Journal (Dec. 1939 – April 1941)
Scan of a journal kept by Frank Murray covering the period between December 1939 and April 1941.
Transcript (2.9Mb)
On 12th November 1942, while he was already a POW in Singapore, Frank Murray began to keep a journal; it covers his experiences from December 1939 to the spring of 1941. The text was written in a notebook with the words “Army Book 155” embossed on the cover. The journal recounts Frank’s experiences from taking up his commission, through to his journey to India and ending with his early experiences with the 27th Field Ambulance attached to the Indian 11th Infantry Division in north-west India (now Pakistan). This journal was added to (in ballpoint pen) in 1988 when Frank wrote an early draft of his memoirs. The end result is that, while it may appear that the journal was a contemporary account of my father’s experiences, there are several anachronisms; in the transcript I have not made any attempt to note/correct these as most are obvious. I have corrected some spellings where I have good evidence that words were mis-spelt in the original text. In some places I have inserted photographs taken by Frank, mostly where the subjects are clearly mentioned in the text; any captions for the photographs are based on those in Frank’s book of Snapshots.