Royal Artillery
Born: 26th June 1918
Story
Son of Mr Richard Robinson Johnson (1874-1949) and Sarah Bastow (1878-1958), who lived at 20 New Street, and had married in Kippax on 27th October 1900. Richard Johnson (pictured below) was a special constable during the First World War. Their youngest child, Harold Johnson, worked at Burton’s, Leeds before he enlisted for the Royal Artillery.
Harold was captured by Italian troops at the Battle of Gazala, Tobruk, Libya, when 35,000 Allied troops (including the South African 2nd Division) surrendered to General Enea Navarini. Harold’s father was initially informed that his son was missing in the Middle East, and on 18th September 1942, Harold was confirmed to be a Prisoner of War, along with Leslie Hall, also of Kippax. Below: Allied prisoners being marched out of Tobruk:
On Tuesday 27th June 1944, Richard Johnson was overjoyed to receive a letter from his son. After a silence of eleven months, Harold explained that he had managed to escape from his Prisoner of War camp, and had spent the past nine months on the run behind German lines in Italy, and only now had he managed to re-join British Forces. Despite his adventures, he reassured his parents that he was in the best of health. On 11th July 1944, Harold recounted his story to the newspapers:
After the War, Harold married Marjorie Hudson (1922-1981) in 1946, and passed away in 1985 at the age of 67.
Kippax Roll of Honour 