Korean War links Ennis brothers

AN Ennis man, whose brother died in the Korean War in April 1951, was in Korea at the time of his brother’s death, although neither knew that the other was in the country.

Recently in The Clare Champion, Australian man Ian Saunders, who has been campaigning since 1982 to find the bodies of soldiers missing in action in South Korea, issued an appeal to find relatives of Corporal Kevin Murphy, who went missing in action on April 24, 1951 during the Korean War.
Corporal Murphy is believed to be buried in the United Nations military cemetery in Pusan, South Korea.
Although Ian didn’t think that any member of Corporal Murphy’s family had visited his memorial stone in Korea, his brother PJ, who lives in the Turnpike, Ennis, did so in 1952. PJ was stationed in South Korea with the British navy at the time, while his brother, Kevin, was in the Australian army.
“I have visited his grave; the United Nations military cemetery in Pusan. I think it was in 1952 and the grave registration officer was Captain Philips. He brought me up and showed me the grave,” PJ told The Clare Champion.
“I had to get permission from General Ridgeway, Supreme Commander from the Allied forces in Korea. Being in the navy and being in a war zone, I couldn’t go ashore. So they sent a jeep down to me and they brought me up to the UN military cemetery,” he added.
Incredibly, neither of the Murphys were aware of each other’s presence in Asia.
“He didn’t know I was there and I didn’t know he was there. I didn’t know anything at all. The last time I saw Kevin was about 1946. I was around 16,” PJ explained.
He cannot recall how he was informed of his brother’s death.
“I don’t know how I heard it. I think I got word from somebody saying that Kevin was killed,” he recalled.
Although Kevin was serving in the Australian army at the time of his death aged 29, he had previously served in the Irish army.
“He was a captain in the Irish Army. He resigned his commission and went off to Australia and he joined the Australian army as a private,” PJ said.
“He got an honourable discharge from the Irish army because I have his discharge papers. He left the army of his own free will. He was the second eldest of the family. There was seven of us,” PJ added.
Although PJ visited a memorial grave to his brother, he is not certain that the grave contained Kevin’s body.
“Because there was so many of them killed, they just dug a big hole and buried them there. Some of the bodies weren’t in there (memorial grave) yet,” he said.
PJ, who is aged 80 now and was nine years younger than Kevin, is very keen to recover his brother’s war medals if possible.
“They never came to our house anyway. My mother never got them because if she did, they’d be in the house. It would be nice to have them and to put them up because I have his photograph at home from when he was an Irish cadet,” he explained.
With regard to his career in the British navy, PJ joined in 1947 and served in South Africa, along the African coast and in Asia. He later lived in New York for nine years before marrying Ann and has lived in Ennis since.