A nice medal correctly impressed '8-3268 GNR P MURPHY 11/BY N.Z.F.A

Medal was gazetted the same day as Patrick Murphy was killed in action on the 4th February 1918.

Murphy was killed just as his 11th battery gun was firing its last round of an enagement against a German division newly arrived from the Eastern Front.

The battery was spotted by a German observation balloon directing counter battery fire.
The counter battery fire scored a direct hit on Murphy's gun. (See Official history)

A very interesting award worthy of further research, I believe the medal was likely awarded for the Battle of Passchendaele.

Murphy's service file is viewable digitally via Archives NZ Archway.

Since 1917 Passchendaele has been a byword for the horror of the Great War. The name conjures images of a shattered landscape of mud, shell craters and barbed wire, and of helpless soldiers mown down by machine-guns and artillery. The capture of the Belgian village of Passchendaele (Passendale), near Ypres (Ieper) in Flanders, became an objective that cost the lives of thousands of people, including many New Zealanders. The ridge leading to the village was the site of the worst disaster, in terms of lives lost, in New Zealand’s history since 1840.

For the New Zealand Division, part of II Anzac Corps, major operations in Belgium began in June 1917 with the capture of Messines (Mesen) ridge. The battle for Passchendaele reached a climax in early October when a successful assault on Gravenstafel (Graventafel) Spur on the 4th was followed by a devastating defeat at Bellevue Spur on the 12th.

Even then, the misery was not over – in December, at nearby Polderhoek (Poelzelhoek), the New Zealanders suffered another costly setback. By the time they were finally withdrawn from the Ypres front line in February 1918, the New Zealand Division had suffered more than 18,000 casualties – including around 5000 deaths – and won three Victoria Crosses for bravery.

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