JOHNSON, Herbert Edward
| Service Number: | 2224 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 10 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lance Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 15th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 10 February 1893 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Draper |
| Died: | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 14 July 1947, aged 54 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland Plot Columbarium 5 Section 5 |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Mackay Old Town Hall Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 10 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2224, 15th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 2224, 15th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 2224, 15th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Brisbane | |
| 1 Dec 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lance Sergeant, 15th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Herbert Edward Johnson’s service states he enlisted in May 1915 and was severely wounded during the heavy fighting at Gallipoli on 9 August 1915. He was evacuated to England with gunshot wounds to his arm and side. He was treated at Bethnall Green in London and was returned to Australia on 7 November 1915.
Somehow, he reenlisted and he rejoined the 15th Battalion in France on 2 April 1916. He was promoted to Corporal then Lance Sergeant during 1916.
On 1 February 1917, the 15th Battalion staged a raid, near Gueudecourt, when they attacked a section of the German front line known as Stormy Trench. In the face of relentless German shelling and bombing of the captured trenches, and a strong German counter attack at 4.30 a.m. the Battalion was forced to retire at 5 a.m. The Battalion lost over 20 men as prisoners of war, and Herbert Edward Johnson was one of these, being reported as wounded in the action. He was reported as being interned at Dulmen, Germany.
He was repatriated to England to England on 30 December 1918 and returned to Australia later in 1919.
Herbert married during 1920 and raised two children. He was a member of the Angels Remembrance Club, 15th Battalion A.I.F., which was an ex-serviceman’s organisation of the unit, and ‘Angels’ was a signals code the unit used on the Western Front.
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