Lt. Col. Patrick Murphy (October 1843 – 13 September 1922) was a British Irish army surgeon and lieutenant colonel who is known for being murdered by Kemalist Turkish soldiers while trying to prevent the rape of his servants during the Burning of Smyrna.Papoutsy, Christos, Ships of Mercy: The True Story of the Rescue of the Greeks, Smyrna, September 1922 . Portsmouth, N.H.: Peter E. Randall, 2008, p. 36.
Biography Patrick Murphy was born in British Ireland in October 1843. He studied at University College Cork and, in 1868, he graduated from Queen's University of Ireland as a Doctor of Medicine and Magister Chirurgiae.
Murphy entered the British Indian Medical Service in 1869, served as the surgeon of the army in the Anglo-Egyptian War in 1882, particularly in the Battle of Tell El Kebir, for which he was awarded the Egypt Medal and Khedive's Bronze Star. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1889. He retired in 1895, after which he settled in Bournabat, Smyrna and lived there as a pensioner with his wife, Helen Murphy (née McCraith) and his three daughters for the rest of his life.
Death On 13 September 1922, the Turks began systematically burning the Greek, Armenian and Western European quarters of Smyrna, whilst massacring tens of thousands of their inhabitants, as part of their campaign of violent Turkification.
Murphy was a resident of the Western European quarter. Accounts of his death vary, but all agree that he was murdered by Turkish soldiers in his home whilst trying to prevent the rape of his servants. His wife was also beaten, while his three daughters were abused and the family's house was looted.
Historian A.J. Hobbins summarizes:
The Times produced the following story regarding his death on 20 September 1922:
Hobbins regards this account as containing "unverifiable and improbable detail" and proceeds to cite Hortense Wood, believing that her account is more plausible. Her account narrates:
Sir Harry Lamb, who helped save Murphy's family, gave the following account:
Murphy failed to save his servant from being assaulted, as he was also shot in the chest. His lung had collapsed. One of the victims later stated how, when Murphy protested he was British, the Turkish soldiers replied "First the Greeks, then the English". Murphy was Irish.
With Lamb managing to borrow two cars from the American consul, the family escaped with the help of Anglican chaplain Charles Dobson and his chaffeur, who wrapped Murphy in blankets and carried him to the English nursing home nearby. His wife and daughters were reported by Lamb to have been "nearly dying from fright". Murphy succumbed to his wounds and died on 13 September 1922.
On 28 October 1922, Murphy's obituary was published in the British Medical Journal.
See also
Chrysostomos of Smyrna, Greek Orthodox metropolitan bishop of Smyrna, also killed by a Turkish lynch mob
References