James Gerard Murphy widnes Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force) 919/23 Balloon

[Lynntony]

I'm researching my grandfathers military record and have hit a problem. In the British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 there are four James G Murphys. Obviously only one is the one I'm looking for, but how do I find out which one? There is no-one in the family to point me in the right direction so I'm pretty much stumped!

James was born and lived in the Lancashire area if that's of any help.

Thanks in advance

Tony

[AdrianB38]

You need some more clues I'm afraid...

See http://www.1914-1918.net/ for some inspiration, but in these cases I've used Absent Voters' Lists (which don't exist for everywhere); photos of the soldiers; medals; newspaper cuttings.

Worse still - you should not assume that your G/F is actually in as James G Murphy - he might just be recorded as James Murphy.

Note that in the MICs, the one from the Inniskilling Fusiliers entered France in July 1915 - is this feasible by date for your G/F? If not, you can knock him out. Not that knocking out one will help much....

[Lynntony]

Thanks Adrian.

I take your point about the James G Murphy and James Murphy - which does, unfortunately, throw up even more possibilities!!! I had just assumed that, as that was the name on his war grave citation - he died in WW2* - that was the name he would enlist under. Obviously wrong to make assumptions!
As far as the age is concerned, he was born in 1898, so he would have been 16 or so at the outbreak of war.

* He joined the RAF Auxilary and was part of 919/23 Balloon Squadron based at Birkenhead.

It looks as though this is going to be one of those "needle in haystack" searches!

Tony

[mmm45]

Tony
Have you got his ww2 record from MOD? There maybe something on them reference prior service.....also any medals you have in your possession WW1 would have his number on rims.

Ady

[Lynntony]

Tony
Have you got his ww2 record from MOD? There maybe something on them reference prior service.....also any medals you have in your possession WW1 would have his number on rims.

Ady

I hadn't thought of that Ady! Certainly worth considering.

Regarding the medals - I don't have any, nor do I have access to anyone that may. All I have is his inquest report and funeral report as printed in the Widnes Weekly News.

Thanks for the suggestion

Tony

[mmm45]

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2701135

Tony...I take it you have the above info?

Ady

[Lynntony]

Thanks Ady, I do have that and, thanks to Phil Jennet, I also have pics of his headstone and inclusion on the Widnes Cenotaph.

Tony

[englandphil]

Tony, hope your well.

I cant really add much more to this, other than the fact  that the service number that Jim Murphy was issues by the Royal Air Force (Auxiliary Air Force) is one that was issued pre 1939, so he was a pre-war volunteer.

The AAF, was made up of volunteers who had flying experience or, I suspect in the Case of Jim Murphy, an Engineering type back ground, and we know that he was a Cabinet Maker in 1921 supporting the fact that he 'was good with his hands'.

It is possible that he was an Engineer during WW1?

I am almost certain that his WW2 service record will include details of previous military service.

I do plan another visit to the Library in the near future, so will see if I can turn up any further details.

P

[Lynntony]

Sorry P! Almost missed this one.

With regard to Jim Murphy, his daughter's wedding certificate shows him as an upholsterer, yet his death certificate describes his civilian job as a labourer.

When he joined the AAF he was seconded to the Barrage Balloon Reg. at the outbreak of war - would he have needed an engineering background for that?

I might have a problem getting his service record as, technically, I'm not next of kin.

We spoke some time ago about getting further info on Jim from his daughter. Unfortunately, the situation there remains the same, with no meeting planned.
She doesn't remember much about the circumstances of his death either. In fact, the two newspaper reports you obtained for me, and which I posted copies of to her, were the first she'd seen regarding the inquest and funeral reports. She has no photographs of Jim and was going to sound out other members of the family to see if they had any. (I'm not holding my breath!!)
I also sent her a copy of a pic from the BBRclub site showing a group of members of the squad. She wrote back and said that none of them could be him as he wasn't a pilot!! To be honest, I don't think she knows much about her father's service record. She was 17 when he died and in the ATS so I guess she had other things to think about.

Appreciate the offer to look up more info when you visit the library.

In the meantime, have a great Christmas!

Tony