Private George Uriah Johnston
George Uriah Johnston was born on 20 February 1898 at 49 Brookmount Street, Belfast, the last of at least five children of cloth passer George Uriah Johnston and his wife Emma Anne (nee Mahaffy). His mother died when he was just two years old, his father re-marrying soon after. By the time of the 1911 Census, George was living with his father, step-mother, three siblings and four half-siblings at 132 Ainsworth Avenue, Belfast.
Johnston enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 1 January 1917 (No.2338). He embarked for France in the first half of 1917, where he was posted to either the 1st or 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment.
In September 1917 the 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment was disbanded and most of its men, together with some surplus to the needs of the 1st NIH Regiment, were transferred to the infantry. The majority, including Johnston, were transferred to the 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion – on 20 September. Johnston was issued a new regimental number – 41359.
Johnston was wounded during the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917. He was discharged as being no longer physically fit for war service on 17 June 1918.
Johnston emigrated to the United States in November 1920, where he worked as a clerk in Chicago, Illinois. He became a United States citizen in 1928 and died in Arizona in November 1968.
This image and some of the above information is sourced from Nick Metcalfe's Blacker's Boys.