Part 140

=MURRAY, PETCHELL BURTT=, Flight Sub-Lieut., R.N.R., Royal Naval Air Service, attd. H.M.S. Pembroke, yr. _s._ of George Irving Murray, of Broad Oak Park, Worsley, member of Home Defence Corps VII, by his wife, Janie, dau. of William Lees; _b._ Didsbury, co. Lancaster, 27 July, 1884; educ. Eccles Grammar School, Sedbergh School, and Manchester Technical College, afterwards going to Germany for a time, and then entering his father’s business. He and his brother early devoted themselves to aviation, and in 1912–13, produced an aeroplane of their own construction. In 1911 he gave a lecture on the future of the hydro-aeroplane, in which he foreshadowed the lines of development, and was one of the first half-dozen to obtain his flying certificate off water (at Windermere). On 29 July, 1914, he applied for a commission in the Royal Naval Air Service, and was gazetted Flight Sub-Lieut. on 13 Sept. following, and attd. to H.M.S. Pembroke. He had attained an unusual degree of proficiency for his experience when he was killed in an accident at Rushall Down, Salisbury Plain, 4 Nov. 1914. He was returning to the Central Flying School, Upavon, after making a trial flight in a high speed B.E. Army biplane, when he was overtaken by a dense fog, which, it is assumed, prevented him from seeing the ground to regulate his descent. Flight Sub-Lieut. Murray was a member of the Executive Committee of the Manchester Cavendish Society, a society formed to enlist the help of young men of education in public work, and he gave much time and service to the work in connection with the Collyhurst Recreation Rooms in that City, and was immensely popular with the poor lads of Collyhurst.

=MURRAY, RUPERT AURIOL CONANT GOSTLING=, Capt., 1st Battn. Seaforth Highlanders, 3rd _s._ of the late Col. Charles Edward Gostling Murray, of Whitton Park, Hounslow, and the Moat, Charing, Kent [gdson. of the Right Rev. Lord George Murray, Bishop of St. Davids, 2nd _s._ of John, 3rd Duke of Atholl, K.T.], by his 2nd wife, Margaret Francis Elizabeth, only dau. of the Rev. John William Conant; _b._ Whitton Park, Hounslow, 29 Sept. 1882; educ. Eton; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Seaforth Highlanders, 22 Oct. 1902, and promoted Lieut. 15 Jan. 1908. and Capt. 22 Oct. 1914; went to France from India, and died in Lilliers Hospital, 11 March, 1915, from wounds received in action the previous day at Neuve Chapelle. Buried in Lilliers Cemetery. He _m._ at Pluckly, Ashford, Kent, 12 Aug. 1913, Ivy Maud, eldest dau. of Sir Henry Edward Dering, 10th Baronet, and had a son, Antony Ian Rupert, _b._ 13 June, 1914. His eldest brother, Capt. Fane Murray, was killed in action 30 Oct. 1914.

=MURRAY, THOMAS=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., I.C. 243), S.S. 102034, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=MURRAY, WALTER=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9576), S.S. 106966, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=MURRAY, WALTER STANLEY=, Private, No. 2221, 1/4th Battn. East Yorkshire Regt. (T.F.), yst. _s._ of Richard Henry Murray, of 93, St. George’s Road, Hull, Shipping Clerk (retired), by his wife, Martha, dau. of Joseph Williams, of that town; _b._ Hull, 30 Dec. 1877; educ. Bridlington and Hull; was for 15 years a clerk in the firm of Messrs. Beckett & Sons, of Hull; enlisted on the first call for recruits, 1 Sept. 1914, trained at Hull and Newcastle; left for France, 17 April, 1915, and went straight up to the trenches; took part in the Second Battle of Ypres, in which occasion his battn. sustained heavy casualties and was subsequently complimented by Sir John (now Lord) French on the gallantry it had displayed; and was accidentally shot by one of his own comrades in the trenches near Ypres, 11 June, 1915; _unm._ His Commanding Officer, Capt. W. T. Wilkinson, wrote expressing the deep sorrow of himself and the battn. at the loss of “so fearless and gallant a soldier.”

=MURRAY, WILLIAM EDWARD=, Capt., 1st Battn. Gordon Highlanders, 3rd _s._ of Surgeon Lieut.-Col. John Murray, of 12, Ashburn Gardens, S.W.; _b._ Hong Kong, China, 23 Dec. 1880; educ. Wellington College and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. 8 Jan. 1901, and posted to the 1st Battn. Gordon Highlanders, 9 March following; promoted Lieut. 30 May, 1904; served in the South African War, 1901–2; took part in operations in the Transvaal, June, 1901, to 31 May, 1902; in Orange River Colony, Dec. 1901, and in Cape Colony, May, 1901 (Queen’s medal with clasp); was attd. to West African Frontier Force, 12 March to 28 Sept. 1904. He retired from active service in 1906 following an attack of blackwater fever, contracted in West Africa, and joined the Reserve of Officers from which he was gazetted to the 3rd Special Reserve Battn. of his regt. 4 Oct. 1913. On the outbreak of war he immediately rejoined his regt. at Aberdeen, was promoted Capt. 10 Aug. 1914; and after guarding the wireless station there for three weeks, was, on Aug. 31, sent with a draft of 100 men, to join the 1st Battn. at the Front. They had suffered so heavily during the retreat from Mons that the remnants were sent back to the base and Capt. Murray and his draft were temporarily attd. to the 2nd Seaforths. He joined them at Juarre before the crossing of the Marne. “They were a splendid lot of fellows,” wrote Sergt. A. H. Fraser of the 2nd Seaforths from Broadwater Hospital. “We had some very trying marches, following up the retiring Germans until we came to the crossing of the Aisne. We crossed the river on the night of 13 Sept. under cover of darkness and took up a position on the heights of the north bank of the river near Soissons. The following morning when dawn broke, we found ourselves within a thousand yards of the German position. They were not long before they made their presence felt, and we had to dig ourselves into the face of the bank under a heavy shell fire. Capt. Murray was beside me and dug himself in with my entrenching tool, but he did not occupy it very much for I saw him out on the road giving his men advice to entrench themselves, and this, whilst shrapnel was whistling about his ears, at which he only laughed. Later on, after our Colonel was killed, Capt. Murray was ordered to reinforce a part of our line, and with these words, ‘Come on the Gordons,’ he went up with about half of his party, and in less than ten minutes I was informed he was killed. Every man of his party expressed deepest sympathy for his death; they felt it very keenly. Personally, I have never seen a man so cool under fire before or since. His name, I am sure, will be remembered in my regt. when all our battles are fought over again.” His last words, addressed to a private who was binding up the wound in his head, were: “You must hold on here at all costs,” and when, after nearly two days, they were relieved, only seven of Capt. Murray’s draft remained in a fighting condition. Brig.-Gen. A. Haldane, Commanding 11th Brigade, wrote: “The Gordons, under Capt. Murray, advanced with the greatest coolness and dash under a very heavy and accurate shrapnel fire. Their officer was killed but they went forward and won the admiration of the Seaforth Highlanders. They are as fine a draft as I have ever seen, and it is with great regret that I part with them. They are true Gordon Highlanders--sans peur et sans reproche”; and the Adjutant, Capt. E. Campbell: “Early on the morning of the 11th we took up a position north of the Aisne just before light. We had not time to entrench properly, and throughout the day were shelled. As an attack was anticipated, the Commanding Officer strengthened the firing line and half the men under Murray were sent up into the firing line. Almost immediately he was killed, his death being instantaneous, I believe. He was buried in a rough coffin that night about 12.30 a.m. within a quarter of a mile from where he fell. On one side of him we buried Col. Sir E. Bradford and on the other Lieut. Williamson of my regt. They all had rough crosses placed over their graves, and several others were buried there. In fact, I think it has been railed off now as a small cemetery. It is a very pretty spot on the slope of the hill overlooking the Aisne Valley, towards Soissons, quite close to a farm called La Montague Ferme, just above Buey de Long.” He _m._ at the Royal Bavarian Chapel, London, 31 July, 1906, Lilias Caroline Drummond Leslie (The Manor House, Littlehampton, Sussex), only dau. of Edward Drummond, of St. James’ Place, late Bengal Civil Service, and had three children: Edward John, _b._ 17 June, 1907; Sybil Lilias, _b._ 21 June, 1909; and Mary Katherine, _b._ 8 Sept. 1910.

=MUSGRAVE, ANDREW BREMNER=, Private, No. 2408, 3rd Battn. 1st. Infantry Brigade, Australian Imperial Force, eldest _s._ of Edgar Musgrave, of Bradford, Chartered Accountant, by his wife, Catherine Wares Rittie, dau. of James Bremner, of Kirkhill, Wick, Caithness; _b._ Bradford, York, 21 Dec. 1887; educ. Bradford Grammar School, where he won a Scholarship in 1900; was engaged in the woollen trade, and in 1911 went to Melbourne; when war broke out he enlisted in the Australian Expeditionary Force at Sydney in Oct. 1914, and was killed in action during the landing in Gallipoli on 25 April, 1915; _unm._ Writing to his mother, Capt. C. H. Howel Price said: “He was killed in action on 25 April the day of landing on the peninsula of Gallipoli, whilst nobly doing his share of the work allotted to us.... He was a great favourite in his company.”

=MUSGROVE, WILLIAM=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 10429), 205575, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=MUSHETT, FRANK=, Private, No. 1730, 5th (Cinque Ports) Battn. Royal Sussex Regt. (T.F.); served with the Expeditionary Force in France; died 17 April, 1915, of wounds received in action.

=MUSKETT, ALFRED=, A.B., J. 1475, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=MUSSETT, JOHN WILLIAM=, Seaman, R.N.R., B. 2633, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=MUSSETT, WILLIAM HENRY=, Acting Leading Stoker, 297573, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=MUSSO, JOSEPH=, Private, No. 10550, 4th Battn. Middlesex Regt., _s._ of Joseph Musso, of 74, Canal Road, Mile End; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, died on active service, 4 Nov. 1914.

=MUSSON, JOHN HARDY=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. The Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regt., eldest _s._ of Samuel Peter Musson, of Kinnaird House, Upper Norwood, by his wife, Naomi, dau. of Abraham Hardy; _b._ Streatham, 21 Aug. 1894; educ. Stanley House School, Cliftonville, Margate; King’s School, Canterbury (member of the O.T.C.; in the first boat, first athletic team, and second football team); Lycée Faidherbe, Lille (2nd prize for public school fencing); Lille University (diploma 1914); London University, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the 2nd Queen’s, 17 Feb. 1915; went to France, 24 May, and was killed in action near Bethune on 19 July following; _unm._ Buried at St. Vaast Post, near Bethune. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 30 Nov. 1915; and his Commanding Officer wrote “The battn. has lost a brave and valuable young officer.”

=MUSTARD, ALEXANDER=, L.-Corpl., No. 1160, 5th Battn. Australian Imperial Force; _b._ Elgin, co. Moray, 5 March, 1886; educ. Urquhart Public School, Morayshire; went to Australia; volunteered and joined the Australian Imperial Force, 5 Oct. 1914; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25 April, 1915, and was killed in action there, 10 May following; _unm._ His commanding officer wrote that he very gallantly volunteered to go for his comrades with the water bottles slung across his shoulders, and was shot by a sniper when quite close to the well.

=MYDDELTON, EDWARD GEOFFREY=, 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Suffolk Regt., only surviving _s._ of Edward Brackenbury Myddelton, of Bank House, Wellingborough; _b._ Boston, 22 Aug. 1893; educ. Lancing, Wellingborough, and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he was in the Officers’ Training Corps, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut., 3rd Battn. Suffolk Regt., 4 June, 1913. On the outbreak of war he went to the front with the 2nd Battn., was in the retreat from Mons, and was unofficially reported killed at Le Cateau on 26 Aug. 1914. Coy. Sergt.-Major Crack, of the Suffolks, who was taken prisoner in this action, writing from Sennelager, 15 Jan. 1915, says: “I am very sorry to say that 2nd Lieut. Myddelton was killed about 12 o’clock on Aug. 26; also his platoon Sergt. was killed at the same time, both by the same shrapnel. The men of his platoon were all very much grieved to have lost their leader, as they were all very fond of him.” Lieut. Myddelton had passed the first part of the Mathematical Tripos with 1st Class honours.

=MYER, ERNEST ALEX=, Major, 6th (City of London) Battn. The London Regt. (Rifles) (T.F.), 4th _s._ of Sydney Myer, of Southampton, by his wife, Sophy Alex, dau. of Montagu Alex, of Hereford; _b._ Southampton, 23 Nov. 1874; educ. St. John’s Wood School, and University College School, London, and was admitted a Solicitor in 1897, practising at 46–47 London Wall, E.C. He was a keen volunteer, and soon after leaving the University College School, joined the Victoria Volunteer Regt. which was afterwards amalgamated with the St. George’s Rifles; and on 26 Nov. 1901, received a commission in the 2nd London Rifles, which became the 6th City of London Rifles on the organisation of the Territorial Force. He was promoted Capt. in 1898, and on the outbreak of war at once volunteered for foreign service. He received his Majority, 5 Aug. 1914, and during the arduous months of training was for a considerable period in command of the Battn. The 2nd London Division, to which he was attached, left for the Front, 20 March, 1915, and he was killed in action near Givenchy, 3 April following, being struck by shrapnel while passing through the trenches on inspection duty with Col. Simpson. Buried at Cuinchy close to where he fell. In a letter to Mrs. Myer, Col. Simpson wrote: “This Battn. has lost an officer who cannot be replaced--he was loved and respected by all ranks. Our country has lost a fine English gentleman, who had a very keen sense of duty and the determination to do it. He died the death of the brave soldier that he was.” He was an authority on apprenticeship (published a text book on apprenticeship entitled “Apprenticeship Law”), and acted for many years as hon. solicitor to the Industrial Department of the Jewish Board of Guardians, to the Apprenticeship and Skilled Employment Association, and to the Apprenticeship Committee of the Women’s University Settlement; he was one of the founders of the Brady Street Club in East London. Major Myer was called “The Boys’ Friend.” He was very keenly interested in their welfare, and many a boy in good and lucrative situations to-day owes it only to his help. In a quiet unassuming way he did splendid service for the Boys’ Clubs, and for the young men belonging to them, and never spared himself where the lads’ interest and welfare were concerned. Many of the old members and others have cause to be grateful to him for a start in life, and many for valuable help in other ways. The Maidenhead Club Scouts, too, owe their foundation to him, being the first troop in the country to be completely fitted out, and he was always keenly interested in their welfare. On one occasion he went out of his way, and went specially to visit their camps at Gosport to see that the boys were well provided for. He _m._ at Bayswater Synagogue, London, Emmy (123, Inverness Terrace, Bayswater), dau. of Charles (and Jeanette) Jacob; _s.p._

=MYERS, GEORGE MAURICE=, Private, No. 2250, 7th Battn. London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Henry Myers, Wholesale Tobacconist (died 1908), by his wife, Amelia, dau. of J. B. George, of Paris; _b._ Regent’s Park Road, N.W., 10 April, 1894; educ. Kilburn Grammar School; enlisted early in Sept. 1914, following the outbreak of war; went to the Front, March, 1915, was badly wounded on the night of 12 Sept. following, and died two days later (14 Sept.) in No. 18 Casualty Clearing Station; _unm._ His commanding officer, Capt. C. J. Salkeld Green, wrote that he had been “marked for promotion when opportunity arose” and that “when he received his wounds he was on a working party on a very important piece of work.” He was buried at Lapugnoy, near Bethune. Lieut. Sydney Frankenburg, in a letter to Mrs. Myers, said: “He was buried in accordance with Jewish ritual in a part of the soldiers’ cemetery set apart for Jews. I performed the ceremony yesterday [15 Sept.] afternoon, and also spent some hours with him before his death. To show you the esteem that your son was held in by his comrades and officers I may mention that a party of soldiers from his platoon of their own free will marched several miles to attend his funeral. His Coy. Commander was present.”

=MYERS, SIDNEY=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 24128, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=MYLAM, ALFRED CLAUDE=, Rifleman, No. 1728, 12th Battn. (The Rangers) The London Regt. (T.F.), 3rd _s._ of Henry Mylam, of 441, King’s Road, Chelsea, Ironmonger, by his wife, Elizabeth, dau. of George Henry Cornwall; _b._ Chelsea, 29 May, 1889; educ. St. Mark’s College School there; was a Solicitor’s Clerk; joined the Rangers in Sept. 1913; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914; went to France, 24 Dec. 1914, and died at St. Julien, 26 April, 1915, of wounds received in action while advancing to relieve the Canadians; _unm._ Buried at Hazebrouck.

=NAIRN, WALTER=, Bugler, No. 1366, 7th Battn. Durham Light Infantry (T.F.), 4th _s._ of the late John Nairn, of Southwick-on-Wear, Fruiterer, by his wife, Isabella (23, Grosvenor Street, Southwick-on-Wear), dau. of Benjamin Cook, of Monkwearmouth; _b._ Southwick, 12 Dec. 1895; educ. Board School there; joined the 7th Territorial Battn. of the Durhams, 26 March, 1911, and was employed at Priestman’s Yard, Sunderland; volunteered for foreign service after the outbreak of war, and was killed in action “somewhere” in France, 22 June, 1915, by a sniper; _unm._ His four brothers are all on active service, a fact upon which their mother was complimented by H.M. the King.

=MERCER-NAIRNE, LORD CHARLES GEORGE FRANCIS=, C.V.O., formerly Fitzmaurice, of Meikleour and Tullybeagles, co. Perth, and of Aldie, co. Kinross, Major, 1st Royal Dragoons, yr. _s._ of Henry Charles, 5th Marquis of Lansdowne, K.G., P.C., G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., G.C.I.E., etc., by his wife, Lady Maud Evelyn, née Hamilton, C.I., V.A, Extra Lady of the Bedchamber to H.M. Queen Alexandra, 7th and yst. dau. of James, 1st Duke of Abercorn, K.G.; _b._ London, 12 Feb. 1874; educ. Eton; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to 1st Dragoons from the Royal Scots Militia, 29 May, 1895; and promoted Lieut. 2 Feb. 1898, Capt. 27 June, 1901, and Major 30 June, 1910; was A.D.C. to G.O.C. the Forces in Ireland, 29 May, 1897, to 19 Oct. 1899; A.D.C. to Commander-in-chief (F.M. Earl Roberts), 3 Jan. 1901 to 11 Feb. 1904; Equerry-in-Ordinary to King George V when Prince of Wales, 1 April, 1909, to 6 May, 1910, and to His Majesty, 10 June, 1910, to Sept. 1914; created C.V.O. 1911; served (1) in the South African War, 1899–1900; took part in the relief of Ladysmith, including action at Colenso; operations of 17 to 24 Jan. 1900, and action at Spion Kop; operations of 5 to 7 Feb. 1900, and action at Vaal Kranz; operations on Tugela Heights, 14 to 27 Feb. 1900, and action at Pieters Hill; operations in Natal, March, 1900, and in the Orange Free State, May, 1900 (Queen’s medal with four clasps); and (2) with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 6 Oct. to 30 Oct. 1914, on which date he was killed in action near Klein Zillebeke, Ypres. He was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French President for gallantry in the field. He _m._ at Calcutta, 20 Jan. 1909, Lady Violet Mary, née Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound (11, Hyde Park Terrace, W.), yst. dau. of Gilbert John, 4th Earl of Minto), K.G., P.C., G.C.S.I., G.C.M.G., and had issue, George John Charles, now of Meikleour, etc., _b._ 27 Nov. 1912, for whom H.M. King George V was sponsor; and Mary Margaret Elizabeth, _b._ 6 Feb. 1910, for whom H.M. Queen Mary was sponsor.

=NAISH, WILLIAM CHARLES GATTON=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 6656), 196269, H.M.S. Hogue; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=NAISMITH, PERCY THOMAS=, Private, No. 1543, C Coy., 14th Battn. (London Scottish) The London Regt., eldest _s._ of Thomas Naismith, of 589, Romford Road, Woodgrange, and Thomas Street, Burdett Road, E., formerly of Eastfield, Leith, Licensed Victualler; _b._ Poplar, 17 March, 1894; educ. Thomas Street School, Burdett Road, and Pitman’s, Southampton Row; joined the London Scottish; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc., and died in Boulogne Hospital, 11 Nov. 1914, of wounds received in the charge of the London Scottish at Messines on 30 Oct. Buried in Boulogne Cemetery; _unm._

=NANCARROW, JOHN VIVIAN=, Capt., 4th Battn. Yorkshire Regt., York and Durham Infantry Brigade, Northumbrian Division T.F., eldest _s._ of George Bennett Nancarrow, of Ravenscroft, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, a partner in the firm of W. B. Peat & Co., Chartered Accountants, by his wife, Charlotte Alice, dau. of Capt. Josiah Thomas; _b._ Middlesbrough, 6 June, 1885; educ. Leys School and King’s College, Cambridge (M.A., LL.B.); admitted a Solicitor, 1909, and became Secretary to the Middlesbrough Chamber of Commerce. He joined the 1st Vol. Battn. Durham L.I. in 1907, was later attached to the Northumberland Fusiliers at Newcastle and then to the Duke of Cornwall’s L.I., before settling in Middlesbrough where he became Lieut. in the 4th Yorks, and after passing through a school of instruction, was promoted to the Captaincy in the latter part of 1913. On the outbreak of war he undertook Imperial service obligations and landed in France with his Battn. in the middle of April 1915; they were immediately hurried up to the front in consequence of the French troops north of Ypres having been “gassed” on 22 April, and on the afternoon of the 24th were ordered to attack the German lines near the village of Fortuin, near St. Julien, a few miles north-east of Ypres. During the day. Capt, Nancarrow was seen cheering on his men, and in the advance, he stopped to bind up the wound of a Private who had fallen and then hurried forward. After making several rushes at the head of his men towards the enemy’s position, he was shot and died almost instantaneously. His Colonel wrote of him that “he behaved like a hero.” Capt. Nancarrow had taken a very active part in the Boy Scouts’ movement in connection with the settlement in Newport Road, Middlesbrough. He was engaged to be married to Miss Elsie Harkess of Stokesley.