Photo: Dorothy Hall
WR/290212 2nd Corporal
G.A. Murray
Royal Engineers
11th August 1921 Age 31
At rest
Son of W. and C. Murray; husband of Annie Murray, of 8, Ednam Terrace, Barnard Castle.
Peter Wise and Brenda McMahon have submitted the following:-
George was born to his Scottish couple William and Christina (nee Chisholm) at Barnard Castle on April 3rd 1890. All their children were born at Barnard Castle. The couple had 6 children together.
1891 shows the couple at home with their children Alexander, George, John and also a visitor, Jane, their niece. Father, William, was a gardener.
By 1901 more children had arrived namely Grace, May and Violet then later that same year a son, Jack was born. Alexander was now working as a clerk at the flax mill. It was noted on this census that mother, Christina, was deaf.
George was a boarding with the Hall family in Darlington by 1911. His job was cleaning engines with the North Eastern Railway Co.
George enlisted into the army on November 29th 1915 when he was 25 years old. His service number was WR/290212 but it seems he had previously served with the Durham light infantry possibly with number 283859.
George married Annie Mary Peat on January 14th 1915. Their first child, a daughter named Joyce, was born May 15th 1916. George followed in 1921 which was the year his father died then the next year (1922) another son, Roy, arrived which must have been a posthumous birth.
His attestation paper shows him to be 5’9” tall and followed the Church of England faith. His job was shown to be a fireman.
He was mobilised on May 11th 1917 and posted the following day May 12th> On December 2nd 1917 started his long journey to Egypt.
He embarked at Southampton arriving at Havre on December 3rd 1917. He moved on to Marseilles by December 10th 1917 for service with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. On the 30th December 1917, the troopship SS Aragon arrived at Alexandria harbour, having sailed from Marseille on 17th. She was laden with 27,000 troops bound for the conflict in Palestine.
As she arrived in a convoy bound for the port, the rest of the ships sailed onwards to Alexandria and she lay up ten miles off shore, awaiting her escort. The 9588 tons of ocean liner drifted gently as she waited within sight of land but was torpedoed by the German Submarine and minelayer the UC-34.
The destroyer HMS Attack dashed to her rescue as she sunk quickly (in about 15 minutes), as well as every available ship within reach. Many of the men rescued and taken onto the HMS Attack had just stripped their oil drenched clothes from their bodies and laid on the deck when she too was torpedoed by the same submarine, almost blowing her in two.
The following day - New Years Eve - just as the rescue was called off, fleet auxiliary craft HMS Osmanieh also hit a mine in the area, taking another 197 soldiers and nurses down with her.
610 of the 2,700 passengers on board the HMS Aragon were lost at sea, including 25 of the new draft bound for the 5th Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment.
A short notification was published in the Teesdale Mercury 16/01/1918 reporting that George’s wife had received a cable saying that her husband had arrived in Egypt.
There is a record showing that George spent some time at Cambridge Hospital Aldershot around about October 1919.
Around January 1920 George was designated as Z class soldier which meant he was allocated to the reserve contingent of the British Army which consisted of enlisted soldiers now discharged. At this time he was suffering from fistula in ano (a bowel problem) and also a septic left knee.
George died at home on 11/08/1921 from phthisis (TB)
George Andrew Murray is remembered at Barnard Castle on B135.02, B135.23 and B135.25
