Additional
Information: |
Husband of Catherine L. Johnson, of 13, Free State Rd., Beaconsfield. Born Bournemouth 1875. An engine driver. Served during the Boer War and was present at the Siege of Kimberley when large numbers of Boer forces from the Orange Free State besieged the diamond mining town. Despite being ill-prepared at first, the local defenders organised an energetic and effective improvised defence which prevented the town from being taken; the British lost 42 killed and 135 wounded from a strength of approximately 1600 men. The outbreak of the Great War saw Johnson return to service, initially spending 10 months in German South West Africa. He subsequently attested for the 1st South African Infantry at Potchefstroom on 2 September 1915 and disembarked at Alexandria per Saxonia on 29 December 1915. Admitted to hospital at Sidi Barrani suffering from a septic leg ulcer, he later embarked aboard Ivernia for France on 20 May 1916. |
