Private Victor George Murray 2/20th Battalion AIF, 8th

Victor George Murray was born on the 29th July 1909 in Brewarrina, NSW and a Escape from Singapore member of the Ngemba tribal group. He married Bessie in 1929 and they lived on the With the Japanese at the front door, the official evacuation of Singapore began in late January with women and children first and continued almost until the last moment Aboriginal Reserve in Condobolin, NSW. They had three children Beryl, Olive and before surrender on the 15.2.42. George. Scarred by bomb shrapnel from aerial attacks whilst in Singapore harbour, HMAS Bendigo left Singapore on the 6th February 1942 picking up survivors from ships sunk He was an extraordinarily talented young man, a clever mechanic, and designed an by enemy aerial attacks along the way. On its way to Freemantle WA, the corvette very narrowly avoided a fleet of Japanese cruisers and destroyers south of Java in the ingenious water system that reticulated water from a creek off the Lachlan River to his Indian Ocean. house on the reserve. The ’s Changi Service and Casualty Form dutifully reported Victor missing on 15th February 1942, the day Singapore surrendered to the Japanese! On the 8th March 1942, Victor was reported to have disembarked at Freemantle from HMS Bendigo and then shipped on to Sydney. Victor was classed as temporarily unfit and from then on assumed general duties with the Special Training Depot at Cowra NSW and Lowanna NSW before being evacuated on the 8.12.42 by ambulance to the 2/5th Australian General Hospital, Armidale NSW with acute, recurrent malaria. The 2/5th AGH remained a military First Enlistment Australian Military Forces hospital until just after the war. Victor first enlisted in the Australian Military Forces at Condobolin on the 15th May 1940 and formally signed the Oath of Enlistment on the military attestation form Upon recovery in Armidale, Victor resumed general military duties in Sydney until being diagnosed on the 10.7.43 by the Sydney Medical Board with Class D Trachoma at Paddington Sydney on the 29th May 1940. His experience as a mechanic gave him the opportunity to be drafted as a Sapper* into the Engineers 2/4th Field Company, and an injury to his left knee. . He was given the Army Service No.NX18444. *A Sapper is an engineer who is a fighting soldier in his own right. He performs a variety of military engineering duties such as building and repairing roads and bridges, Honourably Discharged clearing mines, preparing field defences and breaching enemy fortifications. On the 26th August 1943, Private Victor George Murray, NX33988 was honourably discharged from the Australian Military Forces being Medically Unfit For Further On the 29.7.40, Victor was posted to the position of a specialist engine hand with Group III at the Ingleburn army camp NSW. Military Service. He gave over 2 years of military service to his country but like so many of our soldiers who served overseas, he came back a haunted and much changed On the 17.10.40, after five months service he was discharged from the army as medically unfit. man. Sadly, this severe change of character greatly affected his relationship with his wife Bessie and they separated some years later. During the fighting actions Victor was involved with against the Japanese in Malaya, he witnessed some brutal behaviour from the enemy. These events rested heavily on Second Enlistment AMF his mind and he found it difficult to talk about them later. A year later on the 3rd June 1941, Victor determinedly reapplied for enlistment in the Australian Army at Condobolin NSW. On the 17th June 1941 he again signed the After his discharge, Victor worked in the shearing industry before returning to Hay to live with his daughter Beryl Kennedy. He proudly attended most Anzac Day military Oath of Enlistment form at Paddington. On the 18.6.41 he was drafted as a Private into ‘B’ Training and given a new Service No.NX33988. marches in Hay, even when partly incapacitated by a stroke. He died in the Hay Hospital on the 8th May 1976, age 67 years.

Destination Singapore Serving indigenous AIF soldiers in WWII were treated as equals, paid the same as other soldiers and generally accepted without prejudice. However, on their return After being granted five days embarkation leave, Victor was transferred to the 5th Training Battalion at Dubbo on the 24 7.41 and returned to Sydney to embark home they received little public or private support and were in most cases denied access to soldier settlement schemes and even entry into RSL clubs. by troopship on the 29.7.41, via Freemantle, for overseas service. After eighteen days sailing in convoy through troubled waters on the Indian Ocean, Victor safely Victor’s daughter Beryl Kennedy fought hard for his recognition as an indigenous returned soldier and for the official granting of an Australian Military Forces plaque to disembarked at Singapore on the 16.8.41. Though officially serving with the 2/20th Battalion AIF, he was temporarily attached to the 2/19 Battalion AIF which had be placed on his gravesite in the Hay cemetery. Beryl and her family are deeply honoured to see his face chosen to be placed among other returned men and women on already arrived in Singapore on the 18.2.41, six months earlier. Army records show that he was granted three days leave in Singapore from the 5.10.41 to 8.10.41. the Hay water towers. At this stage Japan had not entered the war and would not do so until its carrier-based aircraft treacherously attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbour on the 7th December 1941. This was the ‘day of infamy’ that brought America instantly and formally into the war with Germany and Japan. At first, Victor was involved with basic jungle training and the preparation of Singapore defences. On the 3.10.41, Victor was reported to be stationed with the 2/19 Btn at , Malaya where later he suffered severe bouts of recurrent malaria and blinding trachoma (BT) and became hospitalised on several occasions from the 1.12.41 to Lest We Forget 10.12.41 at the 10th Australian General Hospital in Malacca, Malaya and the 13th AGH in Singapore.

Battle of The Japanese had now entered the war and their seasoned troops were confidently moving south through Malaya to take Singapore. Once medically fit again, Victor re- joined his unit in Malaya in January 1942 to face a determined attack from Japanese troops in the Battle of Muar. Though heavily pressed, the Australians initially forced the Japanese to retreat with heavy losses, enduring only light casualties themselves. However, with the lack of aerial support they were soon overpowered by a well-equipped enemy force. From here on it was a slow, dogged fighting withdrawal south through Malaya to finally take up defensive positions on the island of Singapore for the final confrontation. On the 27.1.42, Victor was evacuated sick with recurrent malaria and BT to the Australian General Hospital in Singapore. Resultantly, he was placed on board HMAS Bendigo with other sick and wounded soldiers. HMAS Bendigo was a Bathurst-class minesweeper, commonly called a corvette, which was employed by the navy for minesweeping and patrol duties around Singapore harbour. It later served the vital role of evacuating and rescuing military personnel.

HAY - A TOWN THAT WENT TO WAR