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William Henry Johnston (21 December 1879 – 8 June 1915) was a British soldier and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
and
Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
forces. Born 21 December 1879 in
Leith Leith (; gd, Lìte) is a port area in the north of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, founded at the mouth of the Water of Leith. In 2021, it was ranked by '' Time Out'' as one of the top five neighbourhoods to live in the world. The earliest ...
, Edinburgh to Maj. William Johnston and Mary Johnston.Johnston, William Henry
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Johnston was a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the 59th Field Company,
Corps of Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
,
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...
. He was 34 years old, on 14 September 1914 during the Race to the Sea at
Missy Missy or Missie is a feminine first name, often a short form of Melissa. People * Mathilde de Morny (1863-1944), French aristocrat and artist * Michele "Missy" Avila (1968-1985), American murder victim * Missie Berteotti (born 1963), American L ...
, France, in the First World War, he performed an act of bravery for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. His citation read: Johnston afterwards served with the
tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers Royal Engineer tunnelling companies were specialist units of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army, formed to dig attacking tunnels under enemy lines during the First World War. The stalemate situation in the early part of the war ...
at St Eloi in the Ypres Salient. Mining activity by the Royal Engineers began at St Eloi in early 1915. The Germans exploded mines under the area known as ''The Mound'' just south-east of St Eloi in March 1915 and in the ensuing fighting the British suffered some 500 casualties. A month later, on 14 April 1915, the Germans fired another mine producing a crater over in diameter. Much of the British tunnelling in this sector was done by the 177th and
172nd Tunnelling Company The 172nd Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Engineers created by the British Army during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of ...
, the latter commanded in early 1915 by Captain William Henry Johnston VC. Johnston left 172nd Tunnelling Company in early May and was killed in action at Ypres on 8 June 1915. He eventually achieved the rank of major. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the
Royal Engineers Museum The Royal Engineers Museum, Library and Archive is a military engineering museum and library in Gillingham, Kent. It tells the story of the Corps of Royal Engineers and British military engineering in general. History The 'Ravelin Building', ...
, Chatham, Kent.


References

* Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999) * The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997) *
The Sapper VCs The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
(Gerald Napier, 1998) *
Scotland's Forgotten Valour ''Scotland's Forgotten Valour'' is a 1995 book by Graham Ross, published by MacLean Press under . (The typography of the title on the book uses capitalisation Capitalization (American English) or capitalisation (British English) is writing a ...
(Graham Ross, 1995) *
VCs of the First World War - 1914 ''VCs of the First World War'' is a series of books that list the Victoria Cross recipients of the First World War. The series consists of 13 books written by four different authors, first published under the label Sutton Publishing Limited, part ...
(Gerald Gliddon, 1994)


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, William Henry 1879 births 1915 deaths British Army personnel of World War I British World War I recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Engineers officers British military personnel killed in World War I People from Leith British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross Burials at Perth (China Wall) Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery Military personnel from Edinburgh