William Samuel JOHNSON

JOHNSON, William Samuel

Service Number: 294
Enlisted: 14 December 1914
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: Australian Army Postal Corps
Born: Ballarat, Victoria, Australia , 1884
Home Town: Guildford, Swan, Western Australia
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Farmer
Died: Northam, Western Australia, 7 January 1929, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia
Memorials:
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World War 1 Service

14 Dec 1914: Enlisted AIF WW1, Trooper, 294, 10th Light Horse Regiment
8 Feb 1915: Involvement Private, 294, 10th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '3' embarkation_place: Fremantle embarkation_ship: HMAT Mashobra embarkation_ship_number: A47 public_note: ''
8 Feb 1915: Embarked Private, 294, 10th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Mashobra, Fremantle
16 May 1915: Embarked AIF WW1, Trooper, 294, 10th Light Horse Regiment, for Gallipoli
14 Mar 1916: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 294, 10th Light Horse Regiment, ex Malta to Egypt per HT Bohemia
22 Jul 1916: Transferred AIF WW1, Private, Australian Army Postal Corps
6 Apr 1918: Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 294, Australian Army Postal Corps
21 Dec 1918: Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 294, Australian Army Postal Corps, per HT Mamari

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

William was the seventh of eighteen children of John Godfrey Johnson (b1848 in Bolivia, NSW) and Ellen Folwell (b1859 in Stawell, Victoria). John (a Labourer) and Ellen married in 1875 in Heathcote, Victoria - they lived in Victoria and NSW before moving with their family to WA in the early 1890s. John worked in Perth as a Labourer before moving the family to Darkan WA where he was a Farmer. According to family anecdotes, John was born in Bolivia, South America - his parents had been sponsored as Assisted Migrants in 1841, arriving in NSW on the Brothers, before following the goldrushes to Victoria and Western Australia.

William was working as a Labourer in Northam, WA in 1905 when he married Rebecca Reynolds (b1885 in York WA). The couple settled in Northam and by 1912 William was a Farmer, and a member of the Rifle Club. He enlisted in the AIF in December 1914 (Trooper, Private; Service No:294) and served with 10th Light Horse Regiment in Egypt before transferring to the Postal Corps. William was Discharged in April 1919. He was one of eight brothers who served in WWI and WWII, and his son Percy Reginald (Service No:WX14485) served in WWII.

William and Rebecca settled in Northam, WA where William died in 1929. Rebecca died in 1965.

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