LT-COL A MURRAY

Dozerdust, Volume 1, Issue 11, 21 August 1943, Page 5

LT-COL A MURRAY

# there is a delightful informality in the personality of lieut* colonel fcv murrey which puts you at ease when first- mooting him* XJft ]. n have:, a beer?' ”he asked as he motioned us. to .a scat.... ff but ■ •. ■ ...for god’s sake, doht sny yes , he added.'as,wo piped up a hearty . thanks ?♦*♦©£ ; explaining the purpose of our visit he turned to our art edit. or*»«« go ahead but dont take too many hairs off the top, he said facetiously as he settled into a chair» * * * while tho rough was boihg- taken, he chatted on , the activities of the engineers in new Caledonia, and one soon becamo aware that running, parallel with an' 1 unassuming cordiality there were other qualities that would make him a dangerous man in tho field of battle, ♦* * ♦ the short, thick ' . ..J, set figure, well formed neck and square jaw set in oval features gives ,the impression of groat physical endurance backed up by a tenacity of purpose. that does not know defeat, once roused he would make tho lion of judah look like a contented tabbyOftt, and when that square mouth closes it snaps like a steel trap from which there is no escape. ♦ * * shrewdness in .the sense .that he would not be caught in a boobytrap of his own making, arid would-not allow others to catch him in indicated by the small and piercing eyes that miss np ; details. what ho sees fte does so very clearly) in judging men ho brings to bear the practical common sense baeod on long experience .and pretty keen observation, .-.’doos not need to be told that he backs his own ; judgement which, 'to ono who does not think fast, makes him difficult to understand and tabbed as too independent** * * it may bo that independence which led him to talk Jef his mdn rather than of himself? in tho course of .tho interview^ he did not mention the part he had played in the engineer but he paid a high tribute to officers and’, men under him* it is to the men eno turns if ono wants to tap a fund of rich and emus ing anecdotes which surround the character of Hout.col* murray. you will*hear some repeated in n*z* camps and many more in new Caledonia. * * * M if you see me wander - ing., around up there say, •hl buddy what about a boor’J is one wo are going to remember ' ' . ' • z u ‘ r * '■