Photo: James Pasby
18266 Private
F. Johnson
Durham Light Infantry
17th June 1916 Age 20
Son of James Johnson, of 19, Curry's Square, Dipton, Co. Durham, and the late Annie Johnson. Born at Swalwell.
Jacky Cooper has provided the following:
Frederick Johnson, known as Fred, was the fifth child and second son of James Johnson, a coal miner, and Ann Kagel who had married on 31 March 1888 in Belmont, Durham. Fred was born in the spring of 1896 when the family was living in Swalwell.
When the 1901 census return was made the Johnsons were living in Whickham Road. Two children had previously died in infancy, and Fred had two older sisters as well as a baby brother. In 1908 his older sister, Mary Jane left home when she married John Morpeth in 1908.
Fred attended Swalwell school, and by the time the next census was taken in 1911 he had left school and was working as a rope boy in the local mine. This underground job involved transferring ropes from one set of rails to another after coal had been carried in tubs on an inclined plane to get it to the mine shaft. Fred had another two younger siblings, and his father was still working in the mine as a hewer.
When war broke out Fred was a miner and was quick to respond to the call for volunteers. He attested at Gateshead on 14 September, declaring himself to be 19 years and 157 days old (and thereby old enough to fight abroad) despite being several months away from his 19th birthday. He had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. Fred’s medical examination shows that he was 5’7” tall and weighed 136½ lbs. His physical development was described as good, and he had a 38” chest.
Two days after Fred enlisted, over 4,000 recruits left Newcastle for Bullswater Camp in Surrey. They were divided into the 12th & 13th Battalions Durham Light Infantry (D.L.I.) and 10th &11th Battalions Northumberland Fusiliers (N.F.). Fred was posted to 12th Battalion D.L.I. and issued with service number 18266.
The recruits began their military training wearing their own clothes until blue serge uniforms were issued. Within a couple of months rain had made Bullswater camp unusable and the battalion moved to barracks near Aldershot. There were further moves to Ashford in Kent, and then Bramshott in Hampshire.
Fred’s service record shows that he was confined to barracks for four days after being late returning to base on 13 January 1915. This was the only disciplinary incident recorded. The following month the men’s khaki uniforms arrived. Rifle training was completed by July.
On 26 August 1915, 12th Battalion D.L.I. landed in France and within days was sent into the trenches. The men would very soon get used to the routine of being in the front line, in reserve and resting. The winter of 1915/1916 was spent in the area around Armentieres and Souchez.
On 4 March 1916 Fred was admitted to number 6 Casualty Clearing Station, then based at Lillers, suffering from pleurisy. He was sent back to England on a hospital ship on 17 March 1916 and was admitted to the Norfolk and Norwich hospital the following day. He died of Tubercular meningitis at 1.45 am on 17 June.
Fred’s family had moved to 11 Quality Row, Swalwell and it was from there that his mother wrote on 27 June asking if it was possible for Fred’s kit bag, which had been left in France, to be returned. This must have been a particularly difficult time for the family, as Fred’s brother-in-law, serving in the Northumberland Fusiliers, was killed in action on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, just two weeks after Fred died.
For his service to his country Fred earned the 1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. These were forwarded to his father in 1921. His accumulated back pay and £8 war gratuity payment were also sent to his father.
Fred’s mother, Ann died at home, in Quality Row on 17 January 1918. His older sister Mary Jane remarried after the war and in 1939 was still living in Whickham. She died in the autumn of 1971.
Fred Johnson is remembered in Swalwell on S85.01, in Whickham on W86.01 and W86.10 and in the D.L.I. Book of Remembrance page 154
