Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Thomas Murdoch, DSO (16 April 1876 – 13 July 1961) was an Australian military engineer who served in both the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

s. Having retired from the military in 1937, he was recalled and served as Director General of engineer services during the Second World War. Murdoch served in the 1st Pioneer Battalion, Australian Imperial Force in France and

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

, and was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful ...

(DSO).Distinguished Service Order
(DSO), 1 January 1919, Australian honours. On 25 April 1905 at Elsternwick, Melbourne, he married Kathleen Tiernan; they had two daughters and three sons, who included Major General Ian Murdoch and Air Marshal Sir Alister Murdoch. Predeceased by his wife and a daughter, Murdoch died at

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

on 13 July 1961 and was buried in

Geelong Western Cemetery Geelong Western Cemetery is a cemetery located on Minerva Road, Herne Hill in the city of Geelong, Victoria in Australia. The first burial taking place on 12 January 1858. The cemetery was known under various names during its history; New Ceme ...

with Presbyterian forms.Ronald McNicoll
'Murdoch, Thomas (1876–1961)'

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 4 February 2014.

References

1876 births 1961 deaths Military personnel from Victoria (state) Australian brigadiers Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Australian military engineers Australian military personnel of World War I Australian military personnel of World War II People from Victoria (state) University of Melbourne alumni {{Australia-mil-bio-stub