NAME: John Francis Murphy
ASN: 32156058
PLACE OF BIRTH: Jersey City, NJ
DATE OF BIRTH: ?? ??? 1915
DATES OF SERVICE: 12 Jun 1941 - ?? ??? 1945
UNIT ASSIGNED: 1st Platoon, C Company, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion
CAMPAIGNS: Sicily, Naples-Foggia
AWARDS: Parachutist Badge with Two Combat Jump Stars, EAME Campaign Medal with arrowhead device and one campaign star, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, POW Medal
SUMMARY OF SERVICE:
12 Jun 1941 - John F. Murphy enlisted at Trenton, NJ
25 Mar 1942 - 307th Engineer Battalion Ordered into active military service and reorganized at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana
15 Aug 1942 - Reorganized and redesignated as the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion
26 Dec 1942 - John F. Murphy married at Fort Bragg, NC
28 Apr 1943 - 307th AEB Departs New York Port of Embarkation
10 May 1943 - 307th AEB Arrives by troop transport and disembarks in Casablanca, North Africa, moves train to Oujda and then by truck to Kairouan, Tunisia, Camp Kunkle where they began training for Sicily
11 Jul 1943 - Pfc. John F. Murphy 32156058 1st Plt, C Co, 307th AEB participated in Operation HUSKY the airborne invasion of Gela, Sicily
14 Sep 1943 - Pfc John F. Murphy 32156058 1st Plt, C Co, 307th AEB participated in Operation AVALANCHE (GIANT III) the airborne invasion of Avellino, Italy
Part of his story of the night they were dropped was learning about their mission when they were already airborne. He said they were issued Italian Lira and German Marks. He said they were told to 'head south' to American lines. He said a buddy of his dropped into a tree that night and broke his leg and that he cut him down and propped him up against the trunk and left him there. He said he ended up with a guy in his unit he didn't particularly like and they moved together under cover of darkness for I believe three days before he was captured. He said that being captured probably saved is life, because of the casualties his unit took later in the war.
He and a group of other paratoopers was captured by a German Officer who spoke english having studied at an American University before the war
17 Sep 1943 - Pfc John F. Murphy 32156058 1st Plt, C Co, 307th AEB was captured vicinity Avellino, Italy
| Field Title | Value | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| SERIAL NUMBER | 32156058 | 32156058 |
| NAME | MURPHY JOHN F | MURPHY JOHN F |
| GRADE, ALPHA | PFC | Private First Class |
| GRADE CODE | 7 | Second Lieutenant or Nurse or Dietitian or Physical therapy aide or Private First Class or Ensign or Second Class, Seaman |
| SERVICE CODE | 1 | ARMY |
| ARM OR SERVICE | CE | Corps of Engineers |
| ARM OR SERVICE CODE | 82 | CE: CORPS OF ENGINEERS |
| DATE REPORT: DAY (DD) | 17 | 17 |
| DATE REPORT: MONTH (MM) | 09 | 09 |
| DATE REPORT: YEAR (Y) | 3 | 1943 |
| RACIAL GROUP CODE | 1 | WHITE |
| STATE OF RESIDENCE | 22 | New Jersey |
| TYPE OF ORGANIZATION | ||
| PARENT UNIT NUMBER | ||
| PARENT UNIT TYPE | ||
| AREA | ||
| LATEST REPORT DATE: DAY (DD) | 21 | 21 |
| LATEST REPORT DATE: MONTH (MM) | 07 | 07 |
| LATEST REPORT DATE: YEAR (Y) | 5 | 1945 |
| SOURCE OF REPORT | 1 | Individual has been reported through sources considered official. |
| STATUS | 8 | Returned to Military Control, Liberated or Repatriated |
| DETAINING POWER | 1 | GERMANY |
| CAMP | 033 | Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser) 49-11 |
| REP | ||
| POW TRANSPORT SHIPS |
He claimed that he moved eleven times in 22 months as a POW.
00 Oct 1943 - His wife received a telegram that he was missing in action
His wife learned he was a POW when a woman from the Red Cross came to her house and asked why she wasn't writing to her husband.
One story she told was packing a 'care package' for him with my aunt. They had to send a standard 'shoe box' size. They had filled it with whatever items and there was a small space left. My aunt said it was the size of one of those old Red & White spice tins so they put in a tin with cinnamon in it. My father talked about it being such a big deal in prison camp to be able to put some on whatever food they were being served. He told stories about those guys in camp who were 'wheeler and dealer' entrepreneurs trading and selling stuff. I remember him talking about the top of a tin can having value so it could be traded or sold to someone who wanted to cover a knothole to stop a draft or cover a mouse hole.
27 Jan 1945 - Luftwaffe Guards marched the POWs out of Stalag Luft III and marched them west
Picked up by the Russians then he escaped from them by boat to the American lines.
21 Jul 1945 - Repatriated from Stalag Luft 3 Sagan-Silesia Bavaria (Moved to Nuremberg-Langwasser) 49-11
?? ??? 1945 - Returned to US
?? ??? 1945 - Honorably Discharged
?? ??? ???? - Married Rita May Fales, have five children together
?? ??? 1979 - Passed away
(ALL IMAGES AND INFORMATION ON THIS PAGE IS PROPERTY OF THE MURPHY FAMILY AND MAY NOT BE USED WITHOUT PERMISSION. PLEASE CONTACT THE WEBMASTER AT THE E-MAIL BELOW)
©2006 509thgeronimo.org. All Rights Reserved.