Lest We Forget - Private Howard Richardson Murray

Private Howard Richardson Murray certainly did not start out to become a war hero.  His ambition was to become a plumber and to settle down to a quiet life in Harmony, Nova Scotia.  The eldest child of James Duncan Murray and Mary Harriett (Hattie) Johnson, Howard was born on the 17th of November, 1897.  Through a series on inter-family marriages, he was related to me as a descendant of John Johnson, the Cobequid Planter, James Campbell of the McNutt migration from Northern Ireland and James Blair of Aghadowey, Northern Ireland.  He was my 6th cousin, my 6th cousin once removed and my 6th cousin twice removed.

Private Howard Richardson
Murray

However, with the war well under way in Europe, he heeded the call of his country and enlisted at the age of 18 on November 25, 1915 in Truro.  Tall and lanky, his attestation papers describe him as having blue eyes and dark brown hair and a member of the Presbyterian Church.

After three difficult years of muddy trenches, rampant disease and terrible food, Howard finally met his end at the Battle of the Somme.  On March 12, 1918, as the war was in its last months, he was killed in action.  His remains were laid to rest in the Thelus Military Cemetery, near Arras in the Pas de Calais, France.  He was just 21 years old.