James Twomey Murphy was my grand uncle, from Aghabullogue, County Cork, Ireland. He worked in his uncle's shop in Macroom as a drapery salesman. He is shown in the 1911 census to have lived in Drumcondra, Dublin. He emigrated to Western Australia at the age of 31, where he joined the Australian Imperial Forces on August 9th 1915. He was assigned to the AIF 11th Rifles, 11th Battalion. His regiment number was 3436. He embarked at Freemantle on the H.M.A.T 38 Ulysses on November 2nd 1915 , and during his service he fought at the Battle of the Somme and was stationed in Egypt and Marseilles. During the war he was confirmed missing in action for two years but was in fact discovered to have died in the trenches on the 29th of July 1916. Confusion in record keeping meant that the circumstances of his death were initially very unclear. The War Office got James's regiment number mixed up with a different James Murphy, whose regiment number was 3435. On May 27th 1918 a court of inquiry confirmed that James Twomey Murphy was killed in action in France. He is remembered in Perth on a tree-lined avenue, where the Australian government planted a tree in dedication for each of the fallen soldiers. The item associated with this story is a five page letter sent from the army camp in Perth on the 12th of October 1915, which was found only six years ago in a wall of the family home. James was writing to his mother back in Ireland, offering us some insight into why he joined up. He felt he was fighting for Ireland's interests as well as those of Australia, to protect them from German rule. The letter addresses James' legacy, dividing up his insurance money and business investments amongst his parents. He also requests that a friend in Dublin be reimbursed £30. As he states in the letter, the gentleman in question bought Marconi wireless shares from James, and did him a good turn in purchasing them. This letter was sent before James departed for Egypt.
The item associated with this story is a five page letter from James Murphy, sent from the army camp in Perth on the 12th of October 1915