July 17, 2021. The four year search for a photo of WW2 soldier Gordon Frederick JOHNSON of Truro, Nova Scotia, who is buried in the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, The Netherlands is over!  (To read the original story about the search, see https://bordencarletonresearchproject.wordpress.com/2021/04/16/on-the-war-memorial-trail-the-search-for-a-photo-of-gordon-frederick-johnson/)

… A letter to the editor proved successful….

On June 24, 2021, Pieter’s letter to the editor was published in the Truro News. The first we knew of it was when the phone rang one Sunday.  The caller, Claudia Putnam, said a neighbour had dropped off the article while she was at church.  Her father, Clyde McCarthy, was a half-brother of Johnson, and her brother Randy had a photo.

Thanks to the opening of the Atlantic Bubble and a medical appointment in Halifax, we were soon able to meet Claudia and Randy, and learn more about this remarkable soldier.

Randy explained that “…our father Clyde was very close to Gordon, who was known as Gordie…”

Randy and Claudia’s father was one of the children born to the second marriage of Gordon’s mother, Margaret.  Randy explained that “…Gordon’s father was a miner working in Missouri when he got black lung from working in the mines.  Margaret brought him back to Truro and he died in 1914, when Gordon was 3 years old...”

Gordon’s brothers, George Johnson and Clyde McCarthy (Randy and Claudia’s father), also served in WW2. Thankfully, both survived the war.

In researching further, Pieter learned that Gordon had joined the militia in 1927 and received an Efficiency Medal and Clasp in 1939 for 12 years of service.  On October 13, 1939 he enlisted for active service with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.

He served many years as an instructor in the use of mortars in England, with the rank of Warrant Officer, and took a demotion to Sergeant in order to join his regiment in Italy.  Instead, he was demoted and sent back to Canada as an instructor.

….’He had a very strong sense of duty’….

Gordon filed a grievance.  “...He had a very strong sense of duty to his unit...” remarked Pieter. In early August 1944 he was back in the United Kingdom. On September 29, 1944 he rejoined the North Nova Scotia Highlanders in France.

On April 8, 1945, Gordon was killed in action near Zutphen while trying to retrieve an anti-tank weapon that one of the members in his platoon had left behind.

“…It’s worth repeating what had been said about him by a fellow soldier…” Pieter said. In ‘No Retreating Footsteps… the story of the North Novas’, Will Bird wrote that “…A PIAT was left by the canal by someone in D Company and Sgt Gordie Johnson went back to get it.  He was killed by a sniper as he reached the spot. His passing was a sad loss…”

Gordon’s mother died at the age of 93.  His wife Hazel Pearl stayed in touch with the family but as the older generation passed away, contact between the families faded.

Thank you to Claudia Putnam and Randy McCarthy for sharing information and photos.  Do you have photos or information about Gordon Frederick Johnson to share?  Please email Pieter at dariadv@yahoo.ca or comment on the blog, or send a tweet to @researchmemori1.

…Help needed to find two more photos …..

Your help is needed to put a face to two more members of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders for which a photo continues to be on the wish list:

• Allan G. COUTTS of Alberta
• Archibald Henry NELSON of Prince Edward Island

If you are reading this posting, but aren’t following the blog, you are welcome to do so.  See https://bordencarletonresearchproject.wordpress.com or email me at dariadv@yahoo.ca and ask for an invitation to the blog.

You are also invited to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw.

© Daria Valkenburg

April 16, 2021.  Sometimes a soldier’s story is one that Pieter feels a personal connection to.  This was the case when he was asked by the researchers at the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, The Netherlands for help in finding a photo of WW2 soldier Gordon Frederick JOHNSON.

That was back in 2017 when help was requested to find photos of 6 soldiers from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders Regiment.  After going through Gordon’s service file, Pieter was determined to find a photo.  “….This was a responsible man, who took care of his men….” he said.

Gordon was born June 11, 1911 in Windsor, Nova Scotia, the son of James Gordon Johnson and Margaret Elizabeth de Wolfe. Later the family moved to Truro, Nova Scotia.  Sadly, he lost his father when he was only 3 years old. He had 6 brothers and sisters, and after his mother remarried to John McCarthy, had 6 half-brothers and sisters.

In 1935, Gordon married Hazel Pearl Williams and was employed as a machinist. On October 13, 1939, with WW2 underway, he enlisted with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders.

During the spring of 1945, it was clear to both sides that the war in Europe was nearing its end, but extreme resistance from the German army still resulted in many casualties during the liberation of The Netherlands.  By now a sergeant, Gordon was killed in action near Zutphen on April 8, 1945 while trying to retrieve an anti-tank weapon that one of the members in his platoon had left behind.  Going back to retrieve a weapon is exactly what Pieter would have done!

In ‘No Retreating Footsteps… the story of the North Novas’, Will Bird wrote that “…A PIAT was left by the canal by someone in D Company and Sgt Gordie Johnson went back to get it.  He was killed by a sniper as he reached the spot. His passing was a sad loss…”  A PIAT is an anti-tank weapon.  (For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIAT)

Gordon is buried in the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten.  Pieter had no luck finding family members, so in 2018 when we were in Nova Scotia, he made a stop in Truro and went to the Anglican Church that Gordon had belonged to.  Perhaps someone from the church office could help find family members, he thought.   He was told that no Johnsons were left in Truro, but that there were McCarthys and someone from the church would try to find someone who might have a photo.

Unfortunately, finding a photo has so far been surprisingly unsuccessful, given that he had 6 siblings and 6 half-siblings, plus a wife.

Now an appeal for a photo of Gordon Frederick Johnson has gone out on YouTube, which you can watch here:

A huge thank you goes to post-production editor Wendy Nattress, who made this YouTube video a reality.

Of the 6 soldiers for which photos were sought, family members and photos of three were found, but three remain outstanding.  In addition to Gordon Frederick Johnson, the other two members of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders for which a photo is on the wish list are:

• Allan G. COUTTS of Alberta
• Archibald Henry NELSON of Prince Edward Island

Can you help put a face to any of these men! If you have photos or information, please email Pieter at dariadv@yahoo.ca, comment on the blog, or tweet to @researchmemori1.  As well, photos and stories are still being collected for the Atlantic Canada Remembers series, and for Canadian soldiers buried in The Netherlands.

You are also invited to subscribe to our YouTube Channel: On The War Memorial Trail With Pieter Valkenburg: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ591TyjSheOR-Cb_Gs_5Kw.

© Daria Valkenburg