John Horace Murray, known as Horace, was born on 23 November, 1896 and was killed on 18 September, 1918 at the Battle of Epehy in the eastern part of the Somme in France. He was the eldest of three children: Renee (my grandmother) - 5 November, 1898 – 20 May, 1985; and Ronald – 3 December, 1904 – 11 December, 1985.

Horace and his two siblings were the children of Mary Jane Murray (nee Gill), known as ‘Minnie’ (8 March, 1873 – 31 January, 1962) and Daniel Murray, a draper, both of whom were born and brought up in what is now Northern Ireland and were from farming families. They moved to London in the mid-1890s after they were married and before their children were born. Daniel was born on 24 March, 1873 and died in the 1920s.

Minnie was the fourth child of eight children from her father’s (John Gill) second marriage. John Gill married three times and had twenty children. Minnie, his seventh child, suffered from mental health problems for much of her life and was in and out of mental institutions.

During 1918, when Horace was on the Western Front, Minnie was clearly away from home because of her mental health problems, as letters to and from Horace suggest. At the same time, in early 1918, Horace’s father, Daniel, was desperately trying to avoid being conscripted to the Western Front on unknown health grounds. He was 45 in 1918, young enough, just, to be conscripted in 1918 when the army was running out of men who could fight in the final months of the war.

The maximum age for conscription in 1918 for those who were not ex-soldiers was 46. Daniel was eventually exempted from service after a long drawn out process, as the letters tell us. Horace originally joined the 12th Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment in the second wave of recruitment in World War One in September, 1914, just six weeks after war was declared.

The Middlesex Regiment did not arrive in France, however, until a year later in July,1915.

The front line of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July, 1916. Behind the photo is a 30-metre crater created by a huge explosion under the German front line trenches (along with several other simultaneous explosions along the battlefront) that was detonated to announce the beginning of the battle. The explosions were heard as far away as London and the impact was such that the men in nearby trenches, who were not killed, all had their legs broken instantaneously. In the top left hand corner of the photo is a barn built a few years ago where the builders discovered several German bodies.

The evening before the opening day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July, 1916, the Middlesex Regiment was in the front line waiting to attack the German front line trenches at 7.30 am. But a few hours before battle began, the 12th battalion of the Middlesex Regiment was withdrawn from the front line and held in reserve. They were, however, involved in the battle shortly afterwards at Fricourt-Mametz, Trones Wood and Thiepval.














By the beginning of 1918, Horace was a battle-hardened soldier. Although the War was over less than a year later, it did not appear to either the generals or the soldiers in the front line that victory was anywhere near in sight for the Allies in the Spring of 1918. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the Germans had launched a major offensive that nearly succeeded in breaking through and defeating the Allies.

Horace’s Regiment was on the receiving end of the German offensive. As he writes in a letter dated 24 February, 1918, the Middlesex Regiment was disbanded on 13 February, 1918 because as he put it, ‘they were a complete mess up’ after the last major German offensive at the beginning of the year.

The Somme has many small woods, which were completely destroyed during the war


The survivors of the Middlesex Regiment, including Horace, who had been on the Western Front for nearly three years and taken part in some of the bloodiest battles of World War One were despondent when the Middlesex Regiment or ‘Die Hards’ as they were known, was disbanded. The surviving soldiers of the Middlesex Regiment were all co-opted into the London Regiment to bolster their numbers. Disbanding regiments was common practice in World War One when losses were so high.

It was while he was with the London Regiment that Horace was killed a few months later in September, 1918.

Up until the Summer of 1918, none of the British Army on the Western Front from General Haig at the top of the chain of command down to Horace and his ‘pals’ at the bottom of the chain thought victory would be possible before at least 1919. In early September 1918, just two months before the end of the War, it seemed unlikely that the Germans would capitulate in the near future, according to newspaper reports on the state of German morale. Following the German defeat at the Battle of Epehy on 18 September, where Horace was killed, claims by captured German officers that Germany could fight on were far less plausible.


New York Times report. Click here for link to full article.

Horace writes in one of his letters that one of his friends (or quite possibly a relation), Harry Murray, was hoping the War would be over by 1921, which must have been a heart-sinking thought for all those, like Horace, who had long since changed their view of the war as an adventure that would be over by Christmas, 1914.

Horace refers to his own hopes for the war to end as soon as possible in several letters -'roll on' as he puts it. He is clearly envious of those who are on leave in England; or who have landed an easy number or who have been sent back home wounded – presumably not too badly wounded.

It is only at the height of the Summer of 1918 that victory is in sight. Up until then, it appeared to the participants, at least, that the War was going to drag on well past 1918.

Until recently, military historians have largely ignored the last few months of the war and concentrated instead on the inconclusive bloodbaths that took place in earlier years when hundreds of thousands were killed, having gained very little or no territory.

By 1918, warfare was evolving and becoming more mobile. Tanks became a major battlefield weapon for the first time after earlier disappointments, and machine guns, once thought to be of little use, were taking centre stage. By September 1918, trenches were becoming less easily defendable and the German Army was, after years of attrition and casualties, running out of steam - and men [1] .

Machine guns were not regarded as useful for the war effort at the beginning of World War One by British generals. One or two machine guns for each Division was sufficient as far as the military planners were concerned. Not so at the end of the war, when, together with the tank, machine guns became a major battlefield weapon. By 1918, Lewis Gun platoons, led by men like Horace Murray, were in the front line attacking enemy positions

Horace was a ‘Lewis Gunner’ (a machine gun operator) in the Spring of 1918, and leading a platoon by the Summer of 1918. As his letters home tell us, Horace was involved in several battles in 1918. The dates he gives us tell us which battles he was involved in. Eyewitness accounts elsewhere give us a picture of what he and his fellow soldiers on the front line faced.

Epehy Wood Cemetery where Horace is buried







Horace was killed on the 18 September 1918 at the Battle of Epehy, named after a small village in the eastern part of the Somme, only a few miles east of where the Battle of the Somme had taken place two years earlier.

Epehy is located a couple of miles in front of the ‘Hindenburg Line’, which many at the time, including the Germans, regarded as an impregnable defensive position. The Hindenburg Line was not just any old defensive line for the Germans; it was their last major line of defence and one that had to be held at all costs as far as the German High Command was concerned.

The significance of the Hindenburg Line to the Germans was such that they had bolstered their already formidable line of defence with ‘a most unusual number of long range guns’ as well as the use of aircraft that would later be described as ‘bombers’.

Headline from New York Times article written the day after the Battle of Epehy. Click here for link to full article.

The night before Horace Murray died at the Battle of Epehy must have been frightening even to an experienced soldier like Horace who had fought for over three years in northern France and had survived the Batlle of the Somme and the Battle of Ypres.


Industrial-scale killing machines. Report from the New York Times. Click here for link to full article.

The New York Times journalist reporting from the front line was taken aback by the sheer size and killing power of the new German aircraft which had never been seen before – ‘They were capable of seating eight men. The most astounding thing about them, however, was that they carried bombs thirteen feet long, which carried two thousand pounds of explosives'.

Although the Battle of Epehy took place on 18 September, 1918, the Allies, including British, Australian and French divisions had arrived several days before to take up their positions in fields a couple of miles to the west of Epehy. Several soldiers on both sides – often snipers – died in the days before the battle took place. Others were killed days after 18 September. But 18 September was the day when the front line soldiers went ‘over the top’ and the heaviest losses were incurred.

Epehy today











The three armies facing the German army were positioned for several miles along a front line that stretched from the north west to the south west of Epehy. Horace was in the most northerly section of the front line, probably in a field overlooking the village.

The northerly section of the line was the part which met the stiffest resistance from the Germans. German Alpine troops were stationed there who were described by Philip Gibbs, the New York Times journalist who had witnessed them in action, as ‘perhaps the finest in the German Army – big strapping fellows who always fight like men infuriated’.


Philip Gibbs, New York Times dispatch, 19 September, 1918. Click here for link to full article.

The presence of crack troops at this late stage of the war was unusual because the numbers of able-bodied and experienced German soldiers were dwindling after years of fighting on two fronts. Philip Gibbs in his newspaper report on 18 September 1918, commented that the German High Command ‘gives his troops no rest or support until they are thoroughly worn, when he stiffens them with material of better class’.

There is a sense of what Horace and his fellow soldiers were up against on 18 September in a letter written to Horace’s parents just before the Armistice by a soldier who had fought with Horace at Epehy and who was wounded in a later battle. From his hospital bed in Sheffield, Louis Jackson wrote – ‘I was not myself in the action and there even I found only a few remaining who were.’



It was a beautiful evening the night before the Battle of Epehy, but it was the calm before the storm and the weather changed for the worse in the middle of the night. Report from the New York Times. Click here for link to full article.



Even in dry conditions, the fields in the Somme are heavy-going. Report from the New York Times

It was raining and foggy at 5.20am in Epehy on the morning of the 18 September when they went over the top. The fog was made worse by the smoke from artillery shells from the large number of long-range artillery guns exploding in front of the front lines.

To compound the confusion, it was still dark and machine gun bullets were whistling all around them as they moved across the thick mud of the low-lying fields, ideal conditions to be picked off by machine gunners.

Report from the New York Times, 19 September, 1918. Click on image to enlarge. Report from the New York Times.Click here for link to full article.



By far the most casualties at the Battle of Epehy were on 18 September. Over two hundred of those who died with Horace that day are buried in Epehy Wood Farm Cemetery, many of them from his Regiment.

The Battle of Epehy nearly did not take place at all. General Haig was very wary of committing more men to battle because even he, forever associated with the mindless slaughter of his own men at the Battle of the Somme two years earlier, knew that the army was running out of fit men to fight by 1918.

It was no coincidence that Horace’s father, Daniel, was being targeted as a recruit to the war effort on the Western Front at the age of 45.

Haig changed his mind about taking on the Germans at Epehy, however, when the Allies defeated the Germans a couple of weeks earlier at the Battle of Havrincourt, the first battle where the Allied generals had an inkling that the German Army was weakening, leading the British generals to push home their advantage until the war ended just under two months later on 11 November, 1918.

Poppies in a field in the Somme










Despite the Allies clearly gaining the upper hand in the last few months of the War, the last stage of the war, known as the ‘One Hundred Days Offensive’ was one of its bloodiest episodes with a over a third of a million men losing their lives. Horace was one of them.

Nearly all the letters from Horace transcribed below were addressed to Horace’s family at 25, Berkeley Road, Stamford Hill, London, N15.

As well as the letters, many ‘Field Service’ post cards were sent home to London by Horace which were tick boxes for soldiers who did not have time to write home.

On each of the many postcards, Horace always filled in the section ‘I am quite well’. Other sections referred to ‘I have been admitted to hospital (sick/wounded) and am going on well/and hope to be discharged soon. They were then signed and dated.

On some of the postcards, he wrote ‘Blighty’ rather than England. All of the correspondence is from February 1918 onwards and clearly much of the correspondence is missing.

In addition to the letters and postcards Horace wrote to his family, there are four other letters, three of which are addressed to Horace and one from Louis Jackson, a Corporal, writing just before the end of the War to Horace’s parents, explaining the circumstances of Horace’s death.

The content of the letters from Horace is a mixture of the banal and the shocking. Some of the content is formulaic with the same sentences appearing again and again in different letters. One moment he is commenting on the weather or the garden back home and the next that most of his regiment has been wiped out.

Two family letters were written to Horace after he had been killed. One was from his sister, Renee (my grandmother) written a week after he was killed and the other from his mother, Minnie, written ten days after his death.

The letters were returned to the family in an envelope on the back of which Horace’s 13-year old brother had scribbled a note in tiny writing ‘Have received your green envelope and enclosure. Thanks for same. Ron’. On the front of the envelope is Horace’s address in France and four postmarks, the largest of which is from the Infantry Record Office, London, and marked ‘DECEASED’.

The 'deceased' stamp









Horace’s old Regiment, the Middlesex Regiment, was disbanded ten days before the first letter in the collection was written, after losing too many men to form a regiment. But clearly they do not want the old Regiment to be forgotten easily.

In the Spring of 1918, the final German offensive was in full swing and the Allies were struggling to hold the line. Although Horace does his best to keep up appearances, death is all around him.

A trench in the Somme at Auchonvillers, known to the British as 'Ocean Villas'. There is still a bundle of rusty barbed wire next to the trench











The German Army on the Western Front had been massively reinforced by German soldiers arriving from the Russian Front following the surrender of the Russians after the Russian Revolution.

But the Germans knew that time was of the essence and that they must defeat the Allies on the Western Front quickly before the US Army made its presence felt. The Americans joined the Allies in 1917.

LETTERS

France
24.2.18

Dear All,

Just a few lines to let you know I received Ma's and Ron's Registered letters yesterday.

Thanks very much for the 10/- [ten shillings].

I had a letter from Lily [?] at the same time. I don't believe I have sent Aunt Louie a letter yet but will send her one to-day.

So Fritz has been up to his old larks again. I hope he sells out soon. He has been dropping a few eggs round by where we are lately, but they don't worry us.

Our battalion is a complete mess up now and we have all been put into C Company and we are now an entrenching battalion.

My new address is Pte JH Murray, 34968, C Company, 11 Platoon, Lewis Gun Section, 12th Middlesex Regt. attached 18th Entrenching Battalion B.E.F France.

Some address. Roll on the boat. I am enclosing a few ?? of where we are and I hope you will like them.

To-day is Sunday and we have been cleaning up our equipment this morning just to keep up the reputation of the "shiney 12th." The weather is grand and we are having a glorious time.

I don't know whether I told you that our new pay has now come through and I am getting 1/7 per day [one shilling and seven pence] without the separation allowance.

I am glad Ron got home on leave and hope he had a good time. I will write to our Ronald tomorrow if he's lucky.

Well I think I must pack up now with best love to all.

So long & cheerio.

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxxx
xxxxxxx

Snipers took aim at anyone who stuck their head out of the top of the trench Several riflemen were killed at Epehy before the battle has even begun

France
12.4.18

Dear All

Just a few lines to let you know I am in the best of health and spirits.

I was very pleased to receive Renee's letter yesterday.

I was delighted to hear that Ma is feeling better and can come home occasionally.

So Ron is still in stand [sic] a chance of getting his ticket?

I glad [sic] all my pals are OK.

Cox who paid you a visit on leave and then went to the [?] is now a prisoner of War.

Rather jammy for Jim Newell if he got wounded as soon as he got back off leave. So Mr Cooper [PAGE MISSING?] hospital. Lucky beggar.

Glad to hear Bill got home for Easter. Poor old Tich was unlucky for his leave. I expected as much.

So Dad has started the old lark gardening again. Did he get any mould off the Dust heaps?

The weather is very changeable. One day raining and the next one fine.

Does Mr Turner [PAGE MISSING?] has been sent out. I expect they sent every available man when the push started.

Well I think I must pack up now with best love to all. Please remember me to all the neighbours.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
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Henry 'Bill' Henley whose three older half brothers were all killed in the first year of the War








Horace refers to Bill in the following letter who I think is my grandfather, Henry Henley (28 July, 1897 – 20 February, 1982), known to some as ‘Bill’.

Bill was Horace’s best friend and lived in the same area of London as Horace and the Murray family. Bill was a signaller in World War One and clearly has managed to keep out of harm’s way for the time-being. The ‘good work done’ on 24 April that Horace refers to is the Battle of Villers Brettoneux.

Captain Reginald Charlesworth, Horace’s Company Commander, had died the previous month on 9 April 1918, aged 24, and is buried at Namps-au-Val cemetery, about 16 miles south west of Amiens, where a casualty dressing station was located, following the German offensive in March 1918.

Reginald Charlesworth is mentioned in dispatches in an earlier battle when he was a second lieutenant. Horace was almost certainly involved in what is described below:

‘In the Middlesex battalion a great deal of excellent work was also done when Boom Ravine was reached. 2nd-Lieutenant R. Charlesworth was the only officer left in two companies. Taking command, he carried out the work of dug-out clearing with great energy and thoroughness, and organised the consolidation in a very capable manner. In the same work Company Sergeant-Major J. Warner also distinguished himself’.

The Somme today where 90 years later, farmers still dig up hundreds of tons of unexploded shells every year. They leave them by the side of the road where a lorry comes and picks them up and takes them to a safe place where they are blown up.

France
6.5.18

Just a few lines to let you know I received Ma's and Renee's letters yesterday & am glad to see you are all OK. I am quite well and having a bon time.

Glad to hear Bill is getting on so well & I hope he got an instructor's job. Anything is better than coming out here at present.

So old Steve is back on the railway again. That's the stuff to give 'im.

Our mob were specially thanked by the commander in chief for good work done Fritz attacked on April 24th.

I should think so to [sic] considering that quite one in six came out. Roll on. I don't know whether I told you that our Company commander Capt Charlesworth died of wounds []

We all miss him very much as he was absolutely a triumph. We have now got a first Lieut just out from England in charge.

We now wear the Fusiliers badge and colour but are not allowed to change our address. We can't make out what the game is. We don't like taking the old Die Hards [The Middlesex Regiment that had been disbanded] badge down.

I was jolly glad to get the photo of Bill & Renee & think it is fine. I never knew they had had it taken.

I am delighted to hear Ma is getting on so well & hope she will soon be home again.

So Ron has started swimming again & I expect he is thinking1 about Cricket again.

And Mr Cooper is up the line now & doesn't think much of Sunny France. Who would in these hard times. Never mind. My motto is 'keep smiling'.

I am writing this letter lying under an apple tree in the orchard at the back of our billet along with some more of the [?] "Oh What a lovely war."

Sorry to hear that Jim Newell isn't getting on very well, but hope that he will soon start improving.

Well I think I must dry up now with best love to all. Please give my kind regards to all the neighbours.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace

P.S. Had a letter from Tich the other day & he is still alive & kicking

Post card marked ‘Field Service’ on 13 May, 1918, addressed to Mrs D. Murray 34, Brunswick Square, London W.C. England from Horace filling in the section saying he is ‘quite well’. Perhaps Mrs D Murray is Harry Murray’s mother?

Note from Horace on a scrap of paper:

My address has slightly changed again. Leave out the entrenching business and put attn 2/2 London Regiment. BEF [British Expeditionary Force]

Registered Letter from England addressed to Horace - Date Stamp: 2 June 1918 Army Post Office Private J.H. Murray "C" Company 82769 11th Platoon Lewis Gun Section 2/2 London Regt B.E.F France

Embroidered postcard sent by Horace with the flags of all the Allied countries, including the newly arrived Americans

Trouble at home: Horace’s mother is suffering from bad nerves and is not staying at home and his father, Daniel Murray, is desperately trying to avoid being called up for the Western Front.

France
9.5.18

Dear All

Just a few lines to let you know I received Dad's letter of May 3rd yesterday & papers yesterday.

I was glad to hear you are all quite well & that Ma is getting on so well.

We are now under canvas & as the weather is fine it is A.1.

Dad had a good guess at the place we were defending. Harry Murray has not been very well for the last day or so & has got three days excused duty.

I'm glad Dad is out of the first call up. Race on [?]

Well I think this will have to be a very short letter as news is scarce.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx

Horace Murray
















France
19.5.18

Dear All

Just a few lines to let you know I am in the best of health and spirits as usual and that I received the registered letter alright a few days ago & also Dad's and Ron's letters.

Well we have all been transferred to the London Regiment now and my address is Pte J.H. Murray, 82769, "C" Company, 11 Platoon, Lewis Gun Sec. 2/2 London Regiment, B.E.F.

I guess I've got same number now.

This is a jolly good battalion [?] The weather is glorious & we hope it continues.

Fancy it is Whit Sunday & I hope you are having as fine a day as we are.

So Sid Frish [?] has got a cushy job & he wants to hold on to it.

I expect the garden is beginning to look fine now. Harry Murray is quite better again now & wishes to be remembered to you all.

Well I think I must draw to a close now with best love to all.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx












Sunny France
10.6.18

Dear All

Just a few lines to let you know I received Ma's letter yesterday and was glad to hear you are all quite well.

So dad has been examined & put as grade 2. What does grade 2 mean? I hope dad will get his exemption.

We are still out of the line & don't know when we shall be going in again. Yesterday a heavy bombardment was going on all day so I expect there is something doing.

Glad to hear Ron won his first Cricket match & hope they will keep it up.

Yesterday we were inspected by our Army Corps Commander & had a church parade. I am enclosing my old Middlesex badge for Ma.

We had a pretty quiet time up the line last time so it was a bit of a change for us. Roll on the boat. Harry Murray is quite OK & sweating on the war ending sometime before 1921.

I am enclosing P.O. [postal order] for 2/6 [two shillings and sixpence or £21 in 2008]] which [? person's name] sent me. Ron can have it. It will do to buy him a few fags [Ron was 13 in June 1918 and he smoked until he died in 1985, a week short of his 81st birthday].

There is also a 10/-[ten shillings or £86 in 2008]] note for Renee to treat herself with. I was lucky enough to win £4 today [nearly £700 in 2008] so we are going out to-night. Please don't send any more money.

Well I think I must pack up now with best love to all.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx











Sunny France
19.6.18

Dear All,

Just a few lines to let you know I am OK and hope you are all the same.

I received Ma's letter a couple of days ago. We are having a fine time and the weather is grand.

I hope dad's appeal comes off alright.

I expect I shall receive the parcel in a day or so. Thanks very much but you shouldn't have troubled.

Well I think I must close as no news is napoo [napoo/narpoo = there's none/there's no more corrupted from il n'y a plus - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wipers_Times ]

So long & best love to all

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx

Horace sitting bottom right, next to my grandfather, Henry Henley, sitting in the middle, who survived the war, although he never fully recovered from a poisoned gas attack. Henry and Horace were best friends and Henry later married Horace's sister, Renee, my grandmother. I don't know who the others are in the photo.

Somewhere in France
27.6.18

Dear All

Just a few lines to let you know I am in the best of health & spirits. I received the parcel about a week ago and many thanks for same.

A few days ago I got Ma's letter & yesterday Renee's a Rons.

I am writing this in our little [?] in the trench & I don't suppose any of you are up yet as it is 5 am & I thought I would write you a few lines just before going to kip (bed).

We have just had our breakfast which consisted of tea bread & butter & rissoles.

The weather still keeps fine and things are generally pretty quiet. So Bill is sweating on going on Active Service very soon and I hope it keeps fine for him.

Anyhow his job is not so dusty.

Ron seems to be doing great a cricket lately & I hope he keeps it up.

So Dad hasn't heard anything about his appeal when you wrote. I hope it is successful.

I was surprised to hear that Bert was out of hospital so soon but hope he can swing the lead & stay in Blighty for some time yet.

I'm afraid I shall have to conclude finish & wind up now as I can hardly keep my eyes open as we had a pretty hard night last night.

Please give my kind regards to all the neighbours especially Mrs Cook

So long & goodbye

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx











Sunny France
30.6.18

Dear All

I was pleased to receive Ma's letter a couple of days ago. I was glad to hear that Ron is still going strong with his Cricket.

St. Ann's must be getting quite famous again.

I bet Bert is jolly glad to be in dear old Blighty again & I hope he won't have to come out here for sometime yet.

Robert Cruickshank

So Cruickshank has got the VC. I was never more surprised in all my life than when I saw the photo in the paper. Jolly good luck to him.

I am glad that Bill hasn't been sent out yet and hope he can hang on for some time yet.

Well I think I must pack up now with best love to all.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx

France
13.7.18

My Dear Renee

Just a few lines to let you know I received your letter and Ron's this morning and to let you know I am still in the pink.

I am jolly glad Dad has got exemption. How long?

So you are going to Ireland for your holidays & I am pleased to hear it.

I am thinking of spending mine in Sunny France again this summer. You can't pip it. Plenty of shells on the beach.

I am glad to hear that Bill Pettit has got home for his commission at last I had a letter from Tich to-day & he was saying that Tich Jerkin [?] had gone home for his so St.Ann's are doing great in the commission line [?] lately.

Ron is doing fine at Cricket & I must congratulate him on his good play.

Well Renee I think I must draw to a close now hoping this will find you all in the very best of health. So long & cheerio

Your loving brother

Horace
xxxxxx

France
22.7.18

Dear All,

I was very pleased to receive Ma's letter to-day and to see that you are all quite well. I am absolutely top hole myself as usual.

To-day I had a very nice letter from Bill Pettit and he was speaking about the R.A.F I have not quite decided what I am going to do yet as we are not out at rest.

Anyhow another pal of mine is in the same game so we are going to consider things when we get out which will be very shortly.

We are now under canvas and having a fine time. What do you think of the recent news? Jolly fine isn't it?

Well I think I will pack up now with best love to all.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx












France
30.7.18

Dear All,

I was very pleased to receive Ma’s letter yesterday and to see that you are all quite well. I am in the pink as usual.

The weather has been very wet during the last few days and the trenches are in a nice old pickle. Never mind we’re winning so I suppose we mustn’t grumble.

I suppose that by the time this letter arrives Ma, Renee and Ron will be enjoying themselves in the “little bit of heaven” . At least I hope so. Never mind Dad. Keep a stout heart. Roll on duration.

Just lately I have been made Lance Corporal and in the future will you please address my letter L/Cpl JHM and cut out the Lewis Gun Section line.

I am scribbling this at 5am and I expect you are all asleep or ought to be.

Well I think I must close now with best love to all.

So long & cheerio

Your loving son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx

'He was only about a yard away from me when he got hit'

Mr. D. Murray
25, Berkeley Road
Stamford Hill London
N.15
ENGLAND

France
13.8.18

Dear Dad

Just a few lines to let you know I am quite well after being in the big push.

We had a pretty rough time of it and I am sorry to say Harry Murray was wounded in the back by a machine gun bullet on Aug 8th when we were going over the top. He was only about a yard away from me when he got hit.

I am now waiting to hear how he got on. My word Fritz got the wind up properly.

I hope you are quite well and going strong.

I had a letter from Ma a few days ago & one from Renee yesterday. I am going to write to Ma after I have finished this letter.

Well Dad I think I must pack up now hoping to hear from you soon.

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx

France
13.8.18 [same date as letter above]

Dear Ma

Just a few lines to let you know I am quite well after our strenuous efforts of the past week.

I am sorry to say Harry was wounded in the back by a machine gun bullet on Aug 8th when we went over the top. He was only about a yard away from me when he got hit and I am anxiously waiting to hear how he is getting on.

I don't think I have told you before, but I have been made a lance corporal for nearly a month now and in future my address will be l/cpl JHM knock out the Lewis gun section line.

Please ask Renee to let me have Bill's address as I have lost it.

Well I think I must pack up now hoping you are all having a good time.

So long and best love to all

Your loving son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx

The last letter we have from Horace. Just over three weeks later he was killed at Epehy.

France
26.8.18

Dear Ma

Just a few lines to let you know I am quite well & in the best of spirits.

The lads have gone up the line again, but I have been left out this time along with some more for a rest. The boys are following Fritz up and are doing great.

We are in a fine village and having a glorious time. The weather is A1 and we hope it continues.

I expect you are all having a fine time.

Please tell Martha that I received the photos she sent & think they are fine. She seems to be getting sweeter [?] every day.

Well I think I must pack up now with best love to all

So long & cheerio

Your loving Son

Horace
xxxxxx
xxxxxx
xxxxxx

The road out of Epehy Poppy in the Somme











One week after Horace was killed, his sister, Renee, writes him a letter. She was 19 at the time.

25, Berkeley Road
Stamford Hill
N15

Sept 25th 1918

My Dear Horace,

As you will see we are all home again once more to dear old London. It seems jolly quiet after being over in Ireland so long, and such a fine time we had too.

That fortnight at Newcastle (Ireland) couldn’t have been better, under the circumstances I mean, but of course if you and Dada and Harry had been there it would have been better still.

But patience is a virtue and there will still be summer holidays after war, at least I hope.

Mamma is looking fine now and the rest of us are A.1. Dada has gone on his duty again to-day. He looks some [?] in khaki.

Ron is busy football practicing nearly every evening. He is vice captain again. Bye the way, do you ever get any football. Harry was playing nearly every day when he was out resting, a fortnight ago, but he is up the line again now.

I expect Mamma told you that Tich and Will Pettit called to see us, then yesterday Ron Barrell came round. He is now in the A.S.C. and starts duty to-day as a clerk at the Horse Guards. He is billeted at home and works 9-7 for 6 days a week, so he is jolly lucky. His brother Arthur is now in France, he was home on leave a week or so ago. He is in the same division as yourself.

I haven’t written to Harry Murray yet, but will do so. I hope he is getting on alright. Is there any word of leave, or are you going to give us a surprise this time as well.

I expect it is getting a good deal colder now, but I hope you are looking after yourself and keeping.

Did you ever see Daddy Parsons or Billy Shay again? Our Concert Party is giving a great concert on Sat. and we are going to wear our costumes for the first time. We go by the name of ‘Bluebirds’, which mean happiness. We have got a very full programme for Oct: a concert every week.

Well Horace I think I must say au revoir, with heaps of love and very best luck.

Your ever affec sister

Renee

xxxxxxx

A view across the fields to Epehy village in the distance and Epehy Wood Farm Cemetery in front of the village (with two tall trees), where Horace is buried. He was probably killed in one of the fields within a few hundred metres from where the photo is taken

"hope dear that you are behind the line resting" wrote Horace's mother to her son ten days after he had been killed.

Ten days after Horace was killed, his mother, Minnie, wrote to him. She was 45 and had just come back from one of her best holidays with the family in Ireland.

25, Berkeley Rd
Stamford Hill
London
N.15

Sept 28th 1918

My Dear Horace,

I expect you have got Dad’s letter before this to say we recd. your letter with green envelope and money enclosed on Monday dear & we were very pleased to see that you are quite well & hope dear that you are behind the line resting & I hope Horace you are having fine weather now.

We have had lovely weather since we came home & have got settled down again.

Well Horace Tich came up on Thursday evg. Nessie came with him he was going back on Friday morg but as Ron came home at dinner-time on Friday he told us he saw Bert & him in St. Ann’s Rd so of course we guessed Bert had got leave and that was why and this morg just as I was about to start writing to you there was a knock at the door and who should it be but Tich and Bert. He intends going back tomorrow.

I expect he will manage it alright & Bert has got six days leave he says it is his draft leave he looks very well & seems to get taller than ever.

Jim Newell is at home now & I expect Renee told you that Ron Barrell has got a job as Clerk at the Horse Guards & is billeted at home so he is lucky. He called in on Tuesday afternoon.

Well Horace we sent your parcel off this morg & hope you will get it alright & in good time & that you will have a good tuck in dear.

There is a fete in Downhills Park in aid of the Cruickshank fund & there is also going to be a matinee at the Tottenham Palace next Thursday for him so I expect they will raise a good bit. He is at present in Tottenham Hospital.

We are going to a concert tonight at the Parish Hall. Renee is going to recite. Dad gets home now at half past seven every evg except Saturdays it is 8.30 so that is a good change for him.

I expect Lizzie gave you the news of our doings at Newcastle [in Ireland]. We did have a fine time there. I think we never enjoyed a holiday so much as you know dear.

When Lizzie and Louie [and ?] and the hills get together there is some sport. I was sorry I didn’t get a chance to see Ethel again before we left as we only had about 3 hours in Belfast that day before we came away. Martha was saying that John Brown was going to try and find you.

Tich came from Trouville & we think Harry is there too. We are all A.1. Horace & hope dear you are the same & not having too much to do.

Do you have much football now? Ron is very keen on it. He gets an occasional scratch but it soon gets alright. Well dear. I think this is all the news at present.

We have been expecting a letter from you & hope to get one tonight dear.

Will close now with best love from all & we pray & trust dear that God will bless you & guard you & give health & strength & keep you safe always & bring you safely home to us soon.

So long dear

Your ever loving

xxxxxMotherx
xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxx

'your son met his death by machine gun fire while leading his men...'







Nov 3rd 1918
Corporal Jackson
81424
Royal Fusiliers
Endcliff Hall Hospital
Sheffield

Dear Mr & Mrs Murray,

Many thanks for your reply which reached me some time ago: I must apologise very much for having failed to answer it before.

I made two attempts to do so in France but had to give both up on account of sudden and repeated movements.

Now, as you will see by the above address I am invalided and back in England within a mile or two of the hospital I was in during July and August 1916.

I was most pleased to get your letter but am afraid that I can give you very few details.

I was not myself in the action and there even I found only a few remaining who were.

From what I was able to gather your son met his death by machine gun fire while leading his men in the course of an attack by us at Epehy, south of Cambrai.

I am now practically well again, and may be in London before long. I had an operation at [?].

Please excuse this paper. It is all I have.

With kindest thoughts.

Sincerely

Yours Louis Jackson

This letter is from friends of Horace’s parents, Willie and Lizzie Macauley, written in December 1918, less than three months after Horace was killed.

Willie and Lizzie Macauley were friends from the days when Minnie and Daniel lived in Ireland. They came from Ballymoney in Northern Ireland which is where Daniel Murray originally came from. Willie Macauley was a barber in the town. Today, the barber's shop at 12, Church Street is a beauty salon.

The letter is semi-literate with many spelling mistakes and hardly any punctuation, but is the only letter that expresses any open emotion. I have transcribed it without any corrections. Butter is a concern and so is the outbreak of the flu.

Church Street
2nd December 1918

Dear Minnie & Dan,

Just a line to excuse us of being so long writing to yous but I may tell you it was hot but we were both very sorry about Horaces Death and you have our heart felt simpethy we got paper & Herald & I can tell you I could not read it for crying

The photo is very nice he had got to be a fine big boy I just remember when he was a boy about ten. Albert will be 21 in January I hope Minnie is keeping some butter but I am sure it is hard it is hard on her and all of yous if it had been God will to spare him when the peace in sight

There ar a terrible lot of Deaths from this flue the were a card from Donald & he is well only pushed for time I note & told him about Horace the are all in their usil [usual] in Townhead St

yes Albert looked fine I am sure Renee would get a surprise but he would soon make himself at home with her

Jim Wilson is in Greenock working & is learning some sort of trade

the have not been any letters from Robert for over 4 months His mother is getting ancies [anxious] about him

I hope this will find yous all well as it leaves us all well

I remain yours affectnate

Willie & Lizzie Macauley

Below is the last letter we have mentioning Horace. It is from Louise (known as Louie), one of Horace’s aunts. The letter addressed to Minnie, Horace’s mother - Louie’s older sister.

Louie was in her 40s at the time and living on a farm in Northern Ireland with her own family.

Louie mentions Martha in the letter, as does Horace in his last letter with a back-handed compliment. Martha is a step-sister of Louie and Minnie, the 15th child from John Gill’s (Minnie and Louie’s father) third marriage.

Louie’s letter also mentions Maud who is John Gill’s 18th child and Martha’s younger sister.

Louie’s letter was written about six months after Horace was killed and four months after the end of the War.

Written before breakfast, it rambles on about matters of no consequence whatsoever which seem to cause some worry all the same. Punctuation is obviously not her forte.

In between worries about tea coseys, butter (the second letter worrying about butter), bad colds and teeth, Louie slips in a sentence about Horace’s death without mentioning it in so many words. She only mentions a photo and a memorium and ‘how big the dear boy must have grown’, which is immediately followed by a mention of the funeral of an old woman whose death seemed to be a relief.

Your country needs you - to pay a few shillings if you want any extra words on your son's gravestone. The Commonwealth Wargraves Commission is an excellent organisation and they have a very good website



















Magheraknock
28/3/19

My Dear Sister,

I am sure you are thinking I am never going to write you any more but weve [sic] all had very bad colds.

I am glad to say Jim and his father have got better but Mollie and myself are not free yet. I hope Dan got home safely. He would be in big need of a good rest.

I never saw him looking better and I was just thinking after he had gone that his teeth were a great improvement. It was a great surprise to see him.

If I had known he was coming I would have had a few eggs kept as I was sorry I hadn’t a dozen past me nor any butter worth giving but I hope I will make up for it again.

What do you think of Martha’s engagement? She and Maud were round here a race [sic] on Sat. evg. They are going to Miss Davis’ wedding party on Wed. evg.

I think Minnie Dunn is getting on alright.

I had a letter from Lillie McAuley. She and her mother send their sympathy to you. Many thanks for the Memoriam card & photo. How big the dear boy must have grown.

Minnie [?] mother-in-law was buried on Monday I’m sure she feels greatly relieved now that she can call the house her own but I suppose everybody must get their day.

I am enclosing a short note to Renee about a cosey cover to match center piece & Minnie dear if she hasn’t the time don’t let her start it as I wouldn’t want her taking it out of for me & no dear I have got nothing strange to write about to Nellie when I get a few minutes

Wasn’t it sad about Ada’s boy. That is a thing one could never forget or forgive themselves for. Is Ronald still at school. Jim is busy everyday.

I must get the breakfast ready as the men are milking

with the very best to all from all

ever your loving sister

Hoping you are all well.

write soon

Louie
xxxxxxx From Jim & Molly

Horace Murray


The Battle of the Somme started on July 1, 1916 and lasted until 18 November, 1916, during which the Allies advanced about 5 miles along a 12-mile front. The total number of casualties among all combatants was about 1,400,000 or about 280,000 casualties for every mile. The British only managed to gain two miles of ground during the five month long battle and lost about 420,000 men or to put it another way, for every centimetre of ground gained, two men lost their lives.

Today it takes about 15 minutes to cross the battlefield in a car, on a circuitous route. Above is a 20-second film clip driving across the Somme. During the Battle of the Somme about 70,000 men would have died over the distance travelled during the clip over a 12-mile stretch of land.

There would have been no trees or bushes or crops in the fields in the Summer and Autumn of 1916 . There would have been exploding mud, a few tree stumps, incessant artillery fire, thousands of shells whistling overhead and exploding all around, constant gunfire, shrapnel flying about, smoke, screaming and yelling, men hiding in shell holes, possibly the noise of a tank revving its engine, the odd airplane flying above, if the weather was not too bad, and, of course, lots of dead bodies, although not necessarily in one piece.



During the Battle of the Somme near Trones Wood, where Horace fought, old-fashioned warfare met modern warfare - the cavalry on horseback armed with lances attacked a German position with the assistance of an airplane firing a machine gun from above. Everyone who witnessed the cavalry in action was astonished. Report form the New York Times