The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (VX42266) Corporal John Leslie Johnson, 2/23rd Battalion (Infantry)

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial every day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle the story for this day was on (VX42266) Corporal John Leslie Johnson, 2/23rd Battalion (Infantry), Second World War.

VX42266 Corporal John Leslie Johnson, 2/23rd Battalion
KIA 17 May 1941
Photograph: P05939.002

Story delivered 13 July 2013

Today, we remember and pay tribute to Corporal John Johnson of the 2/23rd Battalion.

John Leslie Johnson was born in the Victorian country town of Walwa, not far from Wodonga, on the Murray River. Before he enlisted in the Army in June 1940, Johnson worked as a carpenter and contractor. He was 37 and a devoted family man, the father of six boys and a girl.
Johnson's unit, the 2/23rd Battalion, arrived in Egypt on 17 December 1940. With him in the same battalion were two of his best mates from Walwa, privates Alan Kelly and John Joy.

During his time in the army, Corporal Johnson became a prolific correspondent with his wife, Josephine, and their children. They wrote hundreds of letters to each other and John took care to write to each of his sons individually, eagerly awaiting their return letters. While he was away, Josephine gave birth to their eighth child, a girl.

Early in April 1941, the 2/23rd Battalion entered the Libyan coastal town of Tobruk, at the beginning of an eight-month siege during which the Australian 9th Division, known as the "Rats of Tobruk", would earn a place in history for their tenacious defence of the town. Defending the Red Line, the outer defensive perimeter around Tobruk, on the night of the 17th of May, Johnson's unit came under heavy fire as they counter-attacked to retake a position which had fallen to the enemy. In the desperate fighting, Johnson's B Company suffered heavy casualties. At first light the next morning, Corporal Johnson and his two mates from Walwa were killed. As they drove round the battleground picking up the wounded in a Bren gun carrier, Johnson received a fatal bullet wound in the back. He was 38 years old.

Three years later John's wife, Josephine, wrote to the Army Records Office, requesting that they send her some of her husband's personal items. Among these items were his watch, a fountain pen and the wallet that she had given to John as a wedding present and which contained, as his army record relates, "snaps of his six sons and one daughter and one of the baby he never saw".

Corporal Johnson is buried in the Tobruk War Cemetery, Libya.

John Leslie Johnson's name is listed on the Roll of Honour to my left, along with almost 40,000 others from the Second World War. His photo is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is one of the many stories of courage and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Corporal John Leslie Johnson, Private Alan Clement Kelly, Private John Patrick Joy, and all those Australians who have given their lives in the service of our nation.