Interview with John Murray
tvnz.co.nz: What was your role in the war and what did your job entail?
John: I joined the air force as a pilot when I was 18 and that was back in 1942. By the time I got over to the Pacific, the people in the war before me had succeeded in getting the Japanese under control, so while I did three and a half tours; the war finished when I was on my fourth tour. I took 139 missions during my three and a half tours, which was fairly normal.
The average squadron had 25 pilots and the routine was that you
flew one day, you were on standby the next day and then you had a
day off. When you were over there for three months it meant
you did 30 missions and you might do another 10 when you were on
standby.
On my first tour, I flew number two to the Squadron Leader who was
the type of person who did everything himself. As he didn't
delegate, I had a tremendous first tour flying second to him, which
was a very honoured position to have held.
By the time we got over there, we were containing the Japanese by going to their strongholds where we used the 6.5 guns that we owned. By the time I was on my second and third tour, we carried a one thousand pound bomb and used that on the Japanese strongholds. I got hit twice - and only once seriously - but I managed with sheer luck (or brilliance on the aircraft's part) to get back to base by getting the carriage down to land, so I was extremely lucky.
tvnz.co.nz: Did you write letters home?
John: No, not very often. My brother was also a pilot so my family knew the mail might go once a week. I kept tabs in maybe every fortnight but I've got no record of that now, they've all been destroyed.
tvnz.co.nz: Did the fact you knew the letters were screened make you write differently?
John: Yes, or course. I can't tell you offhand exactly what you weren't allowed to write, but any information about what you were doing was totally banned in case the Japanese got hold of the letter and found something we didn't want them to know. It applied to everyone and eventually by the time I became more senior, I may have been a part of this process of reading the letters to make sure there wasn't something in them that shouldn't have been.
tvnz.co.nz: How did you cope with the constant threat of death and disease?
John: You had to be very careful about what you did. When we went to bed at night and especially in the last tour I was on, we slept on the ground on a straw pillow but we covered ourselves with protective netting so nothing could come near us when we were sleeping at night.
tvnz.co.nz: Apart from the enemy, what else could have been potentially dangerous to you?
John: Centipedes. There were two quite big insects at the time that could harm you. A centipede was one of them but I can't remember the other one. To protect ourselves we put a screen around us so that nothing could get in and bite us.
tvnz.co.nz: How long were you at war for in total?
John: The average tour was just over 3 months and I did 3 and half tours so that's 10 months plus another 6 weeks so that's the time I spent over in The Pacific. We finished up on the last tour I was on about 40 miles South of Rabaul, which was the Japanese headquarters in The Pacific, so we weren't that far away from the Japanese at that stage and when the war finished.
tvnz.co.nz: How important do you think it is to share your story with others in order to educate younger New Zealanders?
John: Where we live, the number of people that come to the Anzac Day service indicates to me that people care. I've also spoken in schools because they're interested to hear about it too. I think if it is recorded in some form then I'm sure the average person will be very interested to know all about it.
tvnz.co.nz: When and how were you told you were going home?
John: We only knew for certain the night before, as everything could change.
tvnz.co.nz: What were your first thoughts and feelings when you knew you were definitely going home?
John: Well, one of relief and happiness and that I had survived and I was well enough to go home and see the family again.
tvnz.co.nz: When you finally arrived home, what was the reception like and was it easy or difficult to slot back into your old life?
John: You would be walking up the street in your uniform and people recognised who you were and they would stop and thank you for what you were doing. It was quite amazing. We were stationed just south of Auckland and that's how we were treated in the streets of Auckland. It was quite embarrassing, amazing, and yes, it was good.
I think one other point I'd like to make is that the thing that's always stood out about my flying career was the terrific standard of the mechanics. The ground crew were absolutely outstanding and because of them and compared with other nations we flew with, the standard of our flying equipment was far superior to any other nation we flew with.
If we went out with eight aircraft, we would get to the mission with eight, whereas the others might get there with six if they were having a good day, that's how advanced and superior we were. One of my vivid records of the war was how lucky we were to have had such a better quality ground crew looking after us.
tvnz.co.nz: Do you think about your times in the war or do you think as the years have gone by, your memories have lessened?
John: Like most people, when I got home, I wanted to settle down and lead a normal life and forget about the war; I don't think I discussed it at all with my family. You just wanted to get it behind you and I was lucky enough to do just that.
I managed to get into the country and farming was a marvellous occupation and when I finally got a farm of my own and got married I was just so delighted I could do something I really loved doing and lead a normal, happy life. I am grateful to have been happily married and with a family and doing something that I gave me 100% satisfaction and farming did that for me. That's how lucky I've been.
tvnz.co.nz: How do you feel you've personally changed from your experiences in the war?
John: I felt the next stage of my life had started when I got the farm and got married. I didn't even join the RSA but we now have a local club here I go to - but we're not there to discuss the war. We're there because we're friends and we play pool and things like that and what I've managed to do since the war.
tvnz.co.nz: What would you like us to know about The Pacific war?
John: War is very hard. We lost 124 pilots and having known quite a few of them, you feel so sorry for the grief that their relations and friends have had to put up with. That's how I felt about the war. I was just lucky I survived.
I've also flown a bit since! I've flown helicopters but
I've given it up now - but I am 86! I did manage to get some
satisfaction out of the war, which was flying a wee bit here and
there. I'm going to
Warbirds over
Wanaka and I've been to every one and I'm going to enjoy this
one too.
