Private Thomas Johnston

Private Thomas Johnston

2nd Battalion Highland Light Infantry
Service No: 21569

123

2

4

0

53

Click here for a frameable A4 print

Personal details

Family Information

Son of Thomas (28/04/1858 - 15/10/1928) and Wilhelmina (Mina) Johnston (24/10/1860 - 09/02/1930) of 29 Cameron Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada previously 38 Dunbeth Rd, Coatbridge. From the 1891 Census - Address - 74 Jackson St, Coatbridge - Thomas Johnston aged 32, Wilhelmina Johnston aged 26, Lizzie Johnston aged 9, Peter B Johnston aged 8, Mary Johnston aged 6, Thomas Johnston aged 4, Andrew Johnston aged 2, James Johnston aged 2 months. From the 1901 Census - Address - Portland St, Coatbridge - Thomas Johnston aged 44, Mina Johnston aged 39, Lizzie Johnston aged 20, Peter B Johnston aged 18, Mary Johnston aged 16, Thomas Johnston aged 14, Andrew Johnston aged 12, James Johnston aged 20, Archibald Johnston aged 8, Maggie Johnston aged 6, William Johnston aged 3, boarders Percy Guiness aged 28, Belinda Guiness aged 26, George Guiness aged 11 months. Thomas' Pension was awarded to his mother Wilhelmina of 38 Dunbeth Rd, Coatbridge on the 02/06/1917.

Born / Resided

Coatbridge / 38 Dunbeth Rd, Coatbridge

Died

Killed in Action on the 31/07/1916 at Bernafay Wood during the Battle of Delville Wood (part of the Battles of the Somme)

Enlisted

Coatbridge /03/1916

Employed

16 and a half years in the Office of the Sunnyside Engineering Works (Lamberton and Company).

Age

29 Buried / Remembered

Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France

Cemetery / Memorial Information

The memorial commemorates more than 72,000 men of British and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave, the majority of whom died during the Somme offensive of 1916. On the high ground overlooking the Somme River in France, where some of the heaviest fighting of the First World War took place, stands the Thiepval Memorial. Towering over 45 metres in height, it dominates the landscape for miles around. It is the largest Commonwealth memorial to the missing in the world. On 1 July 1916, supported by a French attack to the south, 13 divisions of Commonwealth forces launched an offensive on a line from north of Gommecourt to Maricourt. Despite a preliminary bombardment lasting seven days, the German defences were barely touched and the attack met unexpectedly fierce resistance. Losses were catastrophic and with only minimal advances on the southern flank, the initial attack was a failure. In the following weeks, huge resources of manpower and equipment were deployed in an attempt to exploit the modest successes of the first day. However, the German Army resisted tenaciously and repeated attacks and counter attacks meant a major battle for every village, copse and farmhouse gained. At the end of September, Thiepval was finally captured. The village had been an original objective of 1 July.

Additional Information

The Battalion arrived at Boulogne on the 14/08/1914 and were part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. Thomas was only 11 days in France when he fell at Bernafay Wood (south of Delville Wood). SEE PHOTOS x 7 FOR THE 2nd BATTALION HIGHLAND LIGHT INFANTRY WAR DIARY JULY - 9th AUGUST 1916. From the Battalion War Diary - "BARNAFAY WOOD TRENCHES 31st - About 12.30 a.m. orders were received to relieve the 52nd (?) as well as the 24th R. F. (Royal Fusiliers). When we arrived at trenches about 3 a.m. heavy hostile artillery fire was in progress and we lost 2 Officers Killed and about 31 Other Ranks Casualties, 1 Officer took seriously ill, and (?) our Officer strength was still further depleted". The Battle of Delville Wood, 15th July - 3rd September 1916 : Delville Wood, which is within sight and today and easy walk of High Wood, was also fought over countless times for similar reasons and became a charnel house, choked with the dead of both sides. It is perhaps most remembered for the sustained attack made by the South African Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division, a formation which was to all intents and purposes destroyed during its valiant efforts. The 2nd Division were involved in the Battle of Delville Wood from the 25th July to the 9th August 1916. SEE PHOTOS x 25 FOR THE 2nd DIVISION BOOK 1st JULY - 4th AUGUST 1916. The Division book states - "At 4 a.m. on the 31st the 2nd Highland Light Infantry relieved the Oxford and Bucks and Fusiliers (2nd Battalion Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and 24th (Service) Battalion (2nd Sportsmen's) Royal Fusiliers), who were withdrawn to the reserve trenches south-west of Montauban. During the relief, Captain G. J. Edwards, 24th Royal Fusiliers, was killed". "The 2nd Division had been in the line five days only (from the 26th to the 31st), and had already lost 108 Officers and 2,957 Other Ranks. No part of the line, either the front-line trenches or the reserve areas, was free from the terrific shell fire and barrages put down by the enemy. From the first to the last day of July the losses of the Fourth Army were 4,428 Officers and 116,270 Other Ranks — no wonder that the Somme battles of 1916 were veritable infernos ! Some idea of the terrible strain upon the troops may be gathered from a report on the fighting strength of the 2nd Division sent to Corps Headquarters on the 1st August. The report stated that only one Battalion of the Division was fit for "offensive operations". This Battle was part of the Battles of the Somme, 1st July - 18th November 1916 : the Somme. A Franco-British offensive that was undertaken after Allied strategic conferences in late 1915, but which changed its nature due to the German attack against the French in the epic Battle of Verdun, which lasted from late February to November. Huge British losses on the first day and a series of fiercely-contested steps that became attritional in nature. For all armies on the Western Front it was becoming what the Germans would call "materialschlacht", a war not of morale, will or even manpower, but of sheer industrial material might. The 15th September 1916 saw the first-ever use of tanks in the step known as the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. The British army in France is now approaching its maximum strength in numbers but is still developing in terms of tactics, technology, command and control. Thomas is listed as 4th BATTALION on the Coatbridge Memorial. This was an EXTRA RESERVE BATTALION who in August 1914 were stationed at the Regimental depot, it then moved on mobilisation to Plymouth then in May 1915 to Haddington, going on to Hawick in early 1917. Thomas is also remembered on the Coatbridge Technical College Roll of Honour, Clifton Church Roll of Honour and the Maxwell Parish Church Rolls of Honour (see photos). See photos for Thomas' Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his CWGC Grave Registration, Thomas' Pension Record x 2 and the Highland Light Infantry Cap Badge. Finally, see photos x 12 for the 2nd Division Order of Battle (the Division Thomas was with when he was killed), Newspaper clippings x 4 (Coatbridge Express x 2, Coatbridge Leader x 1 and the Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser x 1) and 2 photos of Thomas' name on the Thiepval Memorial taken by myself in July 2023.

Photos

War Diaries

The battalion War Diary is available on the National Archives website.

Creative Commons License

We have made this information and the images available under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement: © coatbridgeandthegreatwar.com

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