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Henry James JOHNSON - 2 Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment
1890- 9th October 1916

Henry was born in Foots Cray in 1890, the youngest of eight children born to farm labourer George
Johnson and his wife, Julie living in Epsom Cottages, Cray Road. Like many other local lads, he
decided to join the regular Army whilst still in his teens and signed on at New Cross, South London. By
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1911 he was serving in India with the 2 Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment.

When war was declared the Regiment was stationed at Multan, India moving to Mesopotamia and then
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on 6 February 1915 the 2 Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment arrived at Basra where it came
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under the command of the 12 Indian Brigade. They were soon engaged in several battles with the
Turks and at first were very successful. But the tide turned quickly at the Battle of Ctesiphon
(22nd-26th November 1915) which it was thought by the military was going to be a trouble-free prelude
to the final march on Baghdad. General Townshend's depleted troops sustained heavy casualties and
he decided to retreat to Kut-al-Almara where the well-equipped and well-trained Turkish troops lay
siege to the British troops which lasted until April 1916.

Extracts from a non-combatant's diary entry, which was hand written in ink:

"4th Feb. 1916: Unable to write up diary for some days now. On 2nd February I had another attack of
colic and stopped in bed all day, except to take Holy Communion which one soldier attended as he was out
from hospital and had to go back to the trenches at once. He was looking terribly ill and thin - no clothes
but what he stood up in - not even an overcoat. Bitterly cold.
5h Feb 1916: We had more heavy shell fire .
7th February 1916: Took evensong in hospital which was very jolly and the hymns were splendidly
sung."

Thousands of men, from both the British and Indian Armies, died during those awful months when
they were under constant bombardment and desperately short of food and medical supplies. When
they eventually surrendered, largely because they were literally starving to death, those that had
survived were all taken prisoner.

Henry (known as "Jimmie") and his Army pals, then suffered a most traumatic and terrible journey of
many miles duration which was undertaken on foot in extreme heat, without water, food or medical
help, followed by months in captivity of unbelievable cruelty and hardship. The British Army did
eventually rescue the men in March 1917, but the number was down to almost half of those who had
originally been taken into captivity. Unfortunately, Henry was not one of them. He died on 9th
October 1916 "of disease whilst a prisoner of war". The disease could have been cholera, typhoid,
dysentery - any one of them would have been fatal to a man who had been through such a traumatic
time.

How Henry Johnson managed to survive in captivity by such an extremely cruel and barbaric regime is
almost beyond comprehension. We can only begin to imagine what he endured, and perhaps it is
better that we don’t know. It is certain that he suffered a great deal. But he must have had a
strong will, even to survive for that long, and perhaps the thought of returning to his home in North
Cray helped his determination, but the stark reality is that death may well have come as a welcome
relief.

In Memoriam Private Henry James Johnson was eventually buried in the Baghdad (North Gate)
Cemetery which was begun in April 1917.