Johnson, Oscar Horatio
246 Private Oscar Horatio Johnson - 4th Machine Gun Battalion
Oscar Horatio Johnson was born in Fremantle WA on the 16th November 1897 to John and Rose Johnson. He had a younger sister Rose born in 1899.
The family lived Onslow Street East Fremantle.
Oscar was educated locally and after leaving school he took up employment as a sailor;
On the 8th March 1916 Oscar enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for enlistment, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 2 & 1/4 inches tall;
Weight - 108lbs;
Chest Measurement - 30-33 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
After his successful enlistment, Oscar was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was assigned to No.53 Training Depot. He spent the next month being taken through the basics of infantry training. On the 4th April 1916 he was transferred to the 18th Reinforcements to the 11th Battalion. He spent a month training with this group and was then transferred to the 13th reinforcements to the 28th Battalion.
Oscar was then transferred to the 3rd Reinforcements to the 4th Machine Gun Company. He had two months training with this group in WA which included specialised training with the Vickers Machine Gun. On the 18th July 1916 Oscar embarked for service overseas from Fremantle Harbour aboard the transport ship Seang Bee.
The ship then set sail for England, arriving there in September 1916. After being disembarked Oscar was sent to the Machine Gun Training Camp at Grantham. He had several weeks of training in England and then on the 1st December 1916 departed for France.
On arrival Oscar was sent to the Australian Machine Gun Base Depot at Camiers. Before he could join his unit, Oscar fell ill with bronchitis. He was sent to hospital and had recovered only to then fall ill with mumps. This necessitated a further stay in hospital. His health not being good, Oscar was returned to England on the 21st April 1917.
He was sent to No.1 Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs. On the 26th May 1917 he was sent to a school of instruction at Kandahar Barracks. On the 8th June 1917 Oscar was hospitalised with asthma, returning to Perham Downs Camp on the 3rd July 1917. on the 16th July 1917 he was then transferred to the Machine Gun Depot at Grantham.
Oscar would remain based at Grantham for the next nine months. On the 16th April 1918 he was sent to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital as he was suffering from venereal disease. Fortunately he would only have a few weeks there and was back at his base camp at Sutton Veny on the 17th May 1918.
In August 1918 he was transferred to the Overseas Training Brigade Camp at Longbridge Deverell. He was soon sent over to France and was taken on strength of the 4th Machine Gun Battalion on the 16th September 1918. His unit were then in action against the Germans at Le Verguier however they fought their last action on the 18th September 1918 so Oscar only had two days in the front line with them. They were then sent for a rest period.
When the Armistice was announced on November 11th 1918, the 4th Australian Division were about to return to the front line. Instead they were sent into what had been German occupied parts of Belgium and France.
On the 25th November 1918 Oscar was sent to hospital with debility, eventually rejoining his unit on the 9th January 1919. Oscar remained in France till the 8th April 1919 and then returned to England.
On the 4th June 1919 Oscar boarded the transport ship Bremen and returned to Australia, disembarking in Fremantle on the 16th July 1919. Oscar was then discharged from the AIF on the 30th August 1919.
He then returned home to Onslow street East Fremantle and took up employment as a labourer.
In 1924 Oscar married Ada Emily Lewis and they had a son Oscar born in 1925, Leslie in 1933 and then Jack.
The family then moved to 17 Glyde St East Fremantle.
On the 19th August 1940 Oscar enlisted for service in World War Two. He was assigned the service number W242709. He would serve in the 10th Garrison Battalion for a few months before being discharged medically unfit in December 1940.
His son Oscar, also served in World War Two, with the Royal Australian Air Force and came through the conflict safely.
Oscar died on the 5th September 1964 aged 67. He was cremated at Fremantle Cemetery.