Summary

Postcard sent by Private W. Murphy from a Japanese prisoner of war camp at Moulmein, Burma, in 1943.

Private William Frederick Murphy, Australian Army service #VX60821, was born in Prahran in 1907. He was a 34-year-old machine setter from Kensington, unmarried, when he enlisted on 1 Aug 1941 at the Melbourne Town Hall. He served in the 2/10 Ordnance Workshop Company, and underwent training at Royal Park, Caulfield and Bendigo. He was then sent overseas from Sydney on 10 January 1942, arriving in Singapore on 26 January, eight days before the Japanese began to bomb the island. William became a prisoner of war after the fall of Singapore - he was noted missing on 16 February - and was sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Moulmein (today Mawlaminye), Burma, on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway. His military record indicates that he died of Beri Beri on 22 August 1943 in a 'Thai camp'. His roll of honour record names Burma as his place of death. William is buried in the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetry. The Army Graves Service created Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery and transferred all graves along the northern section of the railway, between Moulmein and Nieke.

Part of a collection of material donated to Museum Victoria in 1988 by Miss Ida Murphy in memory of her brother William Murphy and her uncle Edward Pummeroy, who was killed during World War I.

Description of Content

FROM JAPANESE PRISONER OF WAR CAMP, MOULMEIN, BURMA. SENT BY PRIVATE W. MURPHY.

Physical Description

Rectangular printed postcard, in red and black on off-white, with prompts to cross out and three lines for free text. Addressed on front, with postmark, French inscription and Japanese symbols stamped in red.

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