French woman searches traces of grandfather from Detroit

[Mary Murphy]

Hi Mikeg,
I am happy to read you again. Thank you very very much for your research.
I don't know this idiomatic expression "Now we will have to sit back and wait again".
I think that we have to be patient.
Best wishes.
Mary

[Stosh]

I'm sitting here watching a program on PBS that deals with American VOLUNTEERS that went to France and drove ambulances during WWI. Could this have been what Murphy did? They were all Model T ambulances. They wuld have needed a mechanic... And the French have their records there, in France. With picture ID.

Edit: Never mind. There's a William Murphy on there, from Harvard though. Massachusets.

[Lferg]

Stosh,

It's interesting you bring that up, wasn't Limoges where the medical units were?
Even if he was enlisted, he still could have been there to work on the ambulances.

[Stosh]

Stosh,

It's interesting you bring that up, wasn't Limoges where the medical units were?
Even if he was enlisted, he still could have been there to work on the ambulances.

Entirely possible. The records are there in France, perhaps Mary can make a trip down to see the photo. She could determine if there is a family resemblance or not. In any event, it may be worth a shot. The PBS show was Model T's to War: American Ambulances on the Western Front.

[Mary Murphy]

Hi Stosch and Lferg,
I am happy to read you.
Perhaps William Murphy was mechanic for the ambulance…
A week ago I found an other trace on Internet.
In summer 1918, in Limoges, [[ with other cities) the America army created a center for the formation and training of heavy tractor artillery. in Limoges. There were 3 regiments in Limoges. I read it on a journal “ the coast artillery journal” November 1922 page 389 [[No 195).Some centers were created with French automobile drivers’ schools.
Some days ago, I sent a message a person who is living in Limoges and is making searches archives in Limoges. But I have not received any answer for the moment.
At soon.
Yours sincerely.
Mary

[Mikeg]

That "Coastal Artillery" article from November 1922 is a nice find, "Mary Murphy"!

From page 9 of 99:

As a consequence of the arrival in mass at the beginning of the summer of 1918 [[8 brigades in June, 9 in July), waiting zones had to be organized near the great camps; by the end of July there were more than 20 brigades under training [[60 regiments). For the formation and training of the heavy tractor artillery, there were utilized the French automobile drivers' schools of Tremblay, Dourdan, Boulogne, Sathonay, and they created the centers of:

Mailly - Heavy railroad artillery
Liboume - 3 regiments, later 4
Limoges - 3 regiments
Clermont - 3 regiments
Angers - 3 regiments
Angouleme - 3 regiments

Remember that from his grave stone, we learned that William J. Murphy #18 was a soldier in the US Army Ordnance Department.

From page 6 of 99:

The artillery constitutes the combatant arm. All our artillery services are grouped in what the Americans call Ordnance [[See Chapter III).

From Chapter III [[pages 14 and 15 of 99):

The Ordnance Department is charged with the procurement and distribution of the materiel necessary for the artillery [[materiel, armament, harness,) as well as tanks, tractors, special automobiles, machine guns, small arms, infantry equipment, ammunition; it must also maintain this materiel; in a word, it is charged with our Services of the Artillery..... At the time of the armistice, there were in France 1,803 officers and 20,339 enlisted men.

The Services of Supply [[S.O.S.) is divided into several different branches.

Supply - This branch is charged with the duty of receiving, storing and distributing supplies. This branch operated at:

Bases - Montoir, Saint-Sulpice, Miramas, for general supplies; Usine Brulee [[Saint-Nazaire), Saint Loubes [[Bordeaux) etc., for ammunition.

Intermediate Zones - Gievres, Mehun [near Bourges, which is about 200 km north of Limoges] for general supplies. Issoudun for ammunition.

Zones of the Advance - Is-sur-Tille for general supplies. Jonchery [[Villers-Ie-See) for ammunition.

Each of these organizations being considerable. Further from them were the army depots, different according to the degree of engagement of the armies.

Construction and Maintenance.- This branch prepared the specifications and plans for the installation of the depots; it operated the large repair shops of Mehun and the other shops of the intermediate and advanced zones; it had particularly large installations at Romorantin, Courbevoie, Is-sur-Tille, Doulaincourt, Haussimont, etc.

Engineering. - This branch maintained a close liaison with the French and English. It had drafting offices at Tours, Paris, etc., proving grounds at Bourges, Mehun, Gavre and Quiberon. Its mission was to furnish all the technical information to the other ordnance sections.

Training. - This branch was charged with organizing and maintaining the schools for forming the Ordnance personnel and training the artillery units in the maintenance of the materiel. It had schools in all the artillery training centers and special schools at:

Is-sur-Tille [[personnel of the repair section); [near Dijon]
Jonchery [[ammunition); [near Chaumont]
Bourges [[ammunition and specialists); [about 200 km north of Limoges]
Saint-John-des-Monts [[machine-guns,etc.). [on the coast near Nantes]

So far we know that William J. Murphy #18 was in the Ordnance Dept. and that the Ordnance Dept. had responsibility for training Artillery and Ordnance personnel and that 3 regiments [[1 brigade) of artillery personnel arrived for training at Limoges during the period of June through September 1918.

This new information supports the possibility that William J. Murphy #18 could have been stationed in Limoges as a trainer during the summer of 1918 and possibly as late as the end of October 1918.

[Mary Murphy]

Super Mike,
You are like “ Sherlock Holmes”.
We have to “sit back and wait” for the information on William Murphy number 18.
Thank you Stosh and Lferg for your idea about the ambulances medical units. We’ll see what answers we get as we wait. In the meantime, I’ll see about organizing a trip to Limoges to check archives or photos myself. It’s not so easy, as I work full time and Limoges is a part of my past that was not always happy.[[ my American teacher has me helped to translate my ideas for the last sentences).
More soon.
Best wishes.
Mary

[Lferg]

Mike, does the family tree list a wife and children?

[Lferg]

Does anyone have access to Proquest? They recently added historic archives of the Detroit Free Press.

[Mikeg]

Mike, does the family tree list a wife and children?

No, William J. Murphy's sister Mary Margaret is the only one shown with additional details and a spouse and children. William J. and his other siblings only have their name and year of birth listed under his parent's names [[Cornelius William Murphy, b. 4/16/1871 in Cork, Ireland , d. 2/22/1941 in Detroit; Mary Goulden, b. abt. 1872 in Ireland, d. 4/1/1939 in Detroit).

From the tree it appears that the owner of the on-line tree is the grandson of Mary Margaret. I left a message for him using the Ancestry contact link but he has not responded [[even though he has logged in within the past week). I have found his mailing address on ZabaSearch, so it looks like I will have to contact him by mail. I will do that after I have received a final response from the Military Records unit in St. Louis.

[Lferg]

Thanks Mike. I did some digging but didn't come up with anything.

[Mikeg]

Bump

Nothing new to report, I'm still waiting for a second response from the Military Personnel Records section. It has been more than two months since I sent them the additional information. Hopefully I will hear back from them soon regarding whether they were able to use the additional information to find something about William J. Murphy #18.

[Mikeg]

Yesterday's mail brought a response to the "NA Form 13075" which I submitted to the National Personnel Records Center back in November 2009.

Unfortunately, their letter says that they were unsuccessful in their additional search for the military personnel files of William J. Murphy [[#18). They conclude that his file was destroyed in the 12 July 1973 fire.

However, they did inform me that they were able to find his Final Pay Voucher. I noticed that the subject line of their letter included his Service Number [[2698698), which they apparently found on his Final Pay Voucher. So we do have one new piece of information! Since I think his Final Pay Voucher might contain some additional useful information, I will send away for a copy of it and report back when it arrives.

______________________________

Mail d'hier a apporté une réponse Ã[ la forme NA 13075 »que j'ai présentée au Centre national des documents du personnel en Novembre 2009.

Malheureusement, leur lettre dit qu'ils ont échoué dans leur recherche supplémentaires pour les dossiers du personnel militaire de William J. Murphy [[# 18). Ils concluent que son dossier a été détruit au cours des 12 Juillet 1973 le feu.

Toutefois, ils ne m'informent qu'ils ont réussi Ã[ trouver son final payé par chèque. J'ai remarqué que la ligne d'objet de leur lettre comportait son numéro de matricule [[2698698), qui ont apparemment trouvé sur son final Bon salariale. Donc, nous avons un nouvel élément d'information! Depuis que je pense que son final payé par chèque peut contenir des informations utiles, je vais renvoyer une copie de ce rapport lors de son arrivée.

[Mary Murphy]

Dear Mike,
Thank you very much for your answer. My daughter was hospitalised for 15 days. I have not can reply quickly.
I have looked at very often if there were messages on this site during several months.
I am happy now to read you.
Now we must wait other information [[of Final Pay Voucher ?).
Thank you very much for your help.
Cordially.
Mary