Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Courtesy of Ballarat & District in the Great War

Life for Charlie Johnson was interesting from the outset. When he was born at Ballarat on 28 June 1881, Pte Charles Jarvis Johnson was the youngest son of a melded family. His father was already almost elderly by the standards of the time – at 52 George Johnson was over twenty years his wife’s senior.

When George, who was born in Brenchley, Kent, married Drusilla Martin in 1879, he was a widower with two young sons. He had been a successful publican, running the new Rose and Crown Hotel in Peel Street south, close to Bridge Street and ‘near Old Harry’s Stables,’ when his first wife, Philadelphia had died in 1877.

It appears that George transferred the license for the Rose and Crown around the time of his marriage to Drusilla. He then took over the Royal Oak Hotel in Peel Street north (now the Black Hill Hotel), which catered to the thirsty workers from the nearby Black Hill Mine.

Young Charlie received his primary education at the Humffray Street State School, which was, at the time, one of the largest schools in Ballarat. When his father died on 12 October 1891, Charlie was just 10-years-old and had not completed his schooling. It must have been a huge shock for a young lad.

George Johnson had left the hotel trade by this time and the family were living in Binnie Street, behind the Black Hill State School. He was working as a carpenter at the time of his death. It was a harsh blow for Drusilla and her children. Australia was entering a severe economic depression. Unemployment was rife and life was particularly tough for a single mother. But, to her credit, she survived and kept her family together.

After leaving school, Charlie took work as a labourer wherever it became available. There was very little job security for unskilled workers, and he soon discovered that his stature was also a drawback. At his tallest, Charlie was just 5-feet 3-inches, and he was also of very slight build. Many an employer doubted his ability to sustain hard physical work.

However, Charlie, it seems, was undaunted by these challenges. Having obviously learned carpentering skills from his father, by 1904 he was building his own house at 41 Napier Street. He was also working at Ballarat’s iconic Selkirk Brickworks and keeping company with a young woman from Ballarat East.

On 23 July 1904, Charlie married Elizabeth Ann Tilley “Lizzie” Moon. The ceremony, which was conducted by Town Missionary, the Reverend J. West Lau, was held at Lizzie’s mother’s residence on the corner of Main Road and Clayton Street.

The newly married couple then moved into the new Napier Street home.

Just a week after the wedding, Charlie lost his job at Selkirk’s. He tried for weeks to find another job without success. Finally, having exhausted all avenues, he had to tell Lizzie what had happened. It certainly was an inauspicious beginning to their life together.

Lizzie initially returned to her mother’s home to await the confinement of their first child. Albert John Geoffrey Johnson was born there on 30 August 1904.

In the meantime, Charlie continued to look for work. After six months it became obvious that he was not going to find a job locally. He travelled through the Otways to Apollo Bay, where he worked some land ‘on the share system’ for a Mr Marriner. According to Charlie, the work was very laborious and the pay very poor – he made barely 5-shillings a week across a year of work. Being barely enough to sustain body and soul, there was certainly no chance to save any money.

By December 1908, Charlie had returned to Ballarat, but he didn’t find work until February the following year, working as a labourer for Mr Rodgers at the Agricultural High School. He earned a substantial 7-shillings a day. Unfortunately, it was only a short-term job, lasting just nine weeks.

Once again, he struggled to find work. He was recommended to the Engineer at the Water Commission as a labourer on the Moorabool Water Scheme, ‘but my small stature was in this case as it always has been a great handicap to my being employed at labouring work…’

Despite the very rocky start to their married life, Charlie and Lizzie persevered. By 1909, they were once again living in the Napier Street home, and Charlie was back in settled employment as a labourer.

In June 1910, Lizzie gave birth to their first daughter – Druzilla Elizabeth. She was a particularly bonnie baby, so beautiful indeed, her adoring parents took the step of having her photograph taken. It was to be a poignant reminder of their little girl.

On 19 March 1911, after having moved permanently to Apollo Bay, baby Druzilla died. She was just 9-months old.
Over the next four years, Charlie and Lizzie welcomed a further three children – Ethel May on 6 January 1912, Charles William (later known as Bill) on 26 August 1913 and then, on 26 September 1915, another daughter, Dorothy, who was known to the family as Doris.

Throughout this time, Charlie had been working as a labourer in and around Apollo Bay; he also worked as a hairdresser. By the time Doris was born, many of the young men from the district had enlisted in the 1st AIF. For many, the sense that war was a grand adventure was enough to encourage them to volunteer. However, for married men with families the lure was often purely financial. Not only did they receive 6-shillings a day, they were clothed and fed. Charlie recognised the chance to finally achieve security for his growing family.

On 7 September 1916, having travelled over 120 miles, Charlie arrived at the main recruiting depot in Melbourne. By this stage of the war, the need for fresh recruits had resulted in the significant lowering of enlistment criteria for the AIF. Charlie would not have passed the medical examination had he attempted to join up in 1914. His height was now passable, his weight of just 110-pounds was concerning, but his chest measurement of 31 to 33½-inches was less than ideal. The medical officer remarked that Charlie’s physical development was only fair. He also included important details regarding his appearance, including his medium complexion, grey eyes and brown hair, plus the tattoos on his left arm and a scar on his left cheek.

Despite having had no military training and being physically small, Charlie was passed fit for active duty and was initially posted to the 19th Depot Battalion at Geelong. It wasn’t long before his permanent posting was issued, and he was allotted to the 10th reinforcements for the 29th Infantry Battalion and transferred through to the main camp in Royal Park.

Charlie had only been in training for about six weeks when underwent a final examination in preparation for embarkation on 19 October. He sailed from Melbourne two days later onboard the troopship Port Melbourne. Before leaving Australia, Charlie made sure that he had provided for Lizzie and the children by making an allotment of three-fifths of his pay for their upkeep.

The Port Melbourne docked at Devonport in England on 28 December. The new recruits marched into camp on the Salisbury Plain and were attached to the 8th Training Battalion.

Once again, Charlie’s lack of stature was questioned – he underwent a third medical examination on 31 March 1917, before being passed fit to proceed to the Front. On 5 April, Charlie finally sailed for France.

When Charlie joined the 29th Battalion on 12 April, the unit was engaged in repairs on the road between Bapaume and Fremicourt. The battalion was still in the stages of being rebuilt following the disastrous Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916. As one member of the 29th put it, ‘The novelty of being a soldier wore off in about five seconds, it was like a bloody butcher's shop.’ That experience resulted in the 29th playing no major role for the remainder of the AIF’s first year on the Western Front.

Charlie’s first experience of frontline action came during the Second Battle of Bullecourt. The 29th Battalion relieved the 2/9th London Regiment to the right of Lagnicourt on 12 May. They were to be in the line for nearly two weeks, but surprisingly, given the active sector, the 29th fortunately suffered relatively few casualties. Back in billets at Bapaume, the men were far from safe, however, and the enemy artillery shelled the camp causing several injuries.

Charlie spent June and July of 1917 training behind the lines at Bapaume, Senlis and then Millencourt. During August the 29th moved to the commune of Blaringhem, near Hazebrouck in Northern France. Once more the men filled their time with training, route marches and special classes.

Family was never far from Charlie’s mind, and a special embroidered birthday card and postcard that he sent to his youngest son have managed to survive over 100 years…
The birthday card read,

‘…”Hearty Birthday Wishes” X X X X To My Dear Son Charles Johnson, With Love from your Loving Father. May God Bless you!...’

The message on the postcard appears to indicate a man missing his home and family...

‘Dear Charles from Daddy.
I hope this finds you well as it leaves me at present. I am still in good health & I hope this finds you & your sisters & brothers & mother in good health. I will tell you all the news when I get to England. This card is for you Charlie. I am sending some cards to Jim & Willie Matthews. I suppose you still go to Sunday School with mother & Albert, Ethel & Doris. How is the calf getting on write & let me know all the news. I will be pleased to hear from you. I am your loving Father. Kisses to you & Mother, Albert, Ethel, Doris & kisses for me.
X X X X X X X X X X…’

The series of battles that we now refer to as the Battle of Passchendaele, or Third Ypres, began with the Battle of Menin Road on 20 September. At dawn on 26 September the 29th Battalion attacked enemy positions at Polygon Wood – the second of the bite and hold battles. It was to be the only major action for the 29th, but still resulted in the deaths of more than 80 men.

Following the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge on 4 October, the 29th held part of the line at Molenaarelsthoek, south-east of Zonnebeke. The enemy artillery was particularly active and several men were killed.

On 14 October, just a day after being relieved from the line by the 58th Battalion, Charlie reported sick with tonsillitis. It was hardly surprising – conditions in the trenches had deteriorated rapidly when heavy rain enveloped the battlefields. Charlie was admitted to the 8th Field Ambulance, before being transferred to the 5th Divisional Rest Station. It was ten days before he was well enough to be discharged, and he rejoined his battalion, still in supports near Molenaarelsthoek, on 25 October.

On 26 February 1918, Charlie was transferred to the 4th Army Musketry School as a batman, where he remained on detachment for four months. He was then detached for duty with the YMCA on 26 September.

Following a two-week leave pass to the United Kingdom in August, Charlie resumed his work with the YMCA. Then, on 12 October, he was transferred to the 32nd Infantry Battalion whilst still on detachment. He was in France when the historic Armistice was signed.

Four months into the New Year, Charlie received news that he was going home. He embarked from Le Havre on 23 May and arrived at the No5 Command Depot at Weymouth the following day. Finally, on 23 June, Charlie boarded the transport Orita to begin the voyage to Australia.

Intriguingly, when Charlie was discharged from the AIF on 14 September, there was an indication that at some point during his service he had suffered a significant injury. A shrapnel wound to the right side of his lower chest was continuing to cause him pain across his stomach. There was no indication as to when the wound occurred.

Returning to his family in Apollo Bay was a happy occasion. And, despite Lizzie nearly 40-years-old, it wasn’t long before they added to their family with the birth of a third son, George Martin, on 9 November 1920. Two more daughters, Ada Rose and Phoebe Linda, followed in 1924 and 1926.

There was also ample work now available. The proposed building of the Great Ocean Road was set to provide returned servicemen with employment. At the time, the small settlements, dotted along the majestic Victorian coastline, were only accessible by sea or a rough bush track.

Eventually, the road, laboriously hewn out of the rugged cliffs that dropped dramatically towards the sea, would stretch a monumental 243-kilometres. Charlie Johnson was part of this historic construction and was to become a familiar sight driving a team of bullocks carrying supplies along the developing road.

Charlie also found another path that he was to follow for the rest of his life – he became a lay preacher at the Apollo Bay Methodist Church. This is something his descendants continue to remember for considerable pride.

With the advent of World War II, Charlie once again found a need to serve his country. Despite having turned 60 years of age, he was accepted as a volunteer on 13 June 1942. He served in Australia as a member of the 19th Battalion of the Volunteer Defence Corps, an initiative along the same lines at the British Home Guard.

Lizzie and Charlie also watched as their two younger sons volunteered for active service: Bill enlisted on 1 June 1940; he served as a gunner with the 2/12 Field Regiment of the Royal Australian Artillery and was one Australia's famous "Rats of Tobruk." George followed on 6 May 1941 and was posted to the Royal Australian Air Force, rising to the rank of Leading Aircraftsman.

On 10 May 1949, after nearly 45 years of marriage, Lizzie Johnson died at the family home in Apollo Bay. Charlie continued to live in the seaside town until his death on 4 December 1954. One of the last family gatherings was captured not long before Charlie’s death, and shows him sitting proudly surrounded by his seven loving children.