JOHNSON, Albert George
| Service Number: | 1347 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 August 1914, An original member of G Company, enlisted Sydney NSW. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Yass, New South Wales, Australia, 26 May 1896 |
| Home Town: | Yass, Yass Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 3 July 1916, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Rue-David Military Cemetery, Fleurbaix Plot I, Row E, Grave No. 13. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1347, 3rd Infantry Battalion, An original member of G Company, enlisted Sydney NSW. | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 1347, 3rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 1347, 3rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Albert George Johnson was born in Yass, New South Wales and was one of the first men from Yass to enlist. His parents had died many years before the war when he was about 11 years of age. He was known as ‘Bert’ Johnson around Yass.
Albert’s much older brother, 28882 Gnr. Frederick Augustus Johnson 5th Australian Field Artillery Brigade, was killed in action later in the war, on 22 August 1918, aged 35.
Another older brother 1216 Lance Corporal Thomas William Johnson was an original member of the 17th Battalion and was wounded in the head at Bullecourt and was returned to Australia a few months later.
‘Bert’ Johnson served at the Anzac landing and was badly wounded during the first week of continuous fighting that took place at Gallipoli. He was evacuated to Cairo with bomb wounds to his back. He rejoined the 3rd Battalion after the evacuation of the peninsular and was sent to France.
He was killed in action on 3 July 1916, when the 3rd Battalion was holding the front line at Fleurbaix, where the Australians were gaining experience of the Western Front, supposedly in a quiet sector. Ten men of the 3rd Battalion were killed when the Germans heavily shelled the Australian front line on 3rd July 1916 and hit an exposed listening post. Johnson was buried by the Reverend E. McAuliffe in the Rue-David Military Cemetery at Fleurbaix.
His medals were eventually sent his brother who had returned from the war, Thomas William Johnson.
The Yass Courier reported his death on 20 July 1916, under the heading, ‘A Dead Hero.’ “On Monday last Father Leonard, Parish Priest, received a cable from the Defence Authorities, to the effect that Private Bert Johnson, had been killed in action on July 3rd. The dead soldier was the first to enlist from Yass, where he was not only well known, but very popular. For years he resided on the Murrumbidgee.”
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