Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.11.2018, Page 15

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Lögberg-Heimskringla • 15. nóvember 2018 • 15
here. He did not tell us, though, that we
should prepare ourselves to return home
to Canada! No, he did not mention any
such thing – just told us that we were
looking good, and this we already knew.
This is the third king that I have seen in
my days, and they all seem quite similar
to other people in every regard.”
On September 18, he wrote about
the Battle of Lens, even including his
assessment of why the battle had been
so difficult for the Allied troops. He
described entering the town of Lens
at midnight and crawling through the
debris for six hours, only to make it a mile
and a half, or about the halfway point
through the town. He also described the
insidious effects of German gas attacks
before noting the death of one Icelandic
soldier and the injury and decoration
of another. “Should I be so fortunate
as to survive the next attack on Lens,
then I want to send another few lines
to describe better all the methods used
against the gas, for it certainly will be a
historic event.”
Late in November, he wrote saying
that the Canadians had been redeployed
from the positions they had held during
the previous two years, expressing some
disappointment that they wouldn’t have
a chance to complete their work there.
“Thought we would get to deal with our
opposition in the same place as before,
where we had been stationed for so
long and had made improvements to in
various ways, and won there one major
victory after the other. But when we
arrived in these new positions, we got to
know the reason why. In this area there
are some widely scattered, high and
significant ridges, and between them
there are marshlands or bogs that are not
fit to send a dog out into, to say nothing
of human beings.” The Canadian troops
had been redeployed to do some heavy
lifting, which evidently gave John
pause to reflect: “It looks rather curious,
though, that nearly every time that
something major is about to take place,
that the Canadians are called to the
fore.” Unlike previous letters, this one
showed obvious evidence of censorship
and John himself was more circumspect
about the details he revealed. But still
he revealed, “we sustained considerable
loss of life; it was nothing in comparison
to the German losses.”
John concluded his November letter
with holiday greetings for his friends
back home, but not before reflecting on
his time in France. “I have now been here
for more than eleven months, and am
now just as keen to go into the forward
trenches as I was the first time I went
there. Yet this battalion to which I belong
has taken much abuse over the past year,
and lost many hearty men in various
ways and among them several excellent
Icelanders, which hurts me deeply each
time; it is nothing to sustain a wound,
for then they are relieved of this dreary
lifestyle for a longer or shorter time.
There is most always a chorus from us
when one of our men are wounded, if it
is not too serious, for then he will be free
from the trenches for a while.”
John remained with the 44th Battalion
for the duration of the war. He took part
in several of the major battles of the war,
seeing action at Passchendaele, Vimy
Ridge, Hill 70, Lens, and Arras. He was
awarded a Good Conduct Badge in the
field during the early months of 1918 and
he was later awarded the Military Medal
for bravery in single-handedly capturing
a German officer and three men under
his command, taking them as prisoners
of war.
As he had noted in one of his letters,
he was admitted to hospital with an
elbow injury on June 4, 1917, and was
discharged ten days later, returning to
duty. On April 22, 1919, he was admitted
to hospital with a sprained ankle and
was discharged on May 2. Other than
his time in hospital, and the occasion
day away from the trenches, he enjoyed
only one ten-day leave during his time
on the continent.
Following the armistice, he
remained in Europe with the occupation
forces and was promoted to Corporal
on April 14, 1919. He left England
to return home on June 14, 1919, and
arrived safely in Canada on June 21.
Back in Piney, he took a homestead
under the Soldiers’ Settlement Act and
settled down to farm.
The following year, he met Olina
Josephson of Baldur while helping
with the compilation of material for the
Jon Sigurdsson Chapter IODE’s book
honouring the soldiers who served in the
war, Minningarrit Íslenzkra Hermanna.
Ólína’s only brother, Friðrik (Fred), had
been killed overseas during the conflict.
(Like John, Fred had enlisted in the 222nd
Battalion and was deployed overseas at
the same time, but he was transferred
to the 46th Battalion in France. He was
killed in action on September 3, 1918,
during the Battle for Dury. His remains
were never recovered.) Born Ólína
Aðalheiður Jónsdóttir at Mýrarlón,
near Akureyri, in 1898, she immigrated
to Canada with her widowed mother,
Guðrún Ísleifsdóttir, and brother in
1902.
John and Olina were married in
Winnipeg on June 24, 1920.
Life on the farm at Piney was
difficult. The land was marginal, at
best, the local market for farm produce
inadequate, and the repayment schedule
unrealistic. The farm was eventually
lost and John worked as a labourer in
the district while the family lived in
five different vacated homes as the
years passed. (The Johnsons weren’t
the only family in the area struggling to
eke out a living on the farm.) In 1941 or
1942, Jón moved his family from Piney
to Winnipeg, where he worked as a
commissionaire until he retired.
John and Olina had four sons and
five daughters together: John (who died
in infancy), Sigmar, Valdine, Sigrid,
Carl, Laura, Harold, Margaret, and
Rosemary. At the time of his death, they
had eight grandchildren. John and Olina
prized education and reading, which they
encouraged in their children. They also
encouraged a strong work ethic and each
of their children enjoyed distinguished
careers in their chosen vocations.
John was an active member of the
Icelandic National League of North
America and the Icelandic Canadian
Frón, where he held various leadership
roles over the years, and Olina was
the librarian for the city’s Icelandic
community library. Although the family
lived in the West End, at 735 Home
Street, John was a member of the Fort
Rouge Branch of the Royal Canadian
Legion. After Jón’s death at Deer Lodge
Hospital on January 17, 1959, Haraldur
Bessason wrote an appreciative tribute
to Jón that appeared on the front pages
of both Heimskringla and Lögberg. By
then, John had long been “free from the
trenches,” but his letters to Heimskringla
remain as a reminder of the sacrifices of
war, while his postwar experiences, in
addition to reminding us that we don’t
care for our veterans as we ought to,
reflect the indomitable spirit of resilience
and service with which John Johnson
lived his entire life.
John Johnson's letters to
Heimskringla were translated by David
Gislason of Arborg, Manitoba.
Left: card showing John’s next-of-kin. Centre: Discharge Certificate dated June 24, 1919. Right:
letter from France, published in the April 5, 1917, issue of Heimskringla. Below: the record of John
Johnson’s assignments. Right: Jón Jónsson frá Piney on a list of soldiers who had arrived in New
Brunswick, published in the November 16, 1916 issue of Heimskringla.