Johnson, Walter
No.1957 – Private Walter Benjamin Johnson – 28th Battalion AIF
Walter Benjamin Johnson was born in Port Adelaide South Australia in 1884 to Elizabeth and William Johnson. Walter was one of five siblings with a sister Bertha and brothers; Will, Harold and Fred. When the family moved to Western Australia they took up residence in High Street Fremantle.
It appears that in 1910 Walter married Eliza Snyder in Perth, but unfortunately the marriage did not last long as Eliza died in 1913. Further tragedy had occurred for Walter in 1912 when his mother Elizabeth had died.
Walter had found employment as a labourer and was working as such when he enlisted into the AIF on the 28th June 1915 at Swan Barracks in Perth.
Walter was passed as fit for service with the medical examiner finding him to be 5 feet 10 & ½ inches tall; weight of 172 lbs; chest measurement of 37-40 inches; dark complexion; brown eyes and black hair. His religious denomination was Church of England. Walter was assigned to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 28th Battalion AIF and he trained with them in WA until he embarked from Fremantle on the 2nd September 1915 aboard the H.M.A.T. “Anchises”. A month later they arrived at Suez in Egypt where they were disembarked and sent to camp at Heliopolis near Cairo.
While the 3rd Reinforcements were sent to Gallipoli it seems that Walter may have stayed behind in Egypt. Twice in November 1915 Walter got into trouble; the first instance being absent from camp from 5pm till 10pm on the 4th November 1915. As a punishment he was given 168 hours of detention by Major I.B. Norris. On the 26th November 1915 Walter left camp without permission after being warned for duty. He was again given 168 hours detention by Major Norris. It was later stated by a fellow soldier that during this period in Egypt Walter was serving as an Anzac Policeman.
Gallipoli was evacuated in December 1915 and the 28th Battalion returned to Egypt in early 1916. Walter was sent from the Base Details Camp to Tel-el-Kebir where he was taken on strength of the 28th Battalion on the 19th January 1916. The next two months were spent training with the Battalion in the desert as well as holding the Suez Canal defence line. On the 16th March 1916 the 28th Battalion boarded a transport ship at Alexandria and set sail for France, arriving at Marseilles on the 21st March 1916. The men were then disembarked and marched through the city of the Railway Station where they boarded a train which took them to Northern France.
The 28th Battalion had their first taste of Western Front trench life near Fleurbaix and they would spend their first few months in France in this sector. On the 23rd June 1916 Walter was wounded when shrapnel struck him in the chest and right leg. He was evacuated to the 74th Field Ambulance which transferred him to No.2 Casualty Clearing Station. The following day he was transferred by Ambulance Train to the 3rd Canadian General Hospital at Boulogne. His wound was assessed as serious enough for evacuation to England.
Walter was sent to a Military Hospital in Nottingham and on the 12th July 1916 to the Military Convalescent Hospital at Epsom. He remained here for a few weeks, and after recovering was discharged and granted a period of furlough after which he would have to report to No.1 Command Depot. He arrived there on the 16th August and remained in England for the next two months. On the 16th October Walter returned to France and marched into the 2nd Australian Division Base Depot. He eventually rejoined the 28th Battalion on the 30th October 1916.
Walter fought in the 28th Battalion’s battle on the 3rd November 1916 when they attempted to capture the German line opposite. The attack failed but Walter came through unhurt. Five days later he was sent to hospital suffering from trench feet. This affliction kept him out of action for some time as he ended up at No.1 General Hospital at Etretat and then various convalescent camps. On the 1st December he was sent to the 2nd ADBD, being taken on strength of the 28th on the 23rd December 1916.
The 28th Battalion remained in the Flers sector through the French winter of 1916/17. On the 20th February Walter was again sent to hospital with trench feet, eventually rejoining his unit on the 8th March 1917. He fought with the 28th Battalion at Lagnicourt on the 26th March 1917, survived the battle but was wounded. Despite this wound he remained on duty, only to get into trouble five days later for appearing on parade unshaven.
Through April 1917 the Battalion remained near Lagnicourt and on the 3rd May 1917 were used to reinforce the 5th & 6th Brigades at Bullecourt when their attack was faltering. Unfortunately Walter was killed as they were heading up to reinforce the units in the line. Private Sanderson of the Battalion later wrote that;
“He was killed in the attack on Bullecourt on May 3rd. We were on our way to go over from a trench taken the day before. He was the leading man of our party. We were in single file and he was carrying two boxes of bombs. I was about the 30th man, perhaps 50 yards behind him. The word came down the line that he was hit, and when I got up I saw his dead body. He was in a sitting position, leaning against a bank. I passed several times after (I was a runner) and saw the body in the same position. When I got up; the fellows round said that he lived about 5 minutes after being hit. The wound was in the chest. I saw it. He was a tall powerful man and face and appearance rugged. I should say he was an all round Bushman. I’ve heard him talk of sleeper getting. He was an Anzac Policeman in Egypt. He was an early reinforcement. He was a lively customer and very amusing. He was married, at least I’ve heard him talk of his wife, but he was a terrible chap to jokes. He would always keep the ball rolling when there was any downheartedness. He seemed to have friends in every Battalion we met. His great chum in the Company was Private Jack Leonard of D Company 14 Platoon. They were always together. Leonard was the second man behind him when he was killed. He is still with the Battalion.”
A Private Matheson also stated that Walter was shot through the Stomach about 200 yards from the German lines. Walter was initially reported wounded and missing but this was later changed to being killed in action.
Unfortunately there are no mentions of Walter’s burial at the time and after the war his grave could not be located. He is therefore commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial. His brother Fred also served in the 28th Battalion and survived the war, returning home in 1919.