Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Pte 4147 Walter Augusta Johnson 
27th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company,
7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division
 
In the fields of the Somme, peaceful and silent, stand under the sun millions of poppies, which red as blood remind us of what took place on these sacred grounds more than a hundred years ago in the fury and chaos of murderous battles in which thousands of men fought and fell, stopped by machine-gun fire which, wave after wave, decimated so many young boys who sacrificed their youth and who, without hesitation, with bravery, did their duty and sacrificed their youth, their today in the mud and barbed wire and whose white graves tell us their stories behind which they still stand young and silent, solemn and united in an eternal camaraderie which brought them together around common causes on the fields of northern France on which they walk in peace by our side who have the privilege of living thanks to them and the honor of standing in front of them to honor their memory so that they are never forgotten, to bring them back to life so that their names live forever.

Today, it is with the utmost respect and the deepest and infinite gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who gave his today for our tomorrow.I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to Private number 4147 Walter Augusta Johnson who fought in the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 7th Brigade, 2nd Australian Division, and who died of his wounds 104 years ago, on June 12, 1918 at the age of 24 on the Somme front.

Walter Augusta Johnson was born in 1894 in Glanville South, South Australia, and was the son of Olaf and Theresa Johnson, of King William Street, Rosewater, South Australia. He was educated at St Paul Grammar School, South Australia, served in the Senior Cadets then in the Citizen Forces and after this first military experience, worked as a fruiterer and was a very popular athlete having captained several teams cricket and football and won several medals for both.

Walter enlisted on December 2, 1915 in the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion, B Company, 10th Reinforcement. The battalion was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Dollman and had the nicknames "South Australian Scottish Regiment" and "Unley's Own", as many of the men who first enlisted in the first world war were from the district. Lt Colonel Dollman had served as Mayor of Unley, and it was down Unley Road that the troops marched to be greeted and celebrated at the Town Hall prior to their embarkation for Egypt.The regiment's motto was "Primus Inter Pares" (First Among Equals).

After a two-month training period at Mitcham Camp, south of Adelaide, South Australia, Walter embarked with his unit from Adelaide, on board RMS Mongolia on March 9, 1916 and sailed for Egypt.
On May 25, 1916, Walter arrived in Egypt and was disembarked at Tel-El-Kebir where he joined the 7th Training Battalion but fell ill shortly after and was admitted to the 2nd Stationary Hospital then was sent to England and on February 4, 1917, embarked from Folkestone on board "Arundel" and proceeded overseas for France.
Later in the day of February 4, 1917, Walter arrived in France and was disembarked at Etaples where he joined the 2nd Australian Divisional Base Depot, proceeded to join unit on February 8 and was taken in strength with the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion the following day at "Villa Camp" a few kilometers from Warlencourt, Pas-De-Calais, but after a brief rest, the next day, walked alongside his comrades for the Scots Redoubt Camp North to follow a period of training including tactical exercises then on 14 February joined the front line in the Warlencourt sector where they relieved the 22nd Australian Infantry Battalion and fought here with the support of the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion on their left. On February 22, the 27th Battalion marched for the Fricourt Camp,but less than a week later, on February 26, moved back to the trenches at Warlencourt, relieved the 24th Australian Infantry Battalion and on the 27th, launched a successful raid to take and hold the "Malt Trench".Unfortunately, shortly after, the Germans launched a counter attack and retook the Malt Trench but during a frontal attack on the day of March 2, was reconquered by the Australians of the 27th and 26th Battalions.

On 8 March 1917, Walter and the 27th Battalion relieved the 26th Battalion at Le Sars, Somme, were relieved on Marsh 10 by the 17th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched into billets at Becourt for reorganization and training including attack practice and mobile warfare. On March 20, they left Becourt, marched for Vaulx-Vraucourt (Pas-De-Calais) where they joined the front line and on March 23, led an attack between the villages of Lagnicourt and Noreuil which they captured three days later. On 28 March the 27th Battalion marched into Billets at Scots Redoubt Camp South where the men had hot baths and went through a further period of training which ended on April 13.

On April 14, 1917, Walter and the 27th Battalion marched for Bapaume then for Favreuil and the next day, took position in the trenches of Noreuil in front of which they placed several lines of barbed wire and were heavily pounded by German artillery in this sector but held this sector with courage until May 8, were relieved by the 54th Australian Infantry Battalion, marched for Bazentin, Somme, moved back to the Scots Redoubt South Camp where they remained until May 16.

On May 17, 1917, the 27th Battalion moved to Senlis for training and remained there until June 15, when Walter fell ill and was admitted the next day to the 14th Australian Field Ambulance suffering from trench fever, was discharged to duty on June 29 and joined his unit the same day in Senlis then on August 1, marched for Renescure for a period of training including wood fighting and gas practice.

On September 12, 1917, Walter and his comrades left Renescure for Montreal Camp at Reninghelst, near Poperinge, Belgium, which they reached two days later, moved to Ypres Ramparts on September 17 and joined the Westhoek Ridge front line on September 20 and suffered very heavy artillery fire in this sector, then were involved in the Battle of Menin Road.

The Battle of Menin Road was an offensive operation, part of the Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front, undertaken by the British Second Army in an attempt to take sections of the curving ridge, east of Ypres, which the Menin Road crossed. This action saw the first involvement of Australian units (1st and 2nd Divisions AIF) in the Third Battle of Ypres. The attack was successful along its entire front, though the advancing troops had to overcome formidable entrenched German defensive positions which included mutually supporting concrete pill-box strongpoints and also resist fierce German counter-attacks. A feature of this battle was the intensity of the opening British artillery support. The two AIF Divisions sustained 5,013 casualties in the action.
After the Battle of Menin Road, the 27th Battalion was involved in the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge on October 4, 1917.

The battle of Broodseinde Ridge,which occurred eight days after Polygon Wood, was the third operation overseen by British general Herbert Plumer.These battles formed part of the Third Battle of Ypres campaign. As with the previous two battles this operation bore all the hallmarks of a Plumer planned operation. The attacking advance was no more than 1500 metres, the advance would be preceded by a massive artillery bombardment and a creeping barrage would lead the troops on to their objectives and then protect them while they consolidated their positions.

The battle was a large scale operation involving 12 divisions, including both the 1st and 2nd ANZAC.The allies attacked as planned on the morning of the 4th October. The Australians involved came under heavy artillery fire on their start line with a seventh of them becoming casualties before the attack had begun. When the operation finally commenced the advancing allies were met by German troops advancing towards them. The Germans had decided to launch an attack of their own at the same time. The Australian troops were able to continue their advance through the German assault and achieve all of their objectives along the ridge. Again while the operation was a success it came at a cost 6,500 casualties among the Australian divisions.

After the battle of Broodseinde Ridge, the 27th Battalion moved back to Steenvoorde on October 11 for rest, reorganization and training until October 26 then returned to the front line, in the "Albert Redoubt", Westhoek Ridge, near Ypres and suffered very violent bombardment of mustard gas and chlorine then were relieved on November 2 by the 20th Australian Infantry Battalion and marched into billets at "Belgium Chateau", Ypres.

On November 9, 1917, the 27th Battalion left Ypres and marched again for Steenvoorde "under torrents of rain" and alternated between periods of rest and training until November 16 then marched through Godewaersvelde, Berthen, Neuve-Eglise and arrived in Bailleul on November 18 and remained here until the end of the month.

After Bailleul, from December 1 to 14, the 27th Battalion was billeted at Neuve-Eglise where they followed musketry exercises, physical exercises, bayonet fights and on December 15, marched for Ploegsteert, a few kilometers from Ypres and fought here until Christmas Eve.
A month later, on January 26, 1918, Walter fell ill and was admitted to the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station suffering from eczema, was discharged from duty on January 31 and joined his battalion on February 7 at Henneveux but a little over two weeks later, on February 22, fell ill again and was admitted to hospital for a short period, joined his unit on March 10 in Kortepyp, Belgium, then was granted leave in England on March 15.

On March 21, 1918, the German army launched its Spring Offensive (also called Kaiserschlacht (Kaiser's Battle) or "Operation Michael" aimed at breaking through the Franco-British lines between Arras and St Quentin, in the Somme and on March 31 , Walter joined the 27th Battalion at Kortepyp but on April 6, the 27th Battalion was quickly sent by train to the Somme to stop the Germans who were dangerously approaching the city of Amiens and its strategic railway junction.

On April 6, 1918, Walter and the 27th Battalion arrived at Allonville and marched through Bussy, Daours, La Neuville, Corbie, Amiens and joined the front line near the town of Albert where the snipers of the 27th were very active but came under fire of German artillery batteries which caused several casualties.On April 10, the battalion marched to "St Lawrence Farm", near Albert, then moved back to the front line a week later.

On May 1, 1918, Walter and the 27th Battalion marched for Bavelincourt then from May 2 to 12 were billeted in Amiens, moved back to Albert the next day and on May 19 reached Ville-Sur-Ancre where they attacked and captured several lines of German trenches.

In early June, plans were made for the Australian 2nd Division to attack around Morlancourt in preparation for a more significant attack at Hamel. On 10 June, the battalion advanced on the right of the 7th Brigade's line, capturing the German front line trenches around Morlancourt and wiping out a whole battalion, taking 325 prisoners for the loss of 400 men.

Unfortunately, two days later, on June 12, 1918, Walter met his fate and was seriously wounded at Sailly-Le-Sec by a gunshot wound to his arm and right thigh. He was immediately evacuated and admitted to the 20th Casualty Clearing Station in Vignacourt where he died a few hours later, he was 24 years old.
Today, Walter Augusta Johnson rests in peace alongside his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Vignacourt British Cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription: "A noble hero true and brave sleeps peacefully in a soldier's grave."

Walter, brave and devoted to your country and to your duty, it was with courage and determination that you marched alongside your comrades and your brothers in arms behind the bagpipes through the poppy fields of the Somme which were the witnesses to the will and strength of the entire Australian nation whose sons sacrificed their youth in the trenches alongside their French and British brothers in arms, who, all united around noble causes, served with pride and did what was just and who, together, made peace prevail after so much fury and violence that they endured on the battlefields of the great war during four years of an endless nightmare into which a whole generation of men were thrown and who, side by side, shed their tears and their blood through the putrid quagmires of mud and barbed wire in which they were relentlessly mowed down by the fire of raging machine guns, weapons of death which, at a dreadful pace, under the terrible and mournful symphony of the artillery purveyor of cannon fodder, poured out death and destruction and which, without rest, transformed once peaceful landscapes into slaughterhouses and forever changed the face of the world under tons of shells which crushed, shredded and pulverized men and horses in torrents of blood. Through fire and steel, these young men, far from home, found in each other the courage to fight and to move forward under the bullets without regard for their own lives and despite the weight of their bags, their knees deep in the mud, they charged with confidence and faith through no man's land with their best mates, bravely following their officers who were among the first to fall but who inspired others by their courage and sacrifice to give the best by themselves.Even wounded on the battlefield, they did not take a single step back and pushed their comrades to advance and fought like lions, their eyes turned towards the enemy lines and their destinies, they gave their all without regret, they did their duty with extreme bravery until their last breaths with in their hearts, the pride of having fought and having given their lives for the peace and freedom in which we live. In the most beautiful spirit of brotherhood, in the spirit of ANZAC, these young Diggers wrote history in golden letters, which still today, on the walls of Amiens and Villers-Bretonneux remind us of what they did for us in these words engraved for eternity "Do not forget Australia".More than a hundred years have passed and the trenches, scars of the past have disappeared under the red waves of the poppies which carry and keep within them the memory of these young boys who, for our country, came from the other side of the world and who today, behind the rows of their white tombs, row upon row, still stand proud under the rising sun and who, in the light of remembrance, will remain forever alive.Their memory, in the Somme, just like the spirit of ANZAC will remain maintained with care and respect and will always have our love, our respect which unites the French and Australian people whose friendship is for us a pride, an honor.Thank you so much Walter,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.