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JOHNSTON  Cyril Frederick. #1679  47th Battalion

Cyril Johnston was born in Rockhampton, the son of William James and Henrietta Johnston. The family moved to Strathpine where Cyril attended Strathpine State School.

Cyril enlisted in Brisbane on 13th December 1915. He stated his age as 19 years and 10 months. Since he was under age, he would have required his parent’s permission. Cyril’s sister, May, informed the authorities in later correspondence that Cyril’s mother had died in 1904. There is no written record of father William giving written permission so perhaps he accompanied his son to the recruiting depot.

At enlistment, Cyril stated he was single and gave his occupation as butcher however his father when completing the Roll of Honour Circular stated his son’s occupation as school scholar. Cyril reported to Fraser’s paddock at Enoggera on 11th January 1916 and was placed in a depot battalion with other enlistees. By April, Cyril had been allocated as part of the 2nd reinforcements of the 47th Battalion. He boarded the Hawkes Bay in Sydney on 20th April and arrived at the Australian Camp at Tel el Kabir in Egypt on 27th May. Cyril was one of the last men to join the 47th before the battalion shipped out to France.

The 47th Battalion was formed in Egypt by splitting an original 1st Division battalion, the 15th to create the two newly constituted battalions. Many contemporary historians have noted that when the Commander of the 15th was assigning officers to the 47th, he took the opportunity to divest his battalion of officers and NCOs who had performed poorly. The 47th Battalion was to be part of the 12th Brigade of the 4th Division AIF. Within the 4th Division there were a number of outstanding battalions; the 15th commanded by “Bull” Cannan which had held Quinn’s post all through Gallipoli, the 14th Battalion; referred to as Jacka’s mob after Bert Jacka (Winner of first VC by an Australian in the war) and the 48th Battalion commanded by Raymond Leane ( nicknamed the Joan of Arc Battalion because there were so many Leanes in the 48th ranks; Made of all Leanes). Compared to this stellar grouping of outstanding soldiers, the 47th struggled to shine.

By the time that Cyril landed in Egypt the 47th was still under strength. In many cases men in the guardrooms, detention barracks and VD wards from battalions that had already left Egypt were allocated to the 47th. Discipline had always been a problem with the 47th and this was not helped by the latest reinforcements and the weakness of officers in imposing order. The 47th sailed from Alexandria on 2nd June 1916 bound for Marseilles. Officers and senior NCOs availed themselves of alcohol available on credit during the six day voyage and according to the battalion history; Battle Scarred, the voyage was “just a long binge”.

The 47th loaded onto a train which would take them to the Armentieres sector of the western front. This sector was chosen as it was a relatively quiet part of the front and it would give the men time to get used to the routines of trench life. On 1st July, Haig (British Commander in France) launched his long awaited “big push” on the Somme. In spite of suffering 60,000 casualties on the first day, Haig continued to throw division after division into the fray, with little ground gained. A major obstacle for the British was the highest point on the Somme, a heavily defended ridge which ran from the village of Pozieres on the old Roman road from Albert through a fortified farmstead, Mouquet Farm, and on to Theipval. Haig ordered the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions into the line to take Pozieres.

The village of Pozieres was taken by the 1st Division on 25th July and the 2nd Division secured the trench lines on the crest of the ridge by 5th August. The German artillery pounded the new front line mercilessly and casualties were high. The 4th Division relieved the survivors of the 2nd Division with the task of holding the front line (the old German front line) in case of a counter attack. The troops were terribly exposed as all semblance of a trench system had been blown away.

The carnage continued into August as the Australians were tasked with capturing the bunkers and tunnels of Mouquet Farm. The 47th were rotated in and out of the line, mainly on supply details and digging of jumping off trenches for successive attacks, which all failed. When the Australians were finally withdrawn, the three divisions had suffered 23,000 casualties. Cyril Johnston had come through his baptism of fire unscathed but while in the rest area around Vingnacourt, he reported to a Field Ambulance with diarrhoea. On 24th August, Cyril was in a casualty clearing station where he was diagnosed with colitis. His condition was considered serious enough to warrant evacuation to England where he was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital with a crushed abdomen (slight). After a period of treatment and convalescence Cyril recrossed the channel and rejoined his unit on 17th January 1917.

The first test for the 47th in 1917 would be at Bullecourt in April. Bullecourt was a triumph of bumbling. The official historian, Charles Bean, when writing in the Official History stated that the plan had as much chance of success as “a plan to capture the moon.” The 47th role at Bullecourt was to support the 46th and 48th Battalions by carrying ammunition and supplies as they attacked the Hindenburg Line.

The 47th Battalion had suffered from poor leadership since its foundation. The original battalion commander had been relieved after Pozieres, and his replacement had never fully recovered from serious wounds sustained at Gallipoli. Bullecourt was such a strain for this officer that he was classed as medically unfit. As the 47th assembled on the banks of the Ancre River to regroup after Bullecourt, a new CO was appointed. Lt Colonel Imlay was a relatively young man. He had been second in command of the 48th Battalion, under the leadership of the brilliant but unorthodox Raymond Leane. Imlay was aware of the poor history of discipline within the 47th and he set about rectifying this situation. A citation for Mentioned in Despatches notes that Imlay had been appointed to bring a “firm hand” to the battalion. His methods were considered harsh by some of the men and a disturbing incident brought matters to a head.

On a rather punishing route march, a number of men fell out and were unable to continue. Imlay considered that the men were malingering and paraded the defaulters before the medical officer. Unsurprisingly all were passed fit and Imlay then ordered that the men be sentenced to 14 days pack drill. As the defaulters assembled in full kit in front of a hut,  one of the men, Private William Noud, loaded a cartridge into his rifle and shot himself in the head. He died in full view of those assembled around. Noud was not a rifleman but a mule driver with the transport section. He had been transferred into a rifle company to make up the losses from Bullecourt in spite of the fact that he had a debilitating knee condition. Imlay ordered an inquiry to be held that same afternoon. There was no mention of Noud’s knee problem (even though it is shown in his file) and a verdict of suicide for reasons unknown was handed down. The news of Noud’s death spread quickly through the ranks and there was a lot of anger. Imlay wisely rescinded the punishments for the other defaulters and made himself scarce for the next few days. Noud had left a wife and daughter in St George. His wife was not entitled to a widow’s pension as the death was self-inflicted.

June 1917 saw the opening of what was to become the 3rd Battle of Ypres or more colloquially Passchendaele. The campaign began with the blowing of 19 underground mines under the German lines on Messines Ridge, followed by several waves of infantry marching into the smoke and dust. The 47th were tasked with taking a line of support trenches and set off in the early afternoon of the 7th June. Somewhere along the line of advance, Cyril Johnston was killed; probably by artillery fire. His file contains a notation that he was buried 750 yards east of Messines, which would place his grave in the midst of the battlefield. How his grave was marked is not known and by the time the Graves Registration Unit began to scour the battlefields after the end of the war, all trace of Cyril’s grave was lost. His family would appear to have not made enquiries into the circumstances of Cyril’s death.

Cyril is commemorated on the stone tablets of the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres, in company with 54,000 other British and Dominion soldiers who died in Flanders and have no known grave. To honour the sacrifice of these men, the citizens of Ypres have held a memorial ceremony at the Menin Gate every evening, which includes the laying of wreaths and the playing of the last post.

Cyril Johnston had made a will but surprisingly the beneficiary was not his father, William Johnston of Sandgate but his uncle, George Johnston, a grocer of Breakfast Creek Road Hamilton. Cyril’s sister, May, wrote to the authorities enquiring about his medals. She was informed they had been issued to William Johnston.

Cyril's parents were William James Johnston and Henrietta Hutton. He was a butcher when he enlisted on 13 December 1915. He was killed in action on 7 June 1917 in Belgium aged 21. Roll of Honour article in the Courier Mail 7 June 1918 mentions Cyril from Strathpine.