Leonard W. Murray

Infobox Military Person
name= Leonard Warren Murray
lived= 22 June 1896 – 25 November 1971


caption= 29 July 1942 - Rear Admiral L.W. Murray presenting awards to crew members of the destroyer HMCS St. Croix, which sank the German submarine U-90 on 24 July 1942.
nickname=
placeofbirth= Granton, Nova Scotia, Canada
placeofdeath= Derbyshire, England
allegiance= Canada
branch= Royal Canadian Navy
serviceyears= 1911 - 1945
rank= Rear Admiral
unit=
commands= Newfoundland Escort Force 31 May 1941, Mid-Ocean Escort Force Feb 1942, Commander-in-Chief Canadian Northwest Atlantic 30 April 1943
battles= World War I
World War II
awards= Companion of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
relations=
laterwork=

Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray CB, CBE, (22 June 1896 – 25 November 1971) was a Canadian naval officer who played a significant role in the Battle of the Atlantic. He commanded the Newfoundland Escort Force from 1941 to 1943, and from 1943 to the end of the war was Commander-in-Chief, Canadian Northwest Atlantic. He was the only Canadian to lead an Allied theatre of operations during World War II.

Naval career

At 15 years of age, Murry entered the Halifax Royal Naval College. At 17 he was a midshipman on a Royal Navy vessel. [http://www.junobeach.org/e/3/can-pep-can-murray-e.htm Juno Beach Centre: Admiral L.W. Murray] ]

At the outbreak of World War II he was appointed Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. On 31 May 1941, he was promoted to Commodore and put in charge of the Newfoundland Escort Force (NEF). The NEF was reorganized in February 1942 as the Mid-Ocean Escort Force (MOEF).

On 30 April 1943 he was promoted to Rear Admiral and made Commander-in-Chief Canadian Northwest Atlantic. Headquartered in Halifax, he commanded all Allied air and naval forces involved in convoy protection in that area.

He was controversially blamed for failing to prevent sailors who rioted in Halifax on VE Day. As a result, he resigned from the Navy and left Canada for Great Britain in September 1945.

Quote

Except for the few months at sea in Assiniboine, my war work was a solid slog, mostly at a desk, averaging 15 hours a day with frequently a full 24. My job was to obtain the greatest possible result from relatively inexperienced personnel. There was little opportunity for anyone to step on another’s toes. They were spread too thinly and there was a more responsible job for each as soon as he felt confident of his ability to take it on. In the autumn of 1941 young volunteer reserve officers who had never seen salt water before the war took command of corvettes manned by 88 men—the number of white and black keys on a piano and each with his own peculiar note—and took their full part in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Experience had taught me this: to find out what you’re capable of, it is only necessary to get a chance to do it—and someone else must have enough confidence in you to provide that chance. In my dealings with the young RCNVR captains I did my best to give them the opportunity to find their own feet and they did it. Once having tasted success they never looked back. What a blessing that we had the bright young peoples to accept this kind of responsibility.

References

* Sarty, Roger. "Rear-Admiral LW Murray and the Battle of the Atlantic", in Warrior Chiefs, Bernd Horn and Stephen Harris, eds. Dundurn Press 2001, ISBN 1-55002-351-9
* [http://www.senioryears.com/navy1.html A look at Canada's navy]