George Murphy was born in Wrexham, Denbighshire on the 5th of May 1929.
He joined the Army Cadets at the age of 13 and left school when he was 14. He worked at various jobs, van driver’s mate, warehouse assistant and type fitter until he volunteered for the Army in December 1946 at the age of seventeen and a half.
George commenced his Primary Training with 23PTC on the 6 February 1947 followed by Corps Training with the 54th Training Regiment RAC as a Dvr/Sig. On completion of his Corps Training, he was allotted to the 4th RTR and posted to the D & M School at Bovington in November 1947.
He transferred to The 4th Hussars on the 4 August 1948. The Regiment was at that time at Colchester preparing for a three-year posting to the Far East (Malaya) on Active Service. Malaya had been left with a major political problem after the war.
Scattered throughout the jungles of Malaya were well-armed bands of dedicated, mainly Chinese Communist, terrorists who had fought against the Japanese during the war with their aim to cause disruption within the country and a possible takeover.
George joined 4th Troop, ‘A’ Squadron and sailed with the Regiment for Singapore aboard HMT ‘Dilwara’ on the 20 August 1948 arriving in Singapore on the 17th September 1948.
The Regiment moved up country from Singapore, squadrons were stationed in various locations with RHQ and ‘A’ Squadron at Ipoh on the west side of Malaya. The heaviest loss during the regiments tour occurred on 31 December 1949 when a patrol of 4th troop ‘A’ Squadron, of which George was a member, was ambushed by a strong force of well-armed terrorists.
The Troop Leader and six other ranks were killed and nine wounded. The terrorists were driven off and had six killed and ten wounded. ‘A’ Squadron relieved ‘C’ Squadron in Hong Kong in October 1950 and returned to Malaya in February 1951.
The Regiment returned to the UK in December 1951 and George was discharged to the Reserve in November 1952.
He was awarded the GSM with Clasp Malaya.
In civilian life, George had an assortment of jobs which included HGV Driver, Press Shop in the aircraft industry and as a floor layer until his retirement in May 1994 aged 65.
His interests were car mechanics and DIY and he was a member of the Royal British Legion and the Local miners Club. He married Peggy in August 1957. They had a daughter Carol, two sons Michael and Stephen and four grandchildren.
George died on 19 April 2010 having suffered a stroke five years earlier and other health problems for some time.
