Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Four: Chaplain to the Forces the Reverend G. F. Johnston, Army Chaplains’ Department, later Indian Ecclesiastical Department

1914-15 Star (Rev. G. F. Johnston. A.C.D.); British War and Victory Medals (Rev. G. F. Johnston.); India General Service 1908-35, 2 clasps, Mahsud 1919-20, Waziristan 1919-21, with M.I.D. oak leaves (Rev. G. F. Johnston, Ecclesiastical Dept.) edge bruise to last, good very fine (4) £300-400

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, A Collection of Awards to Chaplains formed by Philip Mussell.

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M.I.D. London Gazette 10 June 1921.

George Frederick Johnston was born on 17 April 1884 and was educated at St. Edmund’s Hall, Oxford. Ordained Deacon in 1914, and Priest in 1915, he served as Curate of Holy Trinity Church, Norwich, from 1914-15, before being appointed Chaplain to the Forces 4th Class on 4 October 1915. He served in the Army Chaplains’ Department from that date to 30 April 1917, before transferring to the Royal Field Artillery on 10 May 1917; the reason for this enlistment in the Royal Field Artillery one can only guess, and must be highly unusual.

Johnston arrived in India on 29 October 1919, and joined the Punjab Ecclesiastical Department the same day. Moving to Calcutta, he joined the Bengal Ecclesiastical Establishment on probation and was also appointed additional Chaplain to St. Paul’s Cathedral. He served with the Waziristan Field Force from 1919-20, including the operations at Mahsud, and was Mentioned in General Sir C. C .Munro’s Despatch for distinguished service during the operations in Waziristan. Remaining in India, he returned to St. Paul’s Cathedral at Calcutta on 19 April 1922, before being appointed Chaplain in Waziristan on 15 May 1924; Chaplain at Delhi, 24 May 1925; Chaplain at Quetta on 24 October 1927; and Chaplain at Karachi on 29 February 1932. He subsequently served as Rural Dean of the Sind from 1932-38, before returning to Europe and taking up an appointment in the Diocese of Gibraltar in 1939. He died in Durban, South Africa, in 1965.