Murray (Moses) was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland in April 1920 to John, a milliner, and Jessie nee Hyman and he had three sisters Deborah, Ena and Sybil. In 1921, the family lived at 70 Elsinore Road, Newcastle where John is listed as an employer in the millinery business and they had two domestic servants. Jessie passed away in 1934 when Murray was fourteen.

Murray enlisted into the Royal Artillery early in the war. In 1940, he was seriously injured when a passenger in an Army truck. After hospital treatment he was discharged home but suffered from fits. He was discharged from the Army and given an 80% disability pension. In June 1942 he was admitted to the Newcastle General hospital, where he died on 14 June. At his inquest the coroner’s verdict was that he died from his severe injuries sustained in 1940.