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Alexander Johnston (British Army officer)

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Alexander Johnston
Personal information
Born(1884-01-26)26 January 1884
Derby, Derbyshire, England
Died27 December 1952(1952-12-27) (aged 68)
Knaphill, Surrey, England
BattingRight-handed
BowlingLeg break
RelationsDuncan Johnston (father)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1902–1919Hampshire
1911–1920Marylebone Cricket Club
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 116
Runs scored 5,966
Batting average 30.91
100s/50s 10/31
Top score 175
Balls bowled 910
Wickets 18
Bowling average 44.72
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 4/21
Catches/stumpings 58/1
Source: Cricinfo, 15 February 2010

Brigadier General Alexander Colin Johnston DSO & Bar, MC (26 January 1884 – 27 December 1952) was an English first-class cricketer and British Army officer. Johnston was a right-handed batsman who was a leg break bowler. Johnston also occasionally played as a wicketkeeper.

Early life

The son of the Scottish cricketer and Royal Engineers officer Duncan Johnston, he was born in Derby in January 1884. Johnston was educated at Winchester College, where he represented the college cricket team as an opening batsman and leg break bowler.[1][2] There in his second match against Eton College, he dismissed eight Eton batsmen for 56 runs.[2] During his time at Winchester, he broke several college batting records.[3] He also played association football and rackets at Winchester.[4]

Military career

Early career

From Winchester, he proceeded to the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, which he graduated from as a second lieutenant in November 1903;[5] prior to taking up an appointment with the Worcestershire Regiment, he spent a year in Colorado and New Mexico as a cowboy.[2] He was promoted to lieutenant in June 1907,[6] the same year in which he was seconded to the Northern Nigeria Regiment for three years, which formed part of the West African Frontier Force.[7] Whilst serving in Nigeria, he played polo for Western Nigeria.[2] After the end of his secondment in October 1910, Johnston returned to the Worcestershire Regiment.[8] Just under two years later in August 1912, he was seconded to the Army Signal Service.[9]

WWI service

With the outbreak of the First World War on 28 July 1914, Johnston travelled with the Worcestershire Regiment to the Western Front as part of the British Expeditionary Force in the opening days of the war.[10] He saw action in the allied defeats at the Mons and Le Cateau in August,[10] while in September he fought in the indecisive First Battle of the Aisne.[11] In that same month he gained promotion to captain.[4][12] He was awarded the Military Cross in February 1915 for actions at Soissons.[13][3] Johnston was seconded to the 25th Division as a General Staff Officer, 3rd Grade in January 1916, an appointment which disappointed him;[14] however, his appointment to the 25th proved beneficial, as he gained the rank of brevet major in February – a coveted junior position – an appointment which he took up in March.[15] Johnston was active in the mining operations around the Vimy Ridge during 1916 and took part in the Battle of the Somme which lasted from July to November 1916.[16] During the Battle of the Somme, he was placed in command of the 10th Battalion, Cheshire Regiment, who needed careful leadership to bring them up to fighting efficiency. His skill in command was noted by the battalion's success at the end of the offensive and subsequent Battle of Messines in 1917.[16]

In December 1916, Johnston was decorated by France with the Legion of Honour,[17] while in June 1917 he was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in the 1917 Birthday Honours for his efforts at the Somme.[18][19] The following month he took part in the Battle of Passchendaele with the 10th, where his strong leadership of the battalion was rewarded shortly after the battle, when he was placed in command of the 126th Infantry Brigade and assumed the temporary rank of brigadier-general,[16] becoming the youngest general in the British Army.[19] However, just two days after assuming command, Johnston was seriously wounded in action when he was shot by an enemy sniper; it was the fourth time he had been wounded in the war.[20] His wounds were so serious that there seemed to be little hope for his survival, but through the care of Agnes Keyser at the King Edward VII's Hospital, he was able to recover,[21] albeit with one leg four inches shorter the other.[19] He subsequently sat out the remainder of the war recuperating in England.[16] Whilst recuperating, he was awarded a medal bar to his DSO in December 1917,[22] gained through his efforts at Passchendaele.[19] One week before the end of the war, he was promoted to the full rank of major.[23] Johnston served with distinction during the course of the war, being mentioned in despatches on five occasions.[2]

Later career

Johnston was made a temporary lieutenant colonel in January 1919.[24] By July 1919 he had recovered from his wounds, when he returned to service and travelled to the occupied Rhineland later in 1919.[16] After the war, he held a number of important appointments in connection with education in the British Army,[4] with his war-wounds having rendered him unfit for service on an active basis,[16] in addition to leaving him with a permanent limp.[2] He gained the full rank of lieutenant colonel in January 1921,[25] and in the same year he was appointed commandant at the Duke of York's Royal Military School in Kent,[26][20] an appointment he held until 1925.[27][28] Johnston was appointed chief education officer at Sandhurst in August 1927,[27][29] a post which he held until August 1929.[30]

After promotion to brevet colonel in January 1931,[31] Johnston served in British India with the Army Educational Corps.[27] There, he was inspector and commandant of the Army School of Education in Belgaum for six years from December 1931 to until his retirement in 1937.[32][33][4] He was placed on the half-pay list upon his retirement.[34] Johnston returned to military service during the Second World War, in which he held several staff posts, including as a staff officer in air defence at the Aldershot Command,[4] before joining the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office. In its service, he returned to India as head of the Foreign Office Mission there.[27] He would serve between 1945 and 1948 as an assistant commissioner in HM Forces' Saving Committee,[27] with his duties taking him to Italy and Allied-occupied Austria after the war.[4]

First-class cricket

Johnston made his debut in first-class cricket for Hampshire against Surrey at Southampton in the 1902 County Championship, whilst still a cadet at Sandhurst. He played six first-class matches that season, including against the touring Australians.[35] Eight further appearances followed in 1903,[35] with Johnston recording his first half century (59) against Warwickshire.[36] He scored his maiden century (105) the following year, in his first match of the season against Worcestershire,[37] and followed this up later in the season with 108 against Leicestershire;[38] his nine matches in 1904, including one for the Gentlemen of England against the Players of the South at the Bournemouth Cricket Week, yielded him 425 runs at an average of 30.35.[39] Although his average dropped to 18.23 from seven matches in 1905,[39] Johnston returned to form in the 1906 season.

Johnston played 107 matches for Hampshire before the First World War, with Johnston's most successful seasons with the bat coming in 1910 when he scored 1,158 runs at a batting average of 36.18, with seven half centuries and a single century score of 130; and in 1,044 runs at an average of 54.94 and a career high score of 175 against Warwickshire. In addition to representing Hampshire before the war, Johnston also played for the Marylebone Cricket Club in two pre-war first-class matches against Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, both matches coming in 1911. Also in 1911, Johnston played a single match for the Gentlemen in the 1911 Gentlemen v Players fixture, representing them once more in the 1912 fixture. In the 1914 season, which was cut short by the First World War, Johnston played a single match for the Army against the Royal Navy. Johnston's final first-class match for Hampshire before the war came against Surrey at Portsmouth.

Johnston returned from the First World War with a permanent limp, though he continued his activities as a soldier and sportsman. In 1919 Johnston played his final match for Hampshire against Gloucestershire. In his first-class career for Hampshire, Johnston scored 5,442 runs at an average of 30.74, with 27 half centuries, 10 centuries and a high score of 175. Johnston was also a part-time leg break bowler, taking 18 wickets at a bowling average of 44.72, with best figures of 4/21. In the field Johnston took 57 catches and made a single stumping.

In 1920, Johnston played his second and final first-class match for the Marylebone Cricket Club against the Army and the same season he played his final first-class match for the Gentlemen of England against the Combined Services. In his combined first-class career Johnston played 116 matches, scoring 5,966 runs at an average of 30.91, with 31 half centuries, 10 centuries and a high score of 175.

All of Johnston's first-class wickets came while he was playing for Hampshire. Johnston continued to play cricket, although in a non-first-class capacity, playing the Netherlands on tours to that country with the Free Foresters and the Marylebone Cricket Club. In 1929/30, Johnston toured Egypt with HM Martineau's XI, where he played matches against the Egypt national cricket team.

His playing career came to an end with the Free Foresters tour of the Netherlands in 1933. As well as playing cricket, Johnston played for the Army at football and hockey and played polo for Western Nigeria.[40]

Personal life and death

He was an organiser for the 3rd World Rover Moot in 1939. Johnston died suddenly on 27 December 1952 at his residence in Knaphill, Surrey.[2] He was survived by his wife, Esme, whom he had married in 1912, and their two daughters.[4]

References

  1. ^ Dauglish, M. G.; Wainewright, John Bannerman (1907). Winchester College, 1836–1906: A Register. Winchester: P. and G. Wells. p. 577.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Wisden - Obituaries in 1952". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b Sandford 2014, p. 19.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Col. A. C. Johnston". The Times. No. 52506. London. 30 December 1952. p. 8. Retrieved 20 August 2024 – via Gale.
  5. ^ "No. 27611". The London Gazette. 3 November 1903. p. 6697.
  6. ^ "No. 28047". The London Gazette. 2 August 1907. p. 5298.
  7. ^ "No. 28019". The London Gazette. 7 May 1907. p. 3083.
  8. ^ "No. 28426". The London Gazette. 21 October 1910. p. 7436.
  9. ^ "No. 28649". The London Gazette. 1 October 1912. p. 7194.
  10. ^ a b Astill 2007, p. 4.
  11. ^ Astill 2007, p. 31.
  12. ^ "No. 28944". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 October 1914. p. 8363.
  13. ^ "No. 29074". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 February 1915. p. 1693.
  14. ^ Astill 2007, p. 1.
  15. ^ "No. 29466". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 February 1916. p. 1468.
  16. ^ a b c d e f Astill 2007, p. 2.
  17. ^ "No. 13022". The Edinburgh Gazette. 12 December 1916. p. 2280.
  18. ^ "No. 30111". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1917. p. 5471.
  19. ^ a b c d Frith, David (10 November 1918). "Letters home: Cricketers' correspondence from the battlefields". www.thecricketer.com. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  20. ^ a b Davies and Maddocks 2014, p. 155.
  21. ^ The Cricketer 1953.
  22. ^ "No. 30450". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1917. p. 17.
  23. ^ "No. 31018". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 November 1918. p. 13585.
  24. ^ "No. 31115". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1919. p. 480.
  25. ^ "No. 32177". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1920. p. 12810.
  26. ^ "No. 32219". The London Gazette (Supplement). 4 February 1921. p. 1043.
  27. ^ a b c d e Astill 2007, p. 3.
  28. ^ "No. 33071". The London Gazette. 31 July 1925. p. 5134.
  29. ^ "No. 33309". The London Gazette. 6 September 1927. p. 5734.
  30. ^ "No. 33530". The London Gazette. 30 August 1929. p. 5643.
  31. ^ "No. 33676". The London Gazette. 2 January 1931. p. 60.
  32. ^ "No. 33884". The London Gazette. 18 November 1932. p. 7344.
  33. ^ "No. 33805". The London Gazette. 4 March 1932. p. 1502.
  34. ^ "No. 34408". The London Gazette. 15 June 1937. p. 3857.
  35. ^ a b "First-Class Matches played by Alexander Johnston". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  36. ^ "Hampshire v Warwickshire, County Championship 1903". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  37. ^ "Hampshire v Worcestershire, County Championship 1904". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  38. ^ "Hampshire v Leicestershire, County Championship 1904". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  39. ^ a b "First-Class Batting and Fielding in Each Season by Alexander Johnston". CricketArchive. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  40. ^ Obituary, cricinfo.com. Accessed 25 January 2023.

Works cited

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