Pte 51665 William Murdoch

• Age: 23
• From: Colvend, Kirkcudbrightshire
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

Although CWGC gives his surname as Murdoch, his military records (Medal Roll, Pension cards, Soldiers’ Effects) show the name as Murdock. 

William Murdoch was born in 1893 in Colvend, Kirkudbrightshire, 2-3 miles from Kippford on the Solway coast, and five miles south of Dalbeattie. He was the son of John Murdoch and his wife Catherine (née Halliday) who were married in 1881 in Colvend. William was the youngest of four surviving children; he had brothers James and John Halliday, and a sister Janet Campbell, all born in Colvend. His parents were both born in Kirkcudbrightshire, John at Colvend and Catherine at Southwick. His father, a Master Mariner, is not found on censuses, being away at sea.

The family had a long history of sea-faring, and a number of family members were lost at sea.  William’s cousin, also William Murdoch, was the First Officer in charge on the bridge of the Titanic in April 1912 when she hit the iceberg and was one of the more than 1,500 people who died when the ship sank.  

In 1891 before William’s birth his mother is found living at Auckland Cottage, Colvend, listed as a Master Mariner’s wife.

The 1901 census finds Catherine with four children at no.11 Kippford, Colvend. She is 42, a mariner’s wife.  James is 14, Janet 11, John 10, and William is 7, all at school.

His father died at sea in 1907, aged 49, on the ship Alcides of Donaldson Line, Glasgow. The family grave in Colvend Churchyard has an incription:-  

The 1911 Census shows the family have moved to Liverpool and are living at 11 Dundonald Road, Aigburth. His mother, Catherine, is aged 52, born 1859 and she has two of her children living with her; Janet Campbell aged 26, born 1885, and occupation Typist and son William aged 17, born 1894 occupation Insurance Clerk.

He enlisted as Rifleman 4142 joining the 6th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment (Liverpool Rifles). He embarked from Folkestone-Boulogne on 19th July 1916 and arrived at 24th Infantry Baes Depot on 20th July 1916. He proceeded to the 17th Bn K.L./R. on 05th August and was posted to the 17th Bn from 05th September 1916 as Private No 51665

William was killed in action on the 12th October 1916, aged 23, during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds:

“As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.”

William's body was not recovered or was subsequently lost as his name is recorded on the Thiepval Memorial.

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.” 

His death was reported on 24th October 1916 in the Liverpool Echo:

“October 12, killed instantly by shell, in his 23rd year, Rifleman William Murdoch, youngest beloved son of Mrs. Murdoch, 11 Dundonald Road, Aigburth (late of the Bank of Liverpool).”

Further details were published in the Dumfries and Galloway Saturday Standard on 04th November 1916:  

Kippford Soldier Killed

"Private William Murdoch of the King’s Liverpool Rifles was killed on 12th October by the bursting of a shell.  He was the youngest son of the late Captain John Murdoch of Kippford, and Mrs. Murdoch, now of Aigburth, Liverpool.  He was born at Kippford 23 years ago and was educated partly at Barnbarroch School and later at St. Michael’s in the Hamlet School, Liverpool.  He held an appointment in the Bank of Liverpool.  Early this year he joined the King’s Liverpool Rifles and went to the front in August last with the “Pals” battalion.  He was a young man of exemplary character and great business aptitude.  Of his two surviving brothers Lieutenant John Murdoch has seen several months’ fighting on the Tigris on the “Mafitis” and lately was commander of a gunboat between Bombay and Persia; whilst Captain James Murdoch, who is in the Mercantile Marine, was thirty hours in an open boat last winter when his vessel was torpedoed in the Bay of Biscay.”

Both of his brothers survived the war.

SDGW confusingly states he enlisted in “Keithley, Yorks”, they must mean Keighley, but he is recorded on the Skipton War Memorial. 

Probate in the amount of £149-7s-3d was granted to his mother Catherine.

His mother, address 11 Dundonald Road, Aigburth, and later 31 Victoria Road, West Kirby, Cheshire, received his Army pay as well as a War Gratuity of £3 and was awarded a pension of 10/- a week from May 1917.  

In 1939 his mother, now 81, is living at 31 Victoria Road, Hoylake with married daughter Janet, 55, and her husband, a Master Mariner, and son John, 49, Chief Officer, Ex(tra)-Master.

His mother died in 1949 aged 90.

William is also commemorated on the following Memorials:

Bank Of Liverpool And Martins Tablet WW1 (Murdoch)

St Michael in the Hamlet School (Murdock) 

Scotland’s National War Memorial (Murdock)

We currently have no further information on William Murdoch, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.

Grateful thanks are extended to Kevin Shannon the author of the book The Liverpool Rifles for providing details of William's service with the 6th Rifles.