The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Passchendaele campaign by gunner’s family
Angus man seeks to have greatuncle officially listed as casualty of war
An Angus man will make a pilgrimage to London in a bid to get his great-uncle recognised as a casualty of one of the most brutal battles of the First World War.
Gunner Frank Johnston, from Dundee, is believed to have been mortally injured at the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917 but is still not recognised as a casualty of war.
Douglas Norrie, from near Arbroath, has been trying to find documentary evidence to correct this but was unable to provide sufficient independent corroboration that he died directly of his war wounds as his army records have not survived.
Mr Norrie discovered the anomaly while researching the role his grandfather and his grandfather’s four brothers played in the war.
He said: “I think I will need to go to London to look up things at the Imperial War Museum, the National Archives and the Royal Artillery Museum.
“There are still a few possible avenues to research but the relevant papers are not online and probably never will be.
“I am hoping to get down to London at the end of November or early December for a few days, so we shall see.”
Gunner Johnston, who was born in 1893, is believed to have been wounded in Flanders in 1917 and he endured a prolonged and difficult death in November 1919 in a private nursing home in Dundee as a result of his injuries.
The National Army Museum has accepted he was in the army and served overseas and they are willing to review their decision if new evidence becomes available.
Of the five Johnston brothers, four were artillerymen and the fifth, John, was an army doctor.
David and Frank were both with the Royal Garrison Artillery and their batteries of large long-range howitzers were deployed at Corps level and primarily used to attack specific enemy targets, particularly enemy artillery.
Walter and Peachy served with the Royal Field Artillery with their respective brigades being attached to infantry divisions and their smaller, highly portable field guns being used in support of infantry.
The fifth of the brothers, Captain (Dr) John Mcpherson Johnston, was a doctor and served with the Royal Army Medical Corps and was awarded the Silver War Badge after being discharged with TB.
Mr Norrie said: “On the unusual name Peachy, Peachy Carnahan in Kipling’s ‘A Man Who Would be King’ and our Peachy Johnston were both named after Peachy’s uncle in India, Peachy Taliaferro Wilson, an American Methodist medical missionary.
“The family all get a chuckle at that story but it is true.”
gstrachan@thecourier.co.uk