Arthur William Murphy

Murphy was born 17 November 1891 in Kew, a suburb of Melbourne, to joiner and engineer Charles Hubert Murphy and his wife Mary. Educated at Melbourne High School and Footscray Technical School, he spent five years with Austral Otis Engineering as an apprentice. Having been employed at various engineering firms, Murphy joined the Australian Army's Aviation Instructional Staff at Central Flying School Point Cook in 1914 to train as an air mechanic. By February 1916, he had risen to the rank of sergeant and volunteered for the Australian Imperial Force to serve overseas. Transferring to the Australian Flying Corps, Murphy was allocated to No. 1 Squadron—also known until 1918 as No. 67 Squadron, Royal Flying Corps (RFC)—as a warrant officer. He departed Melbourne aboard HMAT A67 Orsova on 16 March, bound for Egypt. He then trained as a pilot with the RFC in Egypt, where he obtained a temporary commission as a second lieutenant on 24 October. He flew with the RFC before returning to No. 1 Squadron in Palestine. During 1918, Murphy saw combat over Jordan, operating Bristol Fighters. On 12 August, he and his observer were selected to join Colonel T. E. Lawrence and his irregular Arab army in the Hejaz near Daraa, providing air cover and reconnaissance. Credited with bringing down two enemy aircraft while supporting Lawrence's troops, Murphy was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his "keenness, reliability and boldness". ==Between the wars==

Murphy's temporary commission was terminated after the war and he reverted to the rank of sergeant to remain in the Army, Murphy and Wrigley were each awarded the Air Force Cross in recognition of their achievement. Following disbandment of the wartime AFC, Murphy transferred to its successor, the Australian Air Corps, on 1 January 1920. On 31 March 1921, he joined the newly established Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) as its first airman, literally "Airman No. 1" according to his papers. Nicknamed "Spud", and described as "immensely capable and popular", he was commissioned as a flying officer in September that year. Promoted to flight lieutenant, Murphy was posted to the RAAF Experimental Section under Wing Commander (later Sir) Lawrence Wackett in November 1926. The following year he took part in a round-Australia survey flight under the command of the Chief of the Air Staff, Wing Commander (later Air Marshal Sir) Richard Williams. Raised to squadron leader, Murphy was given temporary command of No. 1 Aircraft Depot at RAAF Station Laverton, Victoria, in the opening months of 1933. He subsequently took charge of the unit's workshops. Towards the end of 1935, he was responsible for specially modifying a Westland Wapiti and a de Havilland Gipsy Moth for Antarctic conditions, to enable an Air Force team led by Flight Lieutenant (later Group Captain) Eric Douglas and Flying Officer (later Air Marshal Sir) Alister Murdoch to rescue explorer Lincoln Ellsworth, who was presumed lost on a journey across the continent. In 1936, Murphy was selected to join Wackett on a mission to investigate aircraft production overseas with a view to setting up local construction plants. The team determined that the North American NA-16 was most suitable for Australian conditions and manufacture; following testing of a prototype, designated the NA-33, the design went into production in January 1939 as the CAC Wirraway. Murphy was promoted to wing commander in November 1936 and appointed commanding officer of No. 1 Aircraft Depot in January 1938. ==World War II and retirement==

Murphy continued to play a leading role in aircraft maintenance and production during World War II. In 1939 he helped set up the Government Aircraft Factories and local manufacture of the Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber. The newly created position reported directly to the Chief of the Air Staff. Murphy's deputy was Flying Officer (later Sir) Henry Winneke, who found his boss's companionship "exhilarating". Murphy was, according to Winneke, "a product of the old school of airmen who could not only fly a plane but also pull it apart and put it together again", generally "amiable" but who "could act gruffly when the occasion demanded". The inspectorate was small but succeeded in reducing the number of accidents even as training expanded rapidly with Australia's participation in the Empire Air Training Scheme. Murphy led the investigation into the Canberra air disaster of August 1940, and the Brocklesby mid-air collision that occurred the following month. He was promoted to temporary air commodore in July 1943. By 1945, he had passed the statutory retirement age for his substantive rank of wing commander, and was summarily retired from the RAAF along with several other senior staff and veterans of World War I including Wrigley and Williams, to make way for the advancement of younger and equally capable officers. Discharged from the Air Force on 10 January 1946, Murphy was later elected a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He died of heart disease in Essendon, Melbourne, on 21 April 1963 at the age of seventy-one. Survived by his children, Murphy was cremated at Fawkner, Victoria. ==Notes==