Lorimer Leigh Johnson was born in Hazel Hill, Guysborough County, on February 12, 1916, to George James and Laura (Lawrence) Johnson. James was the son of John Joseph and Nancy (Williams) Johnson, Salmon River, while Laura was the daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Dismal) Lawrence, Boylston. John and Laura were married in Canso on May 11, 1898. Their first child, John “Jack,” was born later that year, while a second son, Benjamin arrived in December 1900.
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| Private Lorimer Leigh Johnson (Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial website) |
Over the following decade, another four children joined the Johnson household—James (February 1902), Rubin (February 1904), Vernon (August 1908) and Dorothy “Dora” (June 1910). One child, Russell, died in infancy in 1906. By the time of the 1921 Canadian census, the family had expanded to include Ida May (c. 1911), Lorena “Lula” (c. 1913), Leigh (1916), and Muriel (c. 1919). The youngest Johnson child, a daughter Edith, was born around 1923.
Leigh, the ninth of James and Laura’s 11 children and their youngest son, left school at age 12 after completing Grade VI. No details are available on his adolescence. During the four years prior to his military enlistment, he worked in the local fishery in the employ of Mr. James Drover, Superintendent of the Commercial Cable Company’s Hazel Hill facility. On August 15, 1938, Leigh married Hattie Aleta Bennett, daughter of James Lemuel Bennett, Mahone Bay, Lunenburg County, and Rosamond Amanda “Rose” Reynold, Philips Harbour. The newlyweds established residence in Hazel Hill.
Within weeks of the outbreak of the Second World War, the strategically important Strait of Canso area became a beehive of military activity. Artillery batteries at Auld’s Cove and Sand Point guarded the entries to the water passage and Canadian militia guarded the facilities. In the midst of the country’s rapid preparations for war, Leigh Johnson enlisted with the Canadian Active Service Force in Mulgrave on July 23, 1940.
Immediately following his enlistment, Leigh joined the ranks of the Pictou Highlanders, a Canadian militia unit that provided guards for the various military installations in the Mulgrave area. Meanwhile, Hattie remained in Hazel Hill, where she looked after a household that included three children—Howard Donald Bennett, age seven; Russell Johnson, age two; and Ralph Nelson Johnson, age three months.
Leigh spent almost one year in Mulgrave before receiving a transfer to a Pictou Highlanders detachment in Dartmouth. During the second half of November 1941, he was assigned to guard duty at Devil’s Battery, an artillery installation located at the entrance to Halifax Harbour. In early January 1942, Leigh completed a three-inch mortar course. He served in the Halifax area until early December 1942, when he travelled to Sussex Camp, New Brunswick, for a driver training course.
Upon completing the requirements for the trade of “Driver Wheeled Class III” in early February 1943, Leigh proceeded to the Canadian Army Training School, Woodstock, ON, for Advanced Driving and Maintenance instruction. After completing the “Phase III Driver Mechanics” program, he qualified as a “Driver I/C [internal combustion] Class III, M/C [motorcycle] Grade III.” on April 2, 1943, and received a two-week furlough.
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| Leigh and unidentified soldier in training (date and location unknown) |
On April 19, Leigh returned to duty with a Pictou Highlanders detachment stationed in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador. He served there until mid-September 1943, when he returned to Nova Scotia. Following a second two-week furlough, he briefly reported to Debert, NS, before relocating to Saint John, NB, on October 9. At the first of the following month, he was promoted to the rank of Acting Corporal.
On November 28, Leigh was attached to A-30 Canadian Infantry Training Center, Utopia, NB—near St. George—for two weeks. He then returned to Saint John, where he remained for the winter of 1943-44. The exact nature of his duties while stationed there are not known. On April 23, 1944, Leigh reverted to the rank of Private at his own request, a sign that he was preparing to depart for overseas. The following day, he was “struck off strength” by the Pictou Highlanders and posted to No. 1 Transit Camp, Windsor, NS.
Leigh spent two months with the 1st Training Battalion, Debert, before departing for overseas on July 20, 1944. One week later, he arrived in the United Kingdom and was assigned to No. 4 Canadian Infantry Reinforcement Unit (CIRU). On August 4, he “re-mustered” as a “general duty” soldier. By that point in the war, Allied forces had been fighting in Normandy, France, for almost two months, creating a significant demand for reinforcements.
While waiting for a transfer to an active combat unit, Leigh completed a mortar course in mid-August. At month’s end, he was transferred to the 2nd Canadian Base Reinforcement Group. Leigh landed in France on August 30 and was assigned to the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada three days later.
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise’s) was established in Hamilton, Ontario, on September 13, 1903. Two community organizations—the St. Andrews Society and Sons of Scotland—contributed to its foundation as a Highland regiment. During the First World War, the Argylls provided 145 officers and more than 5,000 “other ranks” for service with Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) battalions, particularly the 16th (Canadian Scottish), 19th (Central Ontario) and 173rd (Canadian Highlanders) Battalions.
On September 1, 1939, “details” from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were placed on active service as a machine gun unit. Expanded to full battalion status in August 1940, the unit converted to an infantry regiment on February 1, 1941. A battalion of recruits from the regiment carried out garrison duty in Jamaica from September 1941 to May 1943. The soldiers briefly returned to Canada before departing for the United Kingdom on July 21, 1943.
Following its overseas arrival, the Argylls were assigned to the 4th Canadian Armoured Division’s 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade, where its personnel would serve alongside two other Ontario units—the Lincoln and Welland Regiment (“Lincs”) and the Algonquin Regiment (“Algonquins”).
During the third week of July 1944, the Argylls crossed the English Channel to France with the 4th Canadian Armoured Division (4th CAD). Before month’s end, its personnel relieved the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division’s Highland Light Infantry of Canada (Waterloo, ON) in a sector of the front line south of Caen, France.
The Argylls participated in the August 1944 push southward toward Falaise and the subsequent pursuit of German forces as they retreated northward toward the Seine River. While the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Divisions proceeded toward the French coast, where they “liberated” the Channel ports, 4th CAD headed northward toward the Belgian frontier. When Private Lorimer Leigh Johnson joined the Argylls’ ranks on September 4, its personnel were enjoying several days’ rest near Buigny-l’Abbé, east of Abbeville, France.
Leigh was part of a large reinforcement draft that “enable[d] the Battalion to return to the four-Company basis” that was standard for infantry units. The Argylls’ war diary noted that B and C Companies had been “operating as one Company for some time.” Leigh was among the new arrivals assigned to B Company, allowing it to return to its previous status.
During the Argylls’ brief stay in Buigney-l’Abbé, British forces liberated Brussels, Belgium, and reached the port of Antwerp. The successes set the tone for a major campaign to secure a water passage from the North Sea to the liberated port, whose infrastructure was largely intact after German forces were cleared from the city.
Once in Allied hands, Antwerp’s facilities would provide Allied forces with a much shorter route for bringing supplies into the Dutch and Belgian combat zones. All three Canadian Divisions—2nd, 3rd and 4th CAD—played a central role in what became known as “the Battle of the Scheldt,” a two-month campaign to secure the northern and southern shores of the West Scheldt, an inlet connecting Antwerp to the North Sea.
During the days immediately after Leigh’s arrival, 4th CAD commenced a rapid advance northward. The Argylls moved out at 1030 hours September 6, their eventual destination an area north of Ghent, Belgium. Personnel crossed the Belgian border at 1400 hours the following day, its war diary describing the civilian population’s response to their arrival:
“Our reception along the way has benefited a stirring one; people crowded the streets of the towns as we pushed through, and when we paused for a few minutes gathered around our vehicles. They would press bottles of champagne, cognac, beer, etc., upon us.”
On September 8, the Argylls reached Bruges, three of its Companies crossing the Ghent Canal at Oostcamp and establishing a bridgehead in Moerbrugge, despite heavy enemy fire. Over the next several days, 10th Brigade units slowly pushed northward, reaching the Leopold Canal by mid-month. Fierce resistance to further advance resulted in Allied commanders ordering the 10th Brigade to advance eastward through Maldegem and Eeklo to the Ghent-Terneuzen Canal. Upon reaching the water course during the evening of September 17, the Argylls and their comrades pushed northward toward the Dutch border.
Allied commanders assigned the task of securing the “Breskens pocket,” a large area of German-occupied land north of the front line between Bruges and Ghent, to the 2nd and 2rd Canadian Infantry Divisions. The 4th Armoured Division’s units were responsible for sealing the pocket’s eastern boundary, preventing any enemy retreat in that direction. The northward advance toward Terneuzen, on the West Scheldt’s southern bank, commenced on September 18, 10th Brigade armoured units reaching Terneuzen three days later.
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| The Battle of the Scheldt (Source: C. P. Stacey, Introduction to the Study of Canadian Military History) |
After liberating the Dutch town of Sas van Gent on September 19, the Argylls pushed westward, crossing back into Belgium and establishing a “holding position” along the Isabella Canal, near Boekhoute. For the balance of the month, personnel rotated in and out of the line two Companies at a time, with German soldiers holding the northern canal bank opposite their location.
The stalemate along the canal continued into October, On the morning of October 6, Canadian infantry units staged a “fake crossing” as a diversion to an impending 9th Brigade operation. Three days later, the North Nova Scotia Highlanders crossed the mouth of the Braakman Inlet and established a bridgehead on its western side The opening of a new front to the north was part of a strategy to seal the pocket’s eastern boundary. As 3rd Division units pushed southward, 10th Brigade advanced northward. Finally, on October 15, the two groups made contact, securing the Breskens pocket’s eastern flank.
The following day, the Argylls and their 10th Brigade comrades hastily relocated to a concentration area north-east of Antwerp. Their new objective lay to the north, where 2nd Division units had already advanced into an isthmus leading to the South Beveland peninsula, located along the West Scheldt’s northern shore. The 4th Canadian Armoured Division was given the task of clearing enemy forces from the 2nd Division’s eastern flank as the campaign into South Beveland and Walcheren Island continued.
The terrain in the area “lent itself well to mines and booby-traps: flat, sandy, and heavily wooded.” As 4th CAD soon discovered, “the ground was ill-suited to armour.” On the afternoon of October 17, the Argylls moved to a new concentration area three kilometers north of Antwerp. Personnel spent the following day preparing for the gruelling campaign that was set to start within 48 hours.
Operation “Suitcase” commenced on the morning of October 20. The Argyll’s B Company on the right “found the going very tough from the moment they passed the start line…. One of their [supporting] tanks was disabled by a mine, and when the officer got out to investigate the extent of the damage, he was shot and killed by a sniper.” As the area was heavily wooded, personnel experienced difficulty maintaining communication with Battalion Headquarters.
D Company, however, “made good progress against light opposition” and were almost 1,000 metres in advance of B Company. At 1325 hours, D paused to wait for their B comrades and co-ordinate a final push through Kalmthout, which lay in front of them. When B finally arrived, the two Companies proceeded into the town. According the Argylls’ war diary entry, “the troops were under accurate mortar fire almost continuously and were harassed by snipers.” Casualties for the day numbered approximately 30, including two officers wounded and a third officer killed. By nightfall, the two Companies “had dug in and consolidated a [defensive] line.”
Private Lorimer Leigh Johnson was among the day’s casualties. Evacuated to a nearby casualty clearing station, he was admitted to No. 8 Canadian General Hospital. His wounds do not appear to have been serious, as he was discharged from hospital on November 5, only to be readmitted one week later for a two-week stay. Discharged to duty on November 26, Leigh was posted to the active reinforcement list two weeks later.
Leigh spent the next two months awaiting orders to rejoin his Argyll and Sutherland comrades. Finally, on January 23, 1945, he was assigned to the 11th (Reinforcement) Battalion, 2nd Canadian Base Reinforcement Group. Two days later, he returned to the Argylls’ ranks. His time there was brief, as he was admitted to No. 10 Canadian General Hospital at month’s end. On February 15, he was discharged to duty and re-assigned to the Argylls on March 3. Four days later, he arrived in the unit’s camp east of Uedem, Germany.
At that point in the war, Canadian and British units were preparing to resume Operation Blockbuster, a southeastward advance into German territory, with the goal of reaching the Rhine River. Simultaneously, the United States 9th Army to the south was advancing toward their Allies’ forces. On March 8, the Argylls remained in reserve as their two 10th Brigade comrades advanced toward the village of Veen. When the attackers encountered strong resistance, the Argylls moved forward the following day, only to discover that enemy forces had withdrawn from the area during the night.
By the evening of March 10, other Canadian and British units secured the remaining enemy territory west of the Rhine, bringing Operation Blockbuster to an end. The following day, the Argylls withdrew to s’Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, moving on to a training area at Esch, near Boxtel, in the early hours of March 13. Personnel entered billets in the town, where “morale was very high since we were many, many miles from the all-too-familiar whistling, whining, cracking and crumping of enemy shells and mortars.”
The first day was spent cleaning up and resting, while training commenced with a 20-kilometer route march on March 14. A 10-day schedule combined additional route marches with sessions on the “Company in the attack,” training running from 0900 to 1700 hours. During the evening, “arrangements for recreation and entertainment were made.” One week into the schedule, word arrived that American forces had completed the task of “clearing the West bank of the Rhine.”
During the last week of the month, the Argylls received details on its role in a massive Canadian - British crossing of the Rhine and subsequent push northeastward into German territory. Personnel moved out at 0945 hours March 30 and arrived in Kleve at 1315 hours. A British and American force on the Canadians’ right flank had already crossed the Rhine. 4th CAD remained in reserve as the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions prepared to cross the Rhine northeast of Kleve.
The following day, the Argylls crossed the Rhine west of Rees at 1625 hours and settled in for the night. 2nd Division units had already secured Terborg, the starting position for the unit’s advance, reporting that
the going [was] very ‘soft’ and no opposition was envisaged for [the Argyll’s] first push towards Lochem.” The unit moved forward during the night of April 1/2, crossing back into the Netherlands and travelling to Ruurlo, south of Lochem, their vehicles travelling without lights in unfamiliar terrain.
During the morning of April 2, personnel pushed forward with tank support to Lochem and the Twente Canal beyond the town. Most enemy forces withdrew to the opposite bank, leaving only a small group in Lochem, which was cleared by midday. The Argylls established positions along the canal, 2nd Division units passing through their lines and establishing a bridgehead on the opposite bank before midnight.
On the evening of April 3, the Argylls headed northeast, arriving at a location along the Twente Canal opposite Delden the following afternoon. Personnel waited for engineers to complete a bridge across the waterway, with their first major objective—Almelo—located 15 kilometers north. The unit’s convoy pulled out at 2200 hours April 4 and was south of its destination by early morning, Companies then set out on foot, reaching the outskirts of the town by first light April 5.
Personnel encountered no opposition as they entered Almelo, clearing the town and crossing a nearby canal by 1000 hours. The advance continued northward toward Emlichheim, Germany, 40 kilometers north. The unit departed at 1530 hours in pouring rain, crossing the German border at Tubbergen and becoming “the first Allied troops to enter this fair-sized border town.” Personnel reached their designated concentration area before midnight and settled in for the night.
On April 6, the Argylls received orders to assist the Lake Superior Regiment (LSR) in clearing the town of Meppen, 45 kilometers east of their location. The main part of the town, located across the Ems River, remained in German hands. The unit reached a position west of their target at 1945 hours and settled in for the night. The following morning, personnel cleared the area west of the Ems, enduring a “substantial amount” of hostile fire from across the river during the operation.
While enemy forces were still in the area, it was believed that the bulk of German tanks and infantry had retreated eastward. At 0600 hours April 8, two Argyll Companies launched an assault across the Ems River. The operation “succeeded without a snag,” making rapid progress. By 1800 hours, a bridge was in place and the remainder of the unit moved into the main part of the town. The unit’s war diary commented, “It was the first fair-sized town we had taken that had not been cleared of civilians. Most of the people had remained in town throughout the fighting, and the few that had pulled out soon started coming back in once the fighting ceased.”
During the night of April 8/9, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment passed through the Argylls’ positions and advanced to Sôgel without opposition. While German forces launched a counter-attack during the night of April 9/10, the Canadians held their ground. Two Argyll Companies moved into the town during the day, the remainder waiting in Meppen for further orders.
At 1145 hours April 11, “one of the hottest days so far this year,” the remainder of the Argylls left Meppen in “kangaroos”—armoured personnel carriers—passing through Sôgel in the early afternoon and moving on to Werlte, where no enemy force was encountered. Personnel spent a “quiet night” in the town before departing for Vrees, eight kilometers to the northeast. the following morning. Once again, personnel encountered no opposition, passing through the town at mid-day and continuing on to Neuvres without incident.
After another quiet night, word arrived on April 13 that the 9th American Army was within 120 kilometers of Berlin. The Lake Superior Regiment, however, had encountered “fanatical resistance in their attack on Friesoythe, the largest town southwest of Oldenburg, and the Argylls were once again ordered to come to their aid.
The Regiment was on the move before midnight and in position by 0200 hours April 14, an operation to clear the town scheduled for first light. The weather was cold with a strong north wind as the advance commenced. By 0635 hours, all was proceeding as planned, the Argylls having pushed “well into the town.” The entire area was cleared by 1030 hours, engineers placing a bridge over a canal and allowing tanks to enter the town. During the afternoon, the Lincoln and Welland Regiment passed through the town and advanced toward the Kūsten Canal, the next major obstacle in the path of the Canadian advance.
Tragically, during the day’s events, a group of German soldiers by-passed during the push to the town followed in its wake, encountering the Argyll’s Battalion Headquarters in “an isolated house… in the mist of first light.” Sentries mistook the group for friendly soldiers and were caught off guard as they approached.
The enemy party then attacked the house, inflicting several casualties. Most significantly, the Argylls’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Ernest Wigle, DSO, OBE, was “shot through the back by one of the German snipers” when he went upstairs and looked out a window “to ascertain the strength of the enemy.” Headquarters personnel, however, held their ground and drove off the attacking force.
The following day, two Argyll Companies headed toward the Küsten Canal, probing its approaches for enemy forces. Both endured “a substantial amount of mortar fire during the night. On April 16, the Algonquin Regiment passed through the Argylls’ forward line on its way to the canal. Once in position, its soldiers were to establish a bridgehead on the opposite side, allowing the Argylls to pass through and continue the advance.
The Algonquins quickly discovered that German forces were concentrated “in some strength on the other side of the canal” and all bridges across the water course has been destroyed. Nevertheless, the unit established a bridgehead “without meeting much opposition on the ground” during the night of April 16/17. As they settled in, however, significant enemy mortar and artillery fire struck the area, preventing Canadian engineers from assembling a bridge across the canal.
Despite the shelling, the Argylls’ main and tactical Headquarters left Friesoythe at 1800 hours April 17 and advanced toward the canal. The unit’s Companies followed at 2100 hours, A and D crossing the canal by boat within 40 minutes, despite hostile fire. Shortly afterward, German forces launched a counterattack, forcing the Algonquins to retreat toward the canal and placing A Company in a precarious position. The soldiers dug in and held their ground throughout the night as the Argylls’ remaining Companies made their way across.
Heavy shelling continued the following day, inflicting several casualties. Royal Air Force Typhoons attacked enemy positions as a “Class 9 ferry” operated across the canal, moving vehicles to the opposite bank. The Algonquins quickly regained the ground lost during the counterattack and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment arrived in the bridgehead during the late evening and early morning hours.
In the early hours of April 19, engineers finally completed a bridge across the canal, only to have it destroyed by enemy artillery fire. Work on the structure resumed later in the morning and the bridge was ready for use by midday, allowing the British Columbia Regiment’s Sherman tanks to cross and provide much-needed support for the infantry units.
Enemy fire disabled the bridge during the evening hours, while “fanatical enemy infantry counter-attacked our well dug-in forces.” The Canadians held their ground, driving off the attackers. April 20 started as a clear spring day, German forces still resisting attempts to advance beyond the bridgehead. Typhoons once again targeted enemy positions as the Argylls’ B and C Companies commenced a push northward during the late morning hours.
The unit’s two remaining Companies moved forward later in the afternoon. By nightfall, A Company “had advanced to slightly below the small river that separated us from Osterscheps, on the outskirts of Edewecht, where it encountered small arms and mortar fire.” D Company established positions “slightly to the southwest” as tanks worked their way forward, providing support for the infantry advance.
April 21 commenced with “rain about midnight and [it] continued to pour steadily throughout the night.” Argyll Companies “dug in near the rivulet… spent a particularly unpleasant night, exposed to enemy fire as well as the elements.” Several reconnaissance patrols reported that all bridges across the river “were blown and…the other bank was held in some strength by the enemy.”
The Companies were scheduled to cross the river in assault boats during the afternoon. At 1500 hours, “A Company proceeded up to the river in strength, [but] was subjected to very heavy enemy fire and withdrew.” At 1615 hours, “B Company assaulted across the river and successfully established a bridgehead without meeting too much opposition. They consolidated and dug in near the southern tip of [a] small river.”
By that time, A Company’s No. 7 Platoon that had absorbed the enemy counterattack at the Küsten Canal “was… practically wiped out.” Companies did not encounter much resistance on the ground, with the exception of the occasional sniper, but “the enemy had evidently trained all his guns on the general river-crossing site, and our troops were subjected to more heavy shelling than they had at any time since the Hochwald Gap.”
By 1825 hours, all Companies were across the river. D Company advanced ahead of the others into the southern area of Osterscheps, while B Company remained in support near the river. Fear of a counterattack on its exposed left flank resulted in orders for D Company to retreat and help the unit “firm up” the bridgehead. Before D Company could do so, the anticipated counterattack commenced. While the soldiers “succeeded in beating off the attack,” they suffered casualties in the process. The situation “quieted down” afterward and the night passed without significant enemy fire.
After three days of combat under continuous hostile fire, the Argylls’ four Companies’ “had been reduced to 55 - 60 each in A, B and C, with only 47 remaining in D…. [The unit’s] fighting strength [was] thus cut down about 50 %, [making] it… imperative that we be assigned some reinforcements before setting out on a new major task.” The unit’s war diary estimated that “since crossing the Küsten canal the Argylls had suffered 150 casualties.”
Private Lorimer Leigh Johnson was among the unit’s April 21, 1945 fatalities, killed sometime during the frantic day of fighting in the vicinity of Osterscheps. The exact circumstances of his death are unknown. Leigh was initially buried in Friesoythe, Oldenburg, Germany, “200 feet south of [a] bridge on [the] main road.”
On May 10, 1945, Major-General A. E. Walford, Adjutant-General for Canada, wrote to Leigh’w widow Hattie, expressing his deep regret “upon learning of the death of your husband… who gave his life in the Service of his Country in the Western European Theatre of War.” On March 9, 1946, Leigh’s remains were re-interred in Holten Canadian Military Cemetery, Holten, Netherlands, 35 kilometers east-northeast of Apeldoorn.
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| Private Lorimer Leigh Johnson's headstone. Holten Canadian Military Cemetery |
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