Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

21996 LTO Ted Johnson

Born: Wembley, U.K. 19 Nov 1920

Enlisted: Royal Australian Navy, 20 Apr 1938

Honourably Discharged: 21 Nov 1950

Ted's service in the RAN spanned an unbroken twelve very eventful years including all of WWII. After initial training at HMAS Cerberus, he joined HMAS Hobart on 5th February 1938.  He served as a Leading Torpedoman (LTO) on the Hobart during her service on the East Indies Station, the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea Force. 

In August 1941, Hobart joined the British Battle Fleet in the Mediterranean where she supported the Western Desert campaign, the reinforcement of Cyprus and Syrian operations. With Japan’s entry into the war, Hobart transferred to Far East waters where she withstood the severest aerial bombing of her war time service. She also served in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942 and at Guadalcanal in August 1942.  Following severe damage from a Japanese torpedo, she returned to Sydney in August 1943 for repairs. 

Ted left the Hobart in November 1943, later joining HMAS Bunbury, then the Broome on escort and patrol duties in New Guinea waters. His last sea posting from June 1948 to April 1949 was on HMAS Bataan as part of the Allies’ Naval Occupation Force in Japanese waters.

Service Medals

1.  The 1939-45 Star
2.  The Africa Star
3.  The Burma Star (with clasp Pacific)
4.  The War Medal 1939-45
5.  The Australia Service Medal 1939-45

6.  The Naval General Service Medal

1915-62 (with clasp minesweeping)
7.  The Australian Service Medal

1945-75 (with clasp Japan)
8.  The Australian Defence Medal