The Belfast Doctor website updates & news
Revisions and New Section
When the website was first created in 2020, it was decided to edit the material in the transcription of Frank’s “Letters to Eileen”; these were the letters sent to Eileen while Frank was stationed in India and Malaya. The material that was removed mainly referred to Frank’s love for Eileen as well as details of his religious observance. Given that the scans of the original documents have always been available to view, it no longer makes sense to have only the edited transcript on the website. Consequently, the full, original transcript is now available to download. There is also a new, unedited version of Frank’s “Journal” on the website where the names of individuals have not been redacted. In addition, a new section has been added documenting the post-liberation exchange of letters between Frank and Eileen while he was back in Belfast and she was in Omagh. Several other minor modifications and edits have been made to the website.
September 2024
The Photographs of Gwilym Rowlands
Gunner Gwilym Rowlands (1483362) was a POW in Hokkaido who travelled with Frank Murray on the Wales Maru hell ship on its voyage from Singapore. He was one of a hundred men assigned to work at the Asano Cement Works in Kamiiso before eventually re-joining the rest of the POWs at Nisi Ashibetsu (Raijo) camp in June 1945. Somehow he managed to hide a camera and two rolls of film from his captors and after liberation he took numerous group photos of his fellow POWs, some of which have already appeared on the website. Copies were made when he got home and then sent to the prisoners who had placed orders for them. His granddaughter still has many of the original negatives and they have now been scanned and restored. A selection of these remarkable images can now be viewed in the Photographs section of this website.
August 2024
The Asano Cement Works
When the POWs who travelled on the Wales Maru with Frank Murray arrived at Hakodate, Hokkaido, 100 of them were sent to work at the Asano Cement Works under apalling conditions. They eventually rejoined the rest of the POWs at Nisi Ashibetsu (Raijo) camp in June 1945 where Frank was Officer Commanding. Among Frank's possessions was a booklet containing a handwritten account of the treatment the POWs received when they worked at the cement works. A scan of the booklet and a transcript of the text are now available to view.
August 2024
Irish Doctors in the Second World War
Patrick J. Casey, Kevin T. Cullen and Joe P. Duignan have published a book documenting the work of Irish doctors in the Second World War and it includes a section on Frank Murray. The dust jacket includes an extract from the testimonial given to Frank by the POWs. The book has been published by the Merrion Press and is available by clicking the images below.
You can also view a Flipbook of some of the contents at the IAP website.
July 2024
Eileen's Returned Letters from Omagh
The eleven letters Eileen sent to Frank but which were never received by him because of the outbreak of the war in the Pacific, are now available to view as scans along with a transcription. The undelivered letters were ultimately returned to her and are the only examples we have of her side of the voluminous correspondence between Eileen and Frank that preceded his capture at Singapore. Written between October 1941 and February 1942, they provide an insight into her thoughts and activities during her time working as a school teacher in Omagh with occasional weekends and holidays spent at her family home in Belfast.
20th January 2024 (Eileen's Birthday)
Eileen and Frank’s story now a TV documentary
On Sunday, October 9, 2022 BBC Northern Ireland broadcast an Irish language documentary, "Litir Ghrá ón Dara Cogadh Domhanda” ("A Love Letter from the Second World War”) about Eileen and Frank. A shorter version of the programme was shown on TG4 on Wednesday, October 12. “This is about courage. It is about fortitude. It is about love. It is about faith. And it says to us in this war-torn world that love and kindness, these are the things that make our world a better place.” — Josette Sellings (Eileen & Frank’s youngest daughter). The documentary was shown again on BBC Northern Ireland on Remembrance Sunday, November 12, 2023 and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer using this link.
November 2023
Paul's Book
Paul Murray, Eileen and Frank's elder son, has published a book about his 2017 journey to Singapore and Japan as well as other aspects of his personal quest to explore ideas of reconciliation and prayer. The book, "From the Gaeltacht to Galicia: A Son's Tale", is published by Honeybee Books and can be ordered online. There is now an item about the book in the Media section of the website.
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October 2021
The Artist
Harry Southall
One of Frank Murray's most treasured possessions was the testimonial and accompanying signatures presented to him by his fellow POWs soon after their liberation (see the "POW: Testimonial" section of the website). The family knew that the text had been drafted by David Marshall (see Appendix D of the transcribed POW diary). However, the identity of the person who did the artwork and calligraphy on the testimonial has now been discovered. It was Private Harry Southall of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps. The clue was that his signature was done in a calligraphic script. You can read a more detailed account about Harry and see his handiwork in "POW: Testimonial" section of the website.
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April 2021
POW Photos
Can you Help?
In response to the people who thought they could identify their relatives in some of the photograph albums, there is now a new section, “POW photos” under the “Photographs" tab. There people will find high resolution versions of 4 photographs — the two Christmas concert ones from Muroran, along with Group 6 and Outside Prison Walls from Nisi Ashibetsu. Each photo is followed by (i) an annotated version where each identifiable person is numbered and then (ii) a list of people who have been identified. There is also a link to the Contact form so that people who have identified relatives can let me know and then I can modify the list; this should be a great help to others who look at the web site.
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June 2020