JOHNSTON, Clifford Anning
| Service Numbers: | 45, 6502 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 August 1914, Did not embark |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 4th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 22 May 1895 |
| Home Town: | Medlow Bath, Blue Mountains Municipality, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Woodford Academy and Richmond Agricultural College, Hawkesbury College, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Agriculturist |
| Died: | Died of wounds, 9th Casualty Clearing Station, Bapaume, France, 21 April 1917, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Grevillers British Cemetery Plot I, Row D, Grave No. 11, |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Richmond University of Western Sydney WW1 Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 45, 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance , Did not embark | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Mar 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 6502, 4th Infantry Battalion, 3 years 41st Infantry and AMC | |
| 15 Apr 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Corporal, 6502, 4th Infantry Battalion, German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line and Outpost Villages, GSW to chest DoW 9th Casualty Clearing Station | |
| 30 Sep 1916: | Involvement Private, 6502, 4th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 30 Sep 1916: | Embarked Private, 6502, 4th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Sydney |
Help us honour Clifford Anning Johnston's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Clifford Anning Johnston was wounded in action on 15 April 1917 near Lagnicourt when the Germans launched a large counter attack against the Australians who were pressing them back to the Hindenberg Line. He suffered a penetrating gunshot wound to the chest and died 6 days later in the 3rd Casualty Clearing Station.
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From Woodford Academy - National Trust of Australia NSW
Cpl Clifford Anning Johnston
22 May 1895 - 21 April 1917
Clifford left the Woodford Academy at the end of 1912 to attend Hawkesbury Agricultural College (HAC). He enlisted on 22 August 1914 in Sydney, along with 25 of his colleagues from HAC. Aged only 19 Clifford was one of the first former Woodford Academy students to enlist in the AIF.
On the 20th April 1917 he was mortally wounded by a gunshot to the chest, possibly a stray bullet from a German straggler as the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg Line. Clifford Anning Johnston died the next day, aged only 22 years old. He was buried in Grevillers British Cemetery. A headstone bears his name, but there is no personal inscription.
On April 19, 1918, a year after his death, a notice appeared in The Blue Mountains Echo:
'Johnston - in loving memory of Sergeant CA Johnston died of wounds in the Battle of Bapaume on 21 April 1917. But God will link the broken chain, Closer when we meet again.'
Inserted by his loving father and mother HO & AB Johnston, Medlow Bath. Similar versions of this notice were posted again by his grieving family in The Blue Mountains Echo in 1919, 1921 and 1922.
Lest we Forget
Click images to start slideshow.