Johnston, Hercules James

Collection relating to the First World War service of 1838 Lance Corporal (L/Cpl) Hercules James Johnston, 34th Australian Infantry Battalion, AIF. A barber from Scone, NSW, he embarked as a Private with the 2nd Reinforcements from Sydney aboard HMAT Port Sydney (A15) on 4 September 1916. He was killed in action at Passchendaele, Belgium, on 12 October 1917, aged 28. Collection comprises a wallet sized handwritten diary kept by L/Cpl Johnston from the time he left training camp in Maitland until a few days before his death. Contains short regular entries such as from 27 July 1917 'Had a lively time this morning. Had my dug out blown in by Fritz. Moved to another one and he put a shell near the door. Luckily it was a small one". Also included is a 4 verse handwritten poem (author not noted), a Leave pass for L/Cpl Johnston for August 1916, a receipt from the YMCA Shakespeare Hut from 5 November 1916, and a one page inventory of plant, tools and instruments for L/Cpl Johnston, issued In The Field on 9 August 1917.