Commemorated:

1. Grave:Amara War CemeteryXVIII. H. 13.
2. Book:The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918Pg.130
3. Memorial:The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour20C GQS
    

Awards & Titles:

 

Family :

Son of Andrew Wilkie Murdoch and Fanny Sophia Murdoch, of 69, Richmond Park Avenue. Bournemouth.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

Unit / Ship / Est.: 187th Company Machine Gun Corps (Infantry) 

Action : Mesopotamia 

At the outbreak of war the British, together with Indian troops, resolved to protect oil supply in the region by occupying the area around Basra at Abadan. This evolved into a series of campaigns towards Baghdad against the Turkish forces as Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) was part of the Ottoman Empire. Meetings in late 1914 and into 1915 led the Viceroy and Indian government at Simla to reconsider the limited involvement of troops and they decided to order further advances with a view to securing the Shatt-al-Hai, a canal connecting the Tigris and Euphrates river and potentially capturing Baghdad. The British government disagreed and wished to conserve forces for the Western front. The Viceroy was given permission to act as it wished, but told in no uncertain terms that no reinforcements should be expected.

The initial success experienced by the British and Indian forces quickly disintegrated in the face of Ottoman opposition. The Siege of Kut-Al-Amara began on 7th December with the besieging of an 8,000 strong British-Indian garrison in the town of Kut, 100 miles south of Baghdad, by the Ottoman Army. These campaigns produced few tactical benefits, indeed the catastrophic defeat at Kut in 1916 was a major setback. Badhdad was eventually taken in March 1917.

The conditions in Mesopotamia were dreadful. The climate, sickness and disease produced large losses in addition to battle casualties. About as many men died of disease as were killed in action. The Mesopotamia front was part of a strategy hoping for success at lower cost than the Western Front but no decisive victory was achieved.

Masonic :

TypeLodge Name and No.Province/District :
Mother : Rangoon and Ormond-Iles No. 1268 E.C.London
Joined : Astroea Lodge No. 1376 E.C. Burma

Initiated
Passed
Raised
19th December 1912
27th March 1913
28th May 1913
 

29 year old Merchant resident at Rangoon. "Died 2/2/1917." He further joined Lodge Astroea No. 1376 at Thayetmyo 7th November, 1914. His war service is recorded over course of 3 years with "Died 2/2/1917" shown as the final comment.


Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

Additional Source:

Last Updated: 2020-12-05 10:26:20