Sgt. Murney was in D company of the 21st Battalion, pictured above in front of Kingston City Hall before their departure overseas.
By Dan Bourgeois
There is a Royal Canadian Legion banner on Tupper Street in Millbrook in honour of William Henry Murney with the notation MM wBar after his name.
MM stands for Military Medal, awarded to an enlisted man (private or non-commissioned officer) for “acts of gallantry and devotion to duty under fire”. The Bar indicates he was awarded this medal a second time. Only 848 Canadians were awarded this medal twice out of more than 650,000 who served in the First World War.
William H. Murney was born and raised on RR 1, South Monaghan township. When the First World War broke out, he was 20 years old, working as a cheesemaker. At the time, there were local cheese factories in Fraserville, Keene, Lang, Villiers, Millbrook and Mount Pleasant. I’m not sure which factory he worked in, but it was likely Fraserville or Millbrook.
On the 21st of October, 1914, William enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at the Millbrook Armoury, now the Legion Hall. In the early days of World War 1, there was a huge rush of young men to sign up; to serve God, King and Country, or simply for a chance to leave home on a great overseas adventure. After all, many were saying the war would be over by Christmas so one better signup quickly or miss the chance to cover themselves with glory.
The realities of modern warfare had not yet made their way into the public consciousness.
On November 6th, William reported for duty at the Army base in Kingston, where he passed his medical exam and was declared fit for duty with the rank of private. His medical exam notes he was 5 feet, 4inches tall with hazel eyes and brown hair. He was assigned to the newly formed 21st Battalion (Eastern Ontario), part of the second contingent of Canadians shortly to head to England. After training in Kingston, they travelled by ship to England for further training, then took a ferry to Boulonge, France in September 1915, where cheering crowds greeted “Les Canadiens”. Two days later they headed for the front.
As dangerous and chaotic as life in the front lines could be there was a routine schedule; six days in the front line trenches closest to the enemy, where the monotony of living in the open was relieved by doing routine chores like repairing the trenches, fetching food and water from the supplies stored further back, laying barbed wire out in front of the line (under cover of darkness) or bailing water from what was essentially a big muddy ditch with some dugouts carved out of the side. This was punctuated by enemy sniper or machine gun fire and occasional artillery bombardments. Even in a “quiet” sector there would be a constant trickle of casualties. Going “over the top” in great battles were uncommon, though night time raids on enemy lines were frequent. William suffered his first wound from shrapnel, apiece of an exploding artillery shell, during one of these quiet spells, in June 1916.
After 6 days in the frontline, the unit would be moved to the second line, a bit further back and somewhat safer, and 6 days later back to reserve, out of range of most of the enemy’s fire, after which it was back to the front. Every few months, the unit would be pulled out of the line for rest and recuperation.
Willaim was again wounded, once more by shrapnel and this time severely, in September 1916. He spent 8 months in hospital and recuperating in England before returning to the21st Battalion in May 1917. By this point he would have been considered, at the age of 23, to be a grizzled veteran, one of a diminishing group of original volunteers. He was again wounded by shrapnel in August1917, but was only away for a month before returning to active duty. Shortly afterwards he was promoted to Sergeant, a position of considerable responsibility in a front-line unit.
William was granted 2 weeks leave in January, 1918,which as far as I can see from his records is the only significant “time off” he was granted aside from recovering from wounds, in the 35 months he spent overseas.
In March, 1918 William was awarded his first Military Medal. The citation notes “… In connection with a large raid when the enemy succeeded in entering our trenches under cover of an intense artillery barrage and the use of liquid fire (flamethrowers), this N.C.O. with absolute disregard for personal safety, rallied men around him while exposed to the enemy’s heavy barrage and rifle fire, and when the counter attack was launched led his men forward with great courage.”
In August 1918, the Allies with the Canadians and Australians as spearheads, launched a massive offensive that broke through the German defenses. What followed was a series of pitched battles as the various German defensive lines were overcome, leading ultimately to the signing of the Armistice on November 11th. It was during the first of these great battles, outside the city of Amiens, that William was recommended for his second Military Medal. On August 28th the Canadians were consolidating their gains at the end of the battle of the Scarpe when William, age 24 years, was killed by a sniper’s bullet. The 21st Battalion was pulled out of the line that night, exhausted and depleted after three weeks of nearly constant battle. He never knew of the second medal awarded him.
At the end of the Great War, there were 106 men left of the original 1,013 who had enlisted in Kingston in 1914.
In a letter to William’s parents, Battalion commander Colonel H.E. Pence wrote “…His work on all occasions up to the time of his death tempered of the highest and best among Canadians. After the healing of his wounds on three occasions he lost no time on rejoining his battalion, and at the time of his death was considered one of our most gallant and trustworthy Sergeants, having the confidence of the officers and men of his company. As one of the original officers of this battalion I extend to you the heartfelt sympathy of all who knew and respected your son…”
In May 1920, a memorial stained glass window was installed in the Centreville Presbyterian Church (now the United Centreville Harmony Church),which William had attended in his youth. The inscription reads “In loving memory of Sgt. William Henry Murney, M.M., 21st Batt. CEF, who gave his life in the Great War, 1914-18”.
The banner on Tupper Street was sponsored by William’s great-nephew Bill, whom he never met.