Murkin | Arthur Rueben
Biography
Arthur Rueben Murkin (Service Number T/5827288) was killed in action near Boxmeer on 13 February 1945; he was a driver with the Royal Army Service Corps. He was temporarily buried in Sint Antonis on the grounds of M. de Groot’s property on Boxmeerseweg and was reburied on 21 May 1947 in grave II.D.1 at the CWGC Overloon War Cemetery in Overloon.
Family background
Arthur Rueben Murkin was born on 9 September 1920 in Hargrave, Suffolk. His parents were Jonah Murkin (1883–1957), born in Hargrave, Suffolk, and Kate Louisa Nunn (1896–1950), born in Tinghoe, Suffolk.
Jonah Murkin was widowed at an early age in 1911 following a difficult marriage, after which he took sole responsibility for the care of his daughter Katherine (1908–2011). He worked as a farm labourer. In 1911, Jonah moved in with his parents, Charles and Susananah Murkin, at Birds End in Hargrave, together with his two-year-old daughter Katherine. His brother Charles and a three-year-old niece were also living there.
In March 1920, Jonah married Kate Louisa Nunn and, over the years, they had eight more children:
Arthur Rueben (1920–1945), Raymond Victor (1922–2004), Oliver James (1924–2007), Anthony Edward (1927–1999), Maurice D. (1929), Peggy A. (1931), Allan Norman (1932–2001) and Lawrence F. G. (1935).
In 1921, Jonah was still living with his parents, together with Kate Louisa, his young daughter Katherine and his second child, his son Arthur Rueben. Arthur grew up with his brothers and sisters in Hargrave, worked as a waiter and, on his 18th birthday in 1938, left his family home to enlist in the British Army.
Military career
On the very day of his eighteenth birthday, 9 September 1938, Arthur decided to enlist for military service in London. He did so at the Central London Recruiting Depot at Great Scotland Yard.
During the medical examination, the young recruit was described as a healthy lad with a ‘fresh’ complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He was approximately 1.70 metres tall, weighed around 66.7 kilos and had a distinctive mole beneath his right collarbone. The medical officer declared him fully fit and suitable for active service. Arthur stated that his religious affiliation was the Church of England. He was unmarried at the time.
He was officially enlisted as a private at the Suffolk Regiment’s depot under army number 5827288. His father, Jonah Murkin, was officially registered as his next of kin. Following his basic training, Arthur was transferred to the 1st Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment on 15 December 1938.
Part of the training involved a writing and reading test. He passed the test with a total score of 33 marks (16 for reading, 17 for dictation). The text of this writing test was as follows:
“I am not sure that this kind of thing is good for all men at all times. That which may have seemed true in the past is often found to be wrong in these days. As the world grows older we must find new ways of life.”
Malta, the B.E.F., and the Evacuation of Dunkirk (1939–1940)
Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Arthur was deployed overseas for the first time. On 21 April 1939, he embarked for Malta, a strategically crucial British colony in the Mediterranean. He served there for 65 days until he returned to England on 24 June 1939.
When the war actually began in September 1939, his situation changed rapidly. After a brief period at the Infantry Training Centre (I.T.C.), he was placed on an ‘X List’ on 25 November 1939 and sent to the embarkation port. Such administrative lists recorded the names of personnel staying in transit camps or depots, in this case whilst awaiting deployment. He left for the European continent, specifically France, as part of the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.) to halt the German advance. For this arduous operational service in France and Belgium between October 1939 and May 1940, he was later awarded the 1939–1945 Star on his Service Record.
In the spring of 1940, the 1st Battalion of The Suffolk Regiment became heavily engaged in fierce rearguard actions as the Allies were pushed back by the German Blitzkrieg. During this bitter fighting in Belgium, Private Murkin was wounded by enemy action, sustaining a severe chest injury caused by shrapnel. Despite his wounds, he managed to reach the coast and was successfully evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. Immediately upon arriving back in England, he was urgently admitted to Sharoe Green Hospital in Preston on 1 June 1940. On 4 June 1940, an official notification telegram was dispatched to his father Jonah to inform the family of his wounds.
Recovery and Coastal Defence (1940–1941)
Arthur remained in the hospital in Preston for nearly two months until his official discharge on 23 July 1940. That same day, he was placed on the “Y List” and immediately posted to the 50th Battalion of The Suffolk Regiment. In October of that year, he was transferred to the 6th (Home Defence) Batalion. With this unit, he was attached to the Royal Air Force (R.A.F.) at Felixstowe starting 27 October 1940, a vital seaplane base on the east coast of England, where he assisted with guard and coastal defence duties. During this period, he was briefly admitted to the medical Reception Station at Corsham for two days on 23 July 1941, before being discharged on 25 July 1941. On 9 September 1941, the official tracking on his new military posting card began, mapping out the next phase of his service.
Transfer to the R.A.S.C. and a Sequence of Postings (1941–1943)
On 14 December 1941, a major transition occurred in his military career: he was officially transferred from the infantry to the Royal Army Service Corps (R.A.S.C.). Within this logistics and transport corps, he was granted the rank of Driver, and his service number was prefixed with a ‘T’ for Transport (T/5827288).
From this point forward, he underwent a series of postings across various specialized transport and artillery support units::
- 19 December 1941: posted to the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade Company, where he provided transport support to a heavy armoured brigade.
- 27 April 1942: transferred to the 914 Anti-Aircraft Company, which was responsible for the logistics of anti-aircraft guns.
- 28 April 1942: transferred to the 95th Anti-Aircraft Company the very next day.
- February 1943: assigned to the 1st Mobilisation Centre, probably in preparation for a new operational role or reorganisation.
- 10 August 1943: assigned to the 635 Divisional Company. This unit was later reorganised into the 635 Bulk Petrol Transport Company, specialising in the large-scale transport of fuel for motorised army units.
Amidst all these transfers, Arthur found happiness in love. On 11 December 1943, he married Myrtle Jane Rush at the Registry Office in Greenwich, London. From that moment on, she became his next of kin. At the time, Myrtle was living at Hill Cottage in the village of Harkstead (near Ipswich, Suffolk).
By 1942, Myrtle had also given birth to a daughter: Rosemary Ann Rush (1942–2000). It is believed that Rosemary Ann was Arthur’s daughter.
Specialization and Pre-D-Day Disciplinary Incident (1943–1944)
In November 1943, a crucial posting followed which would determine his final operational destination. He was assigned to the 1653 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment. In the run-up to the invasion, this unit underwent various organisational changes and was successively designated as the 1653 Medium Regiment Platoon and, finally, the 1653 Artillery Platoon RASC (Heavy). This platoon operated heavy vehicles (such as half-tracks) and was responsible for the heavy logistics and supply of the artillery within the 21st Army Group under the command of General Montgomery.
The pressure in the months leading up to D-Day was immense, and it was during this period that things went wrong for Arthur. On 9 May 1944, he was found guilty by his commanding officer of stealing goods from a person subject to military law. He was sentenced to 21 days’ military detention. After serving his sentence in the barracks, he was released on 12 June 1944.
Medical records dated 18 May 1944 showed that, despite his old Dunkirk injury, he still held the highest medical classification (A1). However, his disciplinary case led to an administrative dispute behind the scenes. On 15 June 1944, the RASC Records Office at Ore Place (Hastings) noted in a memo that the local commander had overstepped his authority by dealing with this theft case independently and summarily in accordance with the King’s Regulations. On 20 July 1944, the final decision was issued by the Deputy Adjutant General at the headquarters of 21st Army Group in London: whilst it was acknowledged that the procedure had been irregular, it was decided to accept the punishment under a special directive. The case was closed.
The Advance in North West Europe (1944–1945)
This meant that Arthur was able to remain with his unit for the great crossing. On 12 July 1944, he officially embarked from the United Kingdom bound for the European mainland. As part of the 21st Army Group, his platoon advanced behind the front lines through France and Belgium during the summer and autumn of 1944, before finally being deployed in the Netherlands during the winter to support the Allied advance towards Germany.
Within the British army organisation, the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) provided logistical support to the combat units. Specific platoons were directly attached to individual regiments to ensure the supply of ammunition and provisions. The change of name in Arthur’s file, from the 1653 Medium Regiment Platoon to the later 1653 Artillery Platoon, shows that his unit was primarily responsible for supplying a medium artillery regiment (Medium Regiment). His military file also makes it clear that, as part of the Corps of Army Troops, this platoon fell directly under the support structure of the 21st Army Group, enabling it to be deployed flexibly across the entire front.
This vast British headquarters, established in London in July 1943 under the command of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), was in charge of the invasion of Western Europe (Operation Overlord). The 21st Army Group controlled two entire field armies, the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army, and at various times also had American and Polish army corps under its command. From the landings in June 1944 until the end of the fighting in Europe, this military force operated in northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
Following his embarkation and arrival in Normandy in July 1944, Arthur and his platoon were immediately thrown into the inferno of the invasion. Given the deployment of the 21st Army Group in this sector, it is virtually certain that Arthur was involved in the bloody Operation Goodwood, intended to liberate the southern and eastern parts of Caen and clear the way for a major armoured breakout south of the River Orne. Operation Bluecoat and the subsequent gruelling encirclement battles in the Falaise Pocket would also have formed the backdrop against which Arthur carried out his vital transport duties at the time.
Following the final collapse of the German front in France, a spectacular race northwards began in the late summer of 1944. This lightning-fast Allied advance put the RASC’s logistics units under immense pressure. The supply lines stretched for hundreds of kilometres. Lorries had to drive non-stop, day and night, between the temporary depots in France and the rapidly advancing vanguard in Belgium.
The Battle of the Muddy Roadways of Brabant
Shortly after the liberation of Antwerp and the course of Operation Market Garden, the focus of the fighting shifted. In the autumn and early winter of 1944, North Limburg and Brabant became the scene of bitter, heavy fighting. Weather conditions deteriorated rapidly; the roads in Brabant turned into deep mud pools due to the persistent rain and heavy military traffic.
It was precisely during this period that the logistical expertise and resilience of the RASC were of vital importance. Specialised fuel and transport companies (such as the Bulk Petrol Transport and the Artillery Platoons) had to ensure, with their heavy vehicles and under gruelling conditions, that the infantry and artillery regiments could continue to operate in the soggy, cold winter landscape. The RASC men endured exactly the same hardships as the tank crews and infantrymen at the front. They had travelled along the same bomb-ravaged roads through Normandy and Belgium, trudged through the same mud in Brabant, and were exposed to the same bitter winter cold and treacherous enemy artillery fire.
During the autumn and winter months from October 1944 through February 1945, 1653 Artillery Platoon of the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) was in constant motion to logistically sustain the Allied advance across the Southern Netherlands. The War Diary described that serving as drivers, these men piloted their heavy transport vehicles day after day through a rain-soaked, war-torn landscape, moving between locations such as Heeze, Boekel, Eindhoven, Stiphout, and Budel. Their primary role was to maintain a steady flow of ammunition and essential supplies to the medium artillery units—specifically the 61st and 63rd Medium Regiments of the Royal Artillery—as well as the formations of the 8th Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA). This demanded long, grueling hours operating as 3rd line transport, hauling vital ordnance directly from railheads to forward supply depots and firing positions.
Daily life for the drivers was defined by harsh physical conditions, treacherous roads destroyed by military traffic, and the ever-present danger of operating close to the front. As the platoon was shifted under various commands through late 1944—including the 11th Armoured Division, the 51st Highland Division and the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division—the men juggled relentless driving duties with strict vehicle maintenance and safe ammunition handling. Even the holidays offered only brief respite: Christmas Day in 1944 was marked by a platoon dinner held inside a factory near Budel, before 1945 brought even tougher winter conditions. By February, the platoon swapped its standard transport for four-wheel-drive Ford WOT6 lorries to cope with the deep mud and challenging terrain along the border region.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the Allied High Command was already working feverishly on the logistical and strategic preparations for a massive new offensive: Operation Veritable.
Operation Veritable: The Launch into the Reichswald
Situated precisely at the junction where the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army met, this sector of the Meuse front served as the vital springboard and protective flank for the massive Allied advance towards the Reichswald and the Rhineland. Operation Veritable, launched on 8 February 1945, was designed to break through the northern flank of the Siegfried Line. For the troops stationed along the western banks of the Meuse in the Land van Cuijk, the offensive was experienced as a colossal, earth-shaking spectacle of logistics and artillery. This network of historic villages, including Grave, Gassel, Beers, Vianen, Cuijk, Oeffelt and Boxmeer, was rapidly transformed into a busy staging area and an immense logistical corridor.
- Grave and Gassel: Further downstream, the strategic bridge at Grave, captured during Operation Market Garden, served as the primary northern gateway into the region. Through Grave and past the fields of Gassel, an unending column of tanks, ammunition trucks, and specialized amphibious vehicles rolled south into the heart of the Land van Cuijk.
- Beers and Vianen: Positioned slightly further inland from the river’s immediate fury, the rural surroundings of Beers and Vianen became massive, muddy assembly areas. Every farmyard, orchard, and country lane was utilized to conceal hidden ammunition dumps, fuel depots, and thousands of troops waiting for orders to move toward the front lines.
- Cuijk and Boxmeer: In Cuijk and further south along the riverbanks in Boxmeer, troops operated directly under the eyes of the enemy across the water. In the freezing, rainy dawn of 8 February, these towns shook to their foundations. Hundreds of heavy guns positioned in the surrounding fields unleashed a staggering barrage, their continuous roar amplifying across the flat river landscape as thousands of shells shrieked overhead toward German defenses.
- Oeffelt: Located at the southern tip of this sector, Oeffelt became the ultimate focal point of the local engineering effort. The winter of 1944–1945 had turned the river Maas into a raging torrent, and the vast expanse of the flooded floodplains between Oeffelt and Gennep resembled an inland sea. Because the ground running through the Land van Cuijk was slightly firmer than the completely submerged terrain further north, British Royal Engineers achieved a monumental feat here. Piercing through the floodwaters under the cover of dense smoke screens, they constructed the longest floating Bailey bridge of the war.
Almost overnight, the quiet country roads linking these village sectors became the main arteries of the entire offensive. Bumper-to-bumper convoys of infantry, armoured vehicles and supply columns from the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) clogged the roads, rushing across the bridge at Oeffelt to feed the fierce fighting raging just across the German border.
However, operating in this vital area took a heavy toll. The roads linking these villages were under constant threat from German long-range artillery fire from the other side of the river, as well as the ever-present danger of hidden mines.
According to the war diary of the 146th Medium Regiment of the Royal Artillery, which was operating in the same area and was involved in this operation, the regiment quickly ran out of ammunition on 12 February. A few days earlier, on 8 February, the regiment’s operational command had already changed from the 8th AGRA to the 9th AGRA. This critical shortage of ammunition was apparently resolved, or at least alleviated, when the regiment’s operational command was adjusted again the following day and transferred from the 9th AGRA to the 3rd AGRA.
Arthur’s 1653 Artillery Platoon, which was part of 116 Coy RASC (Arty), would have fought side by side with, amongst others, the 146th Medium Regiment RA and would have faced the identical supply problems. The platoon operated under the same 8th AGRA (Army Group Royal Artillery) as the 146th Medium Regiment RA.
On 13 February 1945, as the fighting in the Reichswald reached a fever pitch, disaster struck in the Sambeekse Heide and Mullemseveld, situated in the area between Sambeek and Vierlingsbeek.
The life-threatening reality of supply operations at the front struck the platoon with full force on 13 February 1945. That morning, the drivers were on their way to deliver ammunition directly to the firing positions of the 146th Medium Regiment RA. During this mission, their convoy came under targeted enemy shellfire. Sadly Arthur Rueben Murkin was killed in the attack. Driver G.H. Saxton from the same platoon and Henry James Loftus of the 146th Medium Regiment of the Royal Artillery were also killed.
They were initially buried with full honours near Sint Anthonis on the grounds of M. de Groot on Boxmeerseweg.
On 21 May 1947, they were reburied at Overloon War Cemetery.
For his exceptional and wide-ranging service on the main fronts of the Second World War, Arthur Rueben Murkin was posthumously awarded the following honours:
1939/43 Star (1939–1945 Star): For general operational service during the early years of the war.
Defence Medal: For his service in non-operational areas.
France & Germany Star: For his service during the liberation of Western Europe between July 1944 and February 1945.
War Medal 1939–45: The general campaign medal for loyal service during the Second World War.
Arthur served for a total of 6 years and 158 days, with postings in the United Kingdom, Malta, France (B.E.F.) and north-western Europe.
End of Operation Veritable
Despite a heavy preliminary artillery and air bombardment, the Allied advance turned into an exhausting, month-long struggle through the waterlogged Reichswald, where the thaw, heavy rainfall and deliberate German flooding severely hampered vehicle movement. Fighting their way through stubborn resistance and well-fortified defensive lines, the Allies gradually broke the defenders’ resistance, until the remaining German units finally withdrew across the Rhine on 11 March 1945 and blew up the last bridgeheads, thereby securing the entire western bank.
The aftermath
The following notice appeared in the Bury Free Press on 9 March 1945:
“MURKIN – Mr and Mrs Jonah Murkin and their family of Hargrave wish to thank their many kind friends and relatives for their letters and sympathy following the loss of their son, Private Arthur Murkin, who was killed in action on the Western Front.”
This notice appeared in the Bury Free Press on 16 March 1945:
“MAN FROM HARGRAVE KILLED IN ACTION
It is with sadness that we report the death of Private Arthur Murkin, the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Jonah Murkin of Bird’s End, Hargrave, who was killed in action on the Western Front. Private Murkin, who was 23 years old, served in the R.A.S.C. He was wounded at Dunkirk. Our deepest sympathies go out to his parents and his young wife, to whom he had only recently been married.”
In January 1945, baby Brenda was born, just before her father Arthur was killed. It is not currently clear whether Arthur knew of her birth. Sadly, Brenda never knew her father, and she too was not granted a long life; she died at the age of just 7.
Her mother, Myrtle, remarried in October 1945 in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, to George Bain (1923–1989) and went on to have four more daughters: Patricia, Christine, Yvonne and Linda.
Not much is known at present about the later lives of Myrtle and her children.
Myrtle died in January 1982 in the Doncaster district at the age of 61.
