George Henry Johnson
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
George Henry Johnson was the fourth child of John James and Eliza Johnson (nee Slater). His birth was in Stone-broom, Derbyshire in 1884. His father was a coal miner and in 1901 was living at Hardwick Street, Tibshelf. As well as George, there were six other children all born in Derbyshire, James, Mary, Harriet, Harold, Doris and Gladys. The family moved to Ina Terrace, Whitwell, Derbyshire sometime after 1902 and as well as their father, John, James and George, the two older males, were working in the coal mines.
In April 1916, James Johnson of Central Avenue, Worksop, received a letter from a Sherwood Forester Called Scholfield which read as follows:- “Dear friend, it is with the greatest sympathy that I have to announce to you the death of your brother, George. He died without one moments pain at midnight on April 17th together with three comrades … He died the death of a hero, after fighting fourteen months for King and country. Full particulars of his death I cannot give in pencil and paper, but I may be home on leave soon, as I have not been yet and then I can give you all the details. All my comrades join in sending our heartfelt sympathy”. George was a pre-war territorial in the 1st/8th Sherwood Foresters which was part of the 46th North Midland Division, the first territorial division to be sent abroad. In March 1916, the division took over French trenches in the Vimy area. Vimy Ridge was then, as it still is, honeycombed with underground tunnels and the Battalion was called upon to provide men for a Brigade Mining Section to assist French miners in this section. Twelve men and one officer under the command of an officer from the 7th Battalion were delegated for this purpose including George as his experience as a pre-war miner well qualified him for the task. At midnight on the 17/18 April, the Germans sprang a mine which caused heavy loss which included the death of 22 year old Private (a Temporary Sapper) George Henry Johnson whose body was not recovered and whose name appears in Bay 7 of the Arras memorial. (The first initial on the photograph caption should be ‘G’ as there is no doubt this is a photo of Pte G H Johnson) Courtesy of Robert Illett
Originally recorded as JH Johnson on the Worksop Cenotaph and on the Priory Church Memorial; however, later research has shown the casualty to be G H (George Henry) Johnson. To ensure that George Henry Johnson was remembered correctly, he was added to the plaque on the Eastern Memorial Cenotaph when it was erected and dedicated in 2011.
