Keith Murdoch
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- This article is about the journalist. For the businessman see Keith Murdoch (businessman). For the rugby player, see Keith Murdoch (All Black).
Sir Keith Arthur Murdoch (August 12, 1885 - October 4, 1952) was an Australian journalist and the father of Rupert Murdoch.
Murdoch was born in Melbourne in 1885, son of Rev Patrick John Murdoch and Annie, née Brown. He was educated at Camberwell Grammar School and the London School of Economics. After graduation, he began a career in journalism with The Age.
He married Elisabeth Greene, now Dame Elisabeth Murdoch in 1928 and they had children Rupert Murdoch, Helen (now Mrs Geoff Handbury), Anne (now Mrs Milan Kantor) and Janet (now Mrs John Calvert-Jones).
Murdoch applied to become Australia's official war historian upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914. In the ballot to decide on that position he lost out to Charles Bean who was better qualified.
Murdoch was appointed Editor of a cable service supplying the Sydney Sun and the Melbourne Herald from the Times building in London. On the way to London Andrew Fisher Prime Minister of Australia, and George Pearce his Minister for Defence, asked him to stop in Egypt to investigate complaints about delays in soldiers mail. While in Cairo Murdoch wrote to General Sir Ian Hamilton commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force asking to visit ‘the sacred shores of Gallipoli’ In August 1915 that Murdoch managed to get permission to visit Anzac Cove, When he arrived at Imbros he signed the same forms that other correspondents had signed, agreeing not to correspond by any route other than through the chief censor. Charles Bean’s diary puts Murdoch at Anzac Cove for 4 days during the Gallipoli campaign. Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett approached Murdoch and asked him to deliver a letter to the British Prime Minister Herbert Asquith. In “The Uncensored Dardanelles” Ashmead-Bartlett said he coached Murdoch in the details of the Gallipoli campaign.
On route to London, Murdoch was arrested by French Military Police in Marseille and the letter was confiscated. Murdoch made it to London but without the letter so he wrote a replacement to the Australian Prime Minister Andrew Fisher in a similar vein to the Ashmead-Bartlett letter.
In the letter Murdoch abused the general and administrative staff:-
‘The conceit and self complacency of the red feather men are equalled only by their incapacity. Along the line of communications, especially at Moudros, are countless high officers and conceited young cubs who are plainly only playing at war. What can you expect of men who have never worked seriously, who have lived for their appearance and for social distinction and self satisfaction, and who are now called on to conduct a gigantic war? Kitchener has a terrible task in getting pure work out of these men, whose motives can never be pure, for they are unchangeably selfish…appointments to the general staff are made from motives of friendship and social influence. Australians now loathe and detest any Englishman wearing red.’
Murdoch and war historian Charles Bean actively campaigned to have Sir John Monash removed as commander of the Australian Corps. Their plans went awry when Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes actually spoke to the senior officers who supposedly did not support Monash.
See also: The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd, Herald Sun
