This is the fifth of a new series of articles about men and women connected to my family who served in – and survived – the First and Second World Wars.
Louis Victor Murrin (1888-1981)
Louis survived being shot in the head in 1915 – and spent many months in hospital recovering from a series of illnesses.
A rifleman in the County of London Regiment, he was shot in France on March 31, 1915.
Suffering from a fractured skull and damage to his left eye, he was transferred to England the following day for treatment.
The Western Times on May 8, 1915 reported that he was recovering at the 2nd Northern General Hospital in Leeds.
He sailed back to Rouen from Southampton on September 22, 1915 and returned to his battalion – the 12th – on the front line a week later.
His head injury continued to cause him problems and Louis (also known as Lewis) was sent back to England on HS Cambria in January 1916.
He spent 109 days at Wharncliffe War Hospital in South Yorkshire for treatment for traumatic neurosis.
Louis had many other health issues during his time at war – being treated for scabies, trench foot and malaria.
He was 25 when he enlisted on August 7, 1914. He served in the 12th (County of London) Battalion on the Western Front between December 1914 and January 1916.
He then served in the 2/17th (County of London) Battalion in France and Flanders, the Balkans and Egypt in 1917 and 1918.
Louis was also in the 180th Machine Gun Corps in Egypt between April and August 1918.
Born on December 14, 1888 in Kingsteignton, Louis was the son of Alfred Southcott Murrin (1850-1931) and Louisa Elizabeth Head (1852-1913).
Baptised on March 27, 1889 in Kingsteignton, he lived with his parents at Waterview Cottage, Kingsteignton in 1901. In 1911, he worked as a warehouse porter in London.
He married Anna Crook (1883-1971) on May 25 1916 in Teignmouth.
Louis lived in Shaldon in 1920, and later lived in Lewisham. In 1939 he was a drapery packer and fire defence volunteer.
He died on September 5, 1981 in Lewisham, aged 92. He and Anna had a daughter, Ruth Mary Murrin (1921-1996).
Paul Roberts
Family connection
Anna Crook was the daughter of Thomas Crook (1845-1929) and Phoebe Kingsland (1852-1889). Thomas was the son of Richard Crook (1810-1883) and Charity Roberts (1818-1883). Charity was the daughter of William Roberts (1779-1848) and Sarah Treble (1784-1861). William was the son of William Roberts (1738-), my great-great-great-great-great grandfather.
Picture below
Soldiers of the London Regiment on the Western Front. A public domain image, the photograph (Q7945) comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.
