Hull Pals Memorial Post. Private, JOHN WILLIAM JOHNSON 11/1111. Born in 1883, John was one of eight children to William and Agnes Johnson of 6, Western Villas, Hessle. John married, Angelina Lamer, in St. James’s Church, on 16th October 1904 and the couple lived at 3, Crystal Avenue, South Parade, Hull and 12, The Avenue, Cottingham (War Pension address), with their four children. A Coal Trimmer by trade, he enlisted at City Hall on 2nd November 1914 joining the 11th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Tradesmen’, 2nd Hull Pals. John was promoted to Lance Corporal on 6th December 1915 just before the Pals sailed for Egypt but was stripped of the rank on 24th July 1916 on the Somme, though his records show he had been hospitalised with shellshock on 8th April a couple of weeks after their arrival in the trenches and this may have been a factor. A veteran of Oppy Wood, he was taken prisoner on 12th April 1918 at Armentieres during the German Spring Offensive. Here is where it gets interesting. It has often been said that truth is the first casualty of war, and John’s demise and the subsequent acceptance of events pay testimony to that. The Germans reported he had died on 5th September 1918 due to wounds caused during an air raid. Angelina Johnson refused to believe it and wrote to the army:
“It was them wicked Germans as done it….”
Clearly desperate at having thought her husband was safe, and facing an uncertain future with four young children, she wasn’t ready to face the tragic truth- her husband had been killed by his own side. John is buried in New Irish Farm Cemetery, Ypres; he was 35 years old.
His war pension went to his widow and four children, who moved to 12, The Avenue, Cottingham, Hull. His name is recorded on the church WW1 memorial at St Matthews Church, the Boulevard, Hull
