Private Stephen Johnson

1. Private, 43rd Battalion, Infantry (Army).
2. Private (Army).
3. Private (Army).

Husband of Frances Irene Johnson (née Stevens). Father of Margaret, 5 days old in the 1916 census (which was taken 1 June).

Stephen enlisted with the 108th Battalion on 29 November 1915 in Selkirk, Manitoba. In the summer of 1916 the unit trained at Camp Hughes near Brandon. They embarked from Halifax on the SS Olympic on 18 September 1916. In England the men were absorbed by the 14th Canadian Reserve Battalion on 4 January 1917, to be used as reinforcements for other units.

Stephen was with the 43rd Battalion when he was killed in action on 4 March 1918, near Arras in France.

From the War Diary of the 43rd Battalion 3-4 March 1918: "Patrols covered Battn. frontage during night. Casualties O.Rs. 2 Killed, 4 Wounded." The other soldier killed was Private Phillip Charlebois of Kenora, Ontario. Philip and Stephen are both buried in Thélus Military Cemetery in the village of Thélus, just north of Arras.

Stephen is commemorated on the War Memorial in the Veterans Memorial Gardens, Selkirk, Manitoba.

His widow Frances married Wilfred W. Pruden on 3 May 1920 in Winnipeg. Wilfred was a veteran of the war and served with Lord Strathcona's Horse. In the 1921 census the family was living in Winnipeg with Margaret, age 5, and another daughter, Maxime, age 1.

Stephen's Attestation Paper appears to say he was born in Ireland but he was born in Iceland and immigrated ca1892.