BORN HULL, 1891. ENLISTED HULL. LIVED IN GOOLE. SON OF SAMUEL JOHNSTON (1854-1930) AND ANNIE CUTTS (1853-1913), OF 11 ALLIANCE AVENUE, HULL (1901 CENSUS) 53 CLIFTON GARDENS, GOOLE (1911 CENSUS). HE HAD THREE BROTHERS AND EIGHT SISTERS. EMPLOYED AS A CLERK, FOR THE LONDON & YORK RAILWAYS.
HE SERVED AS A PIONEER, WITH THE ROYAL ENGINEERS REINFORCEMENTS. DROWNED ON TRANSPORT SHIP “TRANSYLVANIA”, ON 04/05/1917, AGED 27. HIS SHIP WAS TORPEDOED AND SANK WITHIN AN HOUR WITH THE LOSS OF 414 LIVES. HE IS COMMEMORATED ON THE SAVONA MEMORIAL, ITALY.
HIS WAR PENSION, WENT TO HIS WIDOW, CLEMENTINA, AND DAUGHTER, VERA BLACK, (BORN 18/03/1917), AT 53 CLIFTON GARDENS, GOOLE (WAR PENSION ADDRESS)
HIS BROTHER, LANCE CORPORAL, CLAUDE JOHNSTON, 12/1006, 12TH EYR, WAS KILLED AT OPPY WOOD, THE DAY BEFORE, ON 03/05/1917, AGED 24.
On 4 May 1917, the Hired Transport “Transylvania”, proceeding to Salonika with reinforcements, was sunk by torpedo off Cape Vado, a few kilometres south of Savona, with the loss of more than 400 lives. The bodies recovered at Savona were buried two days later, from the Hospital of San Paulo, in a special plot in the town cemetery.
