. Born in Tasmania, Murray worked as a farmer, courier and timber cutter before enlisting in September 1914. Assigned to a machine gun crew, he served during the Gallipoli Campaign, where he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal before the withdrawal from the peninsula. He was later transferred along with the rest of his battalion to France for service on the Western Front, where he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order during the Battle of the Somme. In February 1917, Murray commanded a company during the battalion's attack on the German position of Stormy Trench. During the engagement, the company was able to capture the position and repulse three fierce counter attacks, with Murray often leading bayonet and bombing charges himself. For his actions during the battle, Murray was awarded the Victoria Cross. Soon after his Victoria Cross action, he was promoted to major and earned a Bar to his Distinguished Service Order during an attack on the Hindenburg Line near Bullecourt. Promoted to lieutenant colonel in early 1918, he assumed command of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion, where he would remain until the end of the war. Returning to Australia in 1920, Murray eventually settled in Queensland, where he purchased the grazing farm that would be his home for the remainder of his life. Re enlisting for service in the Second World War, he was appointed as commanding officer of the 26th (Militia) Battalion. Taking his discharge in 1944, Murray returned to his farm and died in 1966 at the age of 85.

Murray was born at Clairville, near Evandale, Tasmania, on 1 December 1880, the eighth of nine children of Edward Kennedy Murray, a farmer, and his wife Clarissa, née Littler. Descended from convicts on his father's side, Murray was baptised on 23 November 1885, and attended Evandale State School. When he was fourteen years of age, his parents withdrew him from school to work on the family farm. However, his mother continued his education, placing emphasis on English. The family later moved to Northcote, near St Leonards, where Edward Murray died in 1904. Harry Murray joined the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps in 1902, serving until 1908, when he migrated to Western Australia where his two older brothers had previously settled. Murray initially worked on his brother's wheat farm, before becoming a courier for a mining company at Kookynie, transporting gold and mail by bicycle or on horseback. He travelled the same track on a fortnightly basis, gaining a reputation for being a crack shot with a .32 carbine that he carried. At the time of his enlistment in 1914, Murray was working near Manjimup, in the south west of Western Australia, employing timber cutters for the railways.

Murray enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Perth on 30 September 1914. He declined the offer of a commission, and was posted as a private to A Company of the newly formed 16th Battalion, 4th Brigade. Appointed to one of the unit's two machine gun crews, he was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp for training, where he became the gun No. 2, whose job it was to feed ammunition belts through the gun; Percy Black was No. 1 and the pair soon became firm friends. On 21 November, the battalion entrained for Fremantle, boarding troopships headed for Melbourne; it was there that the four battalions combined to form the 4th Brigade under the command of Colonel John Monash. After completing their basic training in Victoria, the brigade left Port Melbourne aboard Troopship A40, Ceramic on 26 December. After a brief stop at Albany, Western Australia, they arrived in Egypt in early February 1915. The brigade marched from Alexandria to Heliopolis as part of the New Zealand and Australian Division of Major General Alexander Godley.

After Bullecourt, the 4th Brigade withdrew to Ribemont, where reinforcements brought it up to strength. During this period, Murray oversaw musketry training before being granted convalescent leave to London in May. While in the capital, he was decorated with his Victoria Cross and Distinguished Service Order by King George V in Hyde Park on 2 June 1917. Promoted major on 12 July, he rejoined his battalion later in the month, and during the 4th Brigade's advance to the Hindenburg Line over subsequent months, was involved in actions at Messines, Ploegstreert Wood, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle and Passchendaele. For his actions at Passchendaele, Murray garnered a mention in Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig's dispatch of 7 November 1917. Following Passchendaele, the 4th Brigade spent three months in reserve. Murray became second in command of the 13th Battalion, frequently assuming temporary command of the unit while the commanding officer was absent. Granted leave to Paris from 12 January to 2 February 1918, he was promoted to temporary lieutenant colonel on 15 March and assumed command of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion. Commanding the unit during the German spring offensive, Murray's rank was confirmed on 24 May. On 3 August, he attended another divisional conference regarding the planned attack near Amiens scheduled for 8 August. Lieutenant General John Monash's instructions called for several of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion's companies to be moved forward by Mark V tanks, accompanying different units during the battle. At the end of the three day action, German General Erich Ludendorff described the Allied success as "the black day of the German Army in this war". During his service with the Americans, Murray was recommended for the United States' Distinguished Service Medal by the commander of the 27th, Major General John F. O'Ryan. The Distinguished Service Medal is the highest non valorous military and civilian decoration of the United States military, and in General O'Ryan's recommendation he stated that Murray's "  knowledge, activity and fearlessness  assisted materially in the control of the attacking forces". On 3 January 1919, Murray was awarded the French Croix de guerre for his service as commander of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion from 23 March to 24 April and 2–7 August 1918. On 30 May 1919, he was awarded a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George for his command of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion, the recommendation of which particularly citing his success during attacks on the Hindenburg Line. Murray's final honour came on 11 July 1919, when he was Mentioned in Despatches for the fourth time, having received his third mention on 31 December 1918. From June to September 1919, Murray—along with fellow Australian Victoria Cross recipient William Donovan Joynt—led parties of AIF members on a tour of the farming districts of Britain and Denmark to study agricultural methods under the education schemes. Attempting to evade further fanfare, Murray quietly travelled to northern Tasmania and then to his sister's house in Launceston. He was discharged from the AIF on 9 March 1920. The couple returned to Queensland, and in April 1928 Murray bought Glenlyon station, Richmond, a 74,000 acre (29,947 ha) grazing property, where he lived for the rest of his life. Between 1929 and 1939, Murray wrote fifteen articles for Reveille, the magazine of the New South Wales branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia (RSL), detailing several of his experiences during the First World War, and praising several of his comrades.

On 21 July 1939, with the Second World War looming, Murray volunteered for military service and was appointed as commanding officer of the 26th (Militia) Battalion, 11th Brigade, based in Townsville; he was mobilised for full time service on 21 October 1941. Murray's second in command of the unit during this time was Major Edgar Towner, who had additionally been decorated with the Victoria Cross in 1918. The 26th became a unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1942, and in August Murray was removed from his post by General Sir Thomas Blamey, Commander in Chief Australian Military Forces, on the grounds of his advancing age. He was instead appointed to command the 23rd Queensland Regiment, Volunteer Defence Corps, which he led until his retirement from active duty on 8 February 1944. With the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, wool prices soared and Murray earned a large income from wool sales, allowing him to regularly travel across Australia. Taking a trip to Brisbane in 1954, he met Queen Elizabeth II during her Royal Tour of Australia. Despite rarely attending Anzac Day services or functions for Victoria Cross recipients, Murray and his wife travelled to London in 1956 to commemorate the centenary of the Victoria Cross. Following the ceremonies, the Murrays spent five weeks on a motor tour of England and Scotland, before visiting Switzerland and France. However, Murray refused to revisit the battlefields. On 6 January 1966, Nell was driving the family car with Harry as a passenger; they were going to the south coast of Queensland for a holiday. A tyre blew out and the car rolled on the Leichhardt Highway near Condamine. Murray was taken to Miles District Hospital with broken ribs. He had had heart trouble for some time, and the shock of the accident is believed to have caused his death the following day. Murray was interred at Mount Thompson Crematorium with full military honours after a funeral service at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Brisbane. In February 2006, Governor General Michael Jeffery unveiled a statue of Murray by sculptor Peter Corlett in Evandale, Tasmania. This tribute was facilitated by a small group of volunteers who raised A$85,000 in two years. The Henry Murray ward at Hollywood Private Hospital has been named in his honour.