John Murray was already in the Australian Army when World War I started on 28 July 1914. He was quickly (fast) made a Second Lieutenant on 6 March 1915. When he started being Second Lieutenant, Murray was moved to the Australian Imperial Force, and went by ship to Egypt. After being posted to the 1st Battalion at first, in March, 1916 he was moved to the 53rd Battalion, which was part of the 5th Division, when the Australian Imperial Force was helped by new soldiers from Australia. The 5th Division was soon moved from Egypt to France where they were put into the hard fighting of the Western Front.