George William Murphy – Devonshire Regiment, 16th Battalion

Private George William Murphy – Devonshire Regiment, 16^th Battalion

Limited Surviving Information

Another soldier commemorated on the Mumbles War Memorial about whom very little personal information survives is George William Murphy.

Family Background

Information provided by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records that George was the son of George and Alice Murphy, of 178 Unett Street, St George’s, Hockley, Birmingham.

Military Service

George served as a Private in the 16th Battalion (Royal Devon and Royal North Devon Yeomanry), Devonshire Regiment.

The 16^th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment – September 1918

In September 1918, the 16^th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment was engaged in the final phase of the war on the Western Front, during the Allied advance known as the Hundred Days Offensive. British forces were pushing forward against retreating German armies across ground devastated by years of trench warfare. Although German resistance was weakening, the fighting remained severe, with determined rearguard actions, well-sited machine-gun positions, and frequent artillery bombardments causing heavy casualties.

The battalion advanced through shattered trench systems and ruined villages, often under fire, and units were frequently operating below full strength. Many soldiers wounded during these operations were evacuated through casualty clearing stations and base hospitals, but a significant number later succumbed to their injuries despite medical treatment.

It was during this period of sustained and costly fighting that Private George William Murphy received the wounds from which he later died.

Death and Commemoration

Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects

George William Murphy
Vis-en-Artois Memorial, France
credit - findagrave

According to the Army Registers of Soldiers’ Effects, Private George William Murphy died of wounds on 10^th September 1918. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial, France, which honours those who fell during the closing months of the First World War and whose burial places are unknown.