JOHNSON, Frederick Augustus
| Service Number: | 28882 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 March 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | Medium Trench Mortar Batteries |
| Born: | Yass, New South Wales, Australia, 19 July 1882 |
| Home Town: | Yass, Yass Valley, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in action, France, 22 August 1918, aged 36 years |
| Cemetery: |
Caix British Cemetery Plot I, Row E, Grave No. 4. |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 1 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Gunner, 28882, Medium Trench Mortar Batteries | |
|---|---|---|
| 30 Sep 1916: | Involvement Gunner, 28882, Medium Trench Mortar Batteries, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1916: | Embarked Gunner, 28882, Medium Trench Mortar Batteries, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney | |
| 22 Aug 1918: | Involvement Gunner, 28882, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 28882 awm_unit: 14th Australian Field Artillery Battery awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1918-08-22 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Frederick Augustus Johnson enlisted in 1916 at 33 years of age. His parents had passed away many years before the war. He was born and raised in Yass, New South Wales. He was a big man at 5 feet 10 inches and over 90 kilograms.
His younger brother, 1347 Pte. Albert George Johnson 3rd Battalion AIF was killed in action in France on 3 July 1916, aged 21.
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.
Frederick joined the 14th Battery Field Artillery at the front during August 1917. He was with them for just over 12 months when he was killed in action on 22 August 1918. His Red Cross file holds a number of accounts of his death which are all very similar.
“Informant described Johnson as about 5’11” high, very stoutly built, weighing about 13 and half stone, aged about 36. Came from the country and had been a shearer. Informant states that they both belonged to the 14th Battery, Johnson being the Battery Cook. When Johnson, and Dick Rippon were together in a dugout during heavy enemy shelling, they were both killed by the same gas shell. Informant was not present but the boys gave him these details, informant being at the wagon lines about 4 miles away. He was buried close to where he fell and a Cross would have been put on his grave in accordance with the invariable Battery custom.
Informant adds that he and Johnson were particular chums and used to occupy the same tent in the lines. He was also very well-liked by the other boys. Driver F.H. Pines 33899, 14th Battery.”
Fredderick was buried in De Luce British Cemetery in Caix, France, close to the North Bank of the river, which contained the graves of five Australian soldiers, all of whom fell in August, 1918, and these were later reinterred in the Caix British Cemetery. He is buried beside Dick Rippon who was killed by the same shell.
After the war no trace could be found of Frederick Augustus Johnson’s elder brother and his medals and entitlements were marked as ‘untraceable’ by Major Lean at Base Records.
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