Frederick Johnson

Researching Frederick Johnson took many hours of time, the main problem was finding a Leverstock Green connection, but also the correct Frederick Johnson (there are 211 Frederick Johnsons recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission) Written as F JOHNSON on the Leverstock Green memorial. The vicar of Leverstock Green on his 1919 Easter pamphlet and the Gazette newspaper, named Frederick Johnson on the Leverstock Green memorial. At first no person could be attributed to this name, then during the 1990s Matt Wheeler of Dacorum Heritage Trust found a possible match and with a lot of further research the correct Frederick Johnson was found. One small point which took a considerable amount of time was the relationship between Frederick Johnson of Little Tring and Leverstock Green. I had to go through each member of his family, one at a time to discard them. One of his sisters lived in St Albans, was it her? Eventually, after many hours I came across the connection and solved the mystery.

This is Fredericks story.

The Hertfordshire town of Tring is in a salient pushing into Buckinghamshire’s Aylesbury Vale, a picturesque area of rolling landscape with small hamlets, from this area came two families united in marriage and loss with family members Frederick Harrowell and Frederick Johnson recorded on the Leverstock Green war memorial.

Sarah Gill and Daniel Johnson were married in the summer of 1863. By 1871 Sarah's widowed mother along with her brothers and sisters and her own children she had with Daniel all lived under the same roof in the hamlet of Buckland. Sarah's younger brother George and her son Frederick would spend many years living in Buckland. George became a brick maker and moved to Leverstock Green, working at the brickworks in Bennetts End, in later life he became the foreman their.

Sarah grandson Frederick, named after his father was born in the hamlet of Little Tring during the first months of 1895 to parents Frederick and his second wife Elizabeth, with a family move to Marsworth taking place taking place by the time Frederick’s sister Annie was born in the spring of 1898. On the 1911 census Frederick is still living in Marsworth employed as a farm labourer, by 1914 he had possibly moved to Bennetts End were his grandmother's brother and father's friend George Gill lived.

During Fred's time in Leverstock Green he could have played for the village football team as a player named Johnson was a player in the team.

The Gazette Newspaper for 5^th September 1914 listed F.J.T. Johnson joining the army at Hemel Hempstead, The Commonwealth War Graves Commission name a Frederick Joseph Thomas Johnson of the Bedfordshire Regiment killed on the 16^th April 1915, he was born in Little Tring and Enlisted at Hertford, Hemel Hempstead was a substation for enlistment for Hertford. In October 1914 the Gazette news paper listed F Johnson of the envelope department of John Dickinson's Stationary company, as having joined the army, the John Dickinson's company War memorial in Apsley lists a member of its staff, F Johnson of the Bedfordshire Regiment as killed. As the C.W.G.C. list only 4 soldiers from this regiment killed two are not connected with the area and one was killed to late in the war to be our man.

With this early death Frederick would have been the first from Leverstock Green to have been killed in the war, this matches a list of seven soldiers who had been killed from Leverstock Green published in the Gazette during 1916, F Johnson is the first named.

Having enlisted within 4 weeks after the war's beginning Frederick was taken for basic training and went over to France on 2^nd February 1915 and was killed 72 days later on 16^th April.

The events below are taken from the war diary of the

1st battalion Bedfordshire Regiment.

On the 19^th February a draft of 90 men joined the battalion at the front line, it is most likely that Fred was one of these soldiers, on his arrival he was posted to D company.

On the 20^th February the Battalion moved into Brigade Reserve near Dranoutre, it was here on the 23^rd February a draft of 20 men joined the Battalion. On returning to the trenches and relieving the 1^st Battalion Cheshire Regt. 1 man was wounded during this relief. The following day in conjunction with the Norfolk Regiment the battalion fired bombs from mortars also rifle grenades at German works on the Wytschaete road. A mortar in the Norfolk’s trench burst wounding a Royal Engineers officer and 1 man and killed another. Most of our bombs were short, but 1 or 2 appeared to reach the enemy's trench. The Germans replied with heavier bombs causing casualties of 2 men wounded. The 25^th February the Germans dropped 2 heavy howitzer shells and also fired shrapnel at the Bedford’s trenches with the result of four men wounded, the next day was noted as a quiet day. Casualties 2 killed & 1 wounded.

On the 28^th the Bedfordshire’s are taken out of the front line and move into billets at Bailleul. During the first week of March a move to the canal bank south of Ypres (now known as Ieper) takes place with the battalion taking over a sector of trenches north of the Canal, Casualties in going up to trenches 3 wounded. The next day German snipers were very active causing casualties of 3 killed and 1 wounded.

After a few days rest the Beds are again returned to the front on the 11^th March. The situation in a trench known as 32 (a) was unpleasant. The Germans occupied one end of it and also had a trench parallel to it about 40 yards away and partly enveloping it at the end they hold. This made it impossible to show a periscope for more than a few seconds without getting a bullet through it; and quite impossible to see where the firing came from as no heads (enemies) showed above the parapets and no rifles could be seen at loopholes. The following day the Germans continued to drop bombs in the same place, thus partly isolating the garrison of 32(a) trench, also killing an officer and 2 N.C.O.s with 1 man wounded.

The Beds would continue to rotate with spells at the front and at rest, all the time taking casualties. On the 30^th March a constant duel was recorded between number 50 trench and the opposing German trench with rifle grenades, it was recorded;

"Usual difficulty in obtaining various component parts of rifle-grenades,

which are issued separately. On this occasion no blank rounds available,

& shortage of detonators."

From the beginning of April the Beds were taken out of the line and went into training and remained in reserve. On their return to the front on 11^th April the battalion took over trenches opposite Hill 60.

Between the 12^th and 16^th April the Battalion worked day and night reconnoitring old disused French & German trenches and in opening up communication trenches, along with preparing dugouts to shelter the extra Battalions about to be brought up for an attack on Hill 60. During this activity Frederick was killed on the 16^th April, unfortunately the war diary does not give any details of his death.

In Frederick's army Will he left all he owned to his mum, these wills were in the soldier's pay book and the pay book was to be carried by the soldier at all times, not all soldiers would fill out a will, although were encouraged to do so. As Frederick's pay book would have been taken from his body to retrieve the will, it would appear that he was first buried in a known grave that was destroyed during later fighting and lost.

After the end of the war the Commonwealth War Graves Commission located a small graveyard just behind the British front line trenches occupied by the Bedfordshire Regiment at Hill 60 in 1915, none of the graves had any markers, all having been destroyed. It was decided to exhume these soldiers and with a possibility to identifying any if possible, two soldiers from the 1^st battalion Bedfordshire Regiment, William Jackson, killed 5 days before Frederick was identified only by having his identity disc still with him, as was Private Sampson killed 4 days after Frederick. The majority of the rest are unknown and in all possibility Frederick was one of these soldiers who were all reburied in April 1926 at Oosttaverne Wood Cemetery, Frederick is now named on the Menin Gate memorial to the missing.

Soldiers at the start of the war were issued with only one identity disc and army regulations at the time of Frederick's death ordered the disc and pay book to be removed on the death of a soldier. This situation would have a great impact on the number of unknown soldiers because if a grave marker was destroyed the soldier would become unknown. It was not till September 1916 that a second identity disc was issued to each soldier. One to be left with the soldier in his grave.

Frederick is mentioned in the Bucks Herald newspaper when he enlisted and again later during June 1915 he is mentioned as being killed. He is also remembered on the,

Marsworth village memorial, Leverstock Green Memorial, Hemel Hempstead town memorial, John Dickinson factory memorial and the Menin Gate Memorial.

During the time Frederick served in France the 1st Bedfordshire Regiment had 52 other soldiers killed and many more wounded.