Private M1/5741 John “Jack” Johnstone, committed suicide on the 7th July 1916. Why it is hard to even guess a reason. Perhaps it was because of the date, he killed himself soon after the opening of the Battle of the Somme. Jack was only 21 he had his life in front of him. He was born in Grantown-on-Spey, the son of Jessie and the Reverend J Johnstone of St James’s Manse Kirkcaldy. At the time of his enlistment circa 26th October 1914 Jack was a resident of London, I think he had travelled to Rifridlo in Italy to visit his mother and enlisted while there. He was awarded the 1914 Star, British War and the Victory Medal. In 1920 we know his mother applied for the 1914 Star. Therefore we are fairly safe in an assumption that his mum at least was proud of him. Sadly Private M1/5741 John “Jack” Johnstone is not commemorated on any local war memorial. A sign of the times? We don’t know, but when the names are read out as they surely well be over the next four years, he will be ignored. Not for him and others like him, is there a campaign to get the forgotten suicides of the Great War commemorated. He was not shot at dawn, in the Chinese Labour Corps, mixed race, coloured, played football, or a national hero such as Colonel Charles W. Whittlesey.

Source: WW1 My Suicide Blog

There are so many stories from the Great War which call for our attention, our action. This simple fact lies at the heart of the Ensuring We Remember Campaign. Although we are passionate about our cause, we cannot claim that members of the Chinese Labour Corps are a special case nor any more deserving than the many many others who served and yet were forgotten. Perhaps what does make the case of the Chinese Labour Corps stand out are the sheer numbers involved- 96,000 volunteers. But on an individual basis, no life is worth more than another. That someone is forgotten individually rather than collectively is no less an injustice, indeed, it is a shared injustice.

It is, no doubt, easier to campaign on behalf of 96,000 people than a single individual, and with so much injustice in the world, past and present, we must choose our battles. But whatever our own chosen cause we should not be blind to the causes of others, nor deaf to their voices, even if they be almost silent.

Although we cannot campaign for John “Jack” Johnstone we can remember him. To Jack.