A century on from the end of World War I we acknowledge their service …
Lest we forget.
Private Murdoch MacDonald
Born: 2 September 1878 St Arnaud. Died: 3 October 1957 Dandenong.
Enlisted: 5 February 1918 aged 39.
Served: United Kingdom.
Murdoch (sometimes spelt “Murdock”) was an older brother of Jack McDonald. He farmed with another brother Samuel at Nambrok, near Rosedale in Gippsland.
Murdoch was 39 when he enlisted in early 1918. By this stage, Murdoch’s parents had settled in Pakenham, while his brother Donald lived in Officer.
Murdoch was assigned as an Air Mechanic Second Class to the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) at Laverton, just west of Melbourne.
He arrived in England in July 1918 and underwent further training, but was hospitalised for influenza in late September.
He never made it to the Front, as the War ended on 11 November 1918.
Murdoch suffered another bout of flu in early 1919, prior to returning back to Australia.
He was discharged from the AFC on 1 July 1919. Murdoch initially returned to Nambrok.
In 1924, he married Isabel May Ratcliff. They had a family, but later divorced.
In the 1940s, Murdoch was living in Canterbury, where he was a labourer.
He died at Dandenong in 1957, aged 79.
This is an extract from Patrick Ferry’s book A Century After The Guns Fell Silent – Remembering the Pakenham District’s WWI Diggers 1914-18.
For more details on this and other profiles in the book, head to the website www.pakenhamww1.com
