L/Sjt
Harold Arthur Johnston

Information about birth

Date of birth:
30/07/1892
Place of birth:
Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

General information

Profession:
Hotel Assistant

Army information

Country:
New Zealand
Force:
New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Lance Serjeant
Service number:
32343
Enlistment date:
26/07/1916
Enlistment place:
Trentham, Wellington, New Zealand
Units:
 —  Canterbury Regiment, 3rd Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
19/12/1917
Place of death:
Butte, Polygon Wood, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
25

Cemetery

Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood
Plot: XII
Row: AA
Grave: 2

Distinctions and medals 2

Points of interest 2

#1 Place of birth
#2 Enlistment place

My story

Lance Serjeant Harold Arthur Johnston served in the Canterbury Regiment, Third Battalion, 4th New Zealand Brigade. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Johnston, of 34, London St., Richmond, Christchurch, New Zealand.

The New Zealand Division was in the Polygon Wood area, after the end of the Third Battle of Ypres. Much of the time was spent in wiring, repairing crumbling trenches and improving defenses. The landscape was covered with waterlogged shell holes. The right of the New Zealand position was enfiladed from Polderhoek and a decision was made to capture the spur on which the ruins of Polderhoek Chateau and German pillboxes sat.

After the unsuccessful attack on Polderhoek on 3 December, the various battalions took turns in the line and in reserve. Neither the New Zealand Division history or that of the Canterbury Regiment give detailed information for the December 1917-February 1918 period so it is impossible to say with any certainty how Harold died. The opposing German forces generally held higher ground and movement in the New Zealand lines was often observed and shelled or machine-gunned. It was during this period that Harold was killed, on the 19th of December 1917.

He is among a group of New Zealand soldiers ‘Believed to be buried in this cemetery’ at Buttes New British Cemetery at Polygon Wood. His name is marked at a special memorial in Plot XII, Row AA, Grave 2.a

Files 2

Sources 6

"The New Zealand Division 1916-1919 : a popular history based on official records", Stewart H., Whitcombe and Tombs, 1921, page 314 -315, page 23
Sources used
Auckland Cenotaph
http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/C7817?n=Johnston%20%2F%2032343&ordinal=0&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch
Sources used
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/480309/johnston,-harold-arthur/
Sources used
NZEF project
http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=131501
Sources used
Service Records
https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/560333
Sources used
The long, long trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/order-of-battle-of-divisions/new-zealand-division/
Sources used