Private Alfred Ashley Johnston
Number: 9376
Company: 46th (Belfast) Company, 13th Battalion, First Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 4 January 1900
Place: Belfast
Age: 32 years 6 months
Trade or calling: Linen manufacturer
Place of birth: In the Parish of Belfast, in or near the Town of Belfast, in the County of Antrim
Address: Dunesk, Belfast, County Antrim
Family: Single. "Nil' stated against next of kin on enlistment form. Father William John Johnston, merchant, mother Lucinda Johnston (nee Stewart) (both dec.)
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 5' 9 1/4". Complexion fresh, eyes brown/ grey, hair brown. Scar on left temple.
Religion: Not recorded on enlistment form
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 3 March 1900
Date home: __
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal. Cape Colony, Orange Free State clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 27 November 1900
Place: Johannesburg
Reason for discharge: To take up civil employment
Intended place of residence: Pretoria
Conduct: Very good
Special qualifications: Thorough knowledge of book-keeping, etc
Johnston was among the 400 men captured by Boer forces at Lindley in May 1900. He was released on 30 August with the other members of the 13th Battalion when the British captured Nooitgedacht.
A letter written home by Private Arthur Cree Mitchell while in captivity, dated 13 July, was reported on in the Northern Whig:
He refers with the deepest regret to the death of George McLaughlin and of the other troopers who fell at Lindley, and pays a generous tribute to the memory of the dead. The tone of the letter is, all the same, cheerful, and, having inquired how the "Twelfth" passed in Belfast, Trooper Mitchell relates that on that day Trooper Alfie Johnston was successful in securing a bottle of gin, and drank with a number of other Orange bretheren to the "glorious, pious, and immortal memory of William, Prince of Orange." "The day," the writer proceeds, "passed quietly, all sober, and no disturbance." The afternoons, Trooper Mitchell further relates, were devoted to sports, and, there being plenty of company, the time did not weigh too heavily on their hands.
Image from the Belfast Telegraph, 8 March 1900.
This page last updated 2 January 2025.