William Johnstone (VC)

William Johnstone VC

William Johnstone VC was a Royal Navy sailor and one of the earliest recipients of the Victoria Cross. He was born on 6 August 1823. His origins were long uncertain, with Royal Navy records giving his birthplace as Hanover, but recent research indicates that he was likely born Johan Fredric Lindroth in the Vaasa district of Finland. He enlisted and served under the name John Johnstone, though his Victoria Cross was gazetted under the name William Johnstone.

During the Crimean War, Johnstone served aboard HMS Arrogant in the Baltic theatre. On 9 August 1854, he and Lieutenant John Bythesea landed on the island of Vårdö, in the Åland Islands, to intercept Russian despatches being carried to Bomarsund. Johnstone was chosen in part because he could speak Swedish, a useful skill in the Baltic. After spending two nights ashore, the two men ambushed five Russian couriers on 12 August 1854. Armed with only limited weapons, they captured three men and seized the dispatch bags, successfully returning with both the prisoners and the Russian communications.

For this daring action, Johnstone and Bythesea were awarded the Victoria Cross. Their awards were announced in The London Gazette on 24 February 1857, placing Johnstone among the very first men ever gazetted for the new decoration. His rank at the time of the action is generally recorded as Leading Stoker, Royal Navy, though he was later made Ship’s Cook while serving aboard HMS Brunswick.

Johnstone did not attend the first Victoria Cross investiture held by Queen Victoria in Hyde Park on 26 June 1857. His medal was sent out for presentation aboard HMS Brunswick, but he died before it could be formally presented. On 20 August 1857, while serving in the West Indies, he died at sea and was buried in the St Vincent Passage.

His known medal entitlement is the Victoria Cross and the Baltic Medal 1854–55. There is no evidence that the Indian Mutiny Medal, Crimea Medal, Turkish Crimea Medal, or any campaign clasps belonged to this William Johnstone; those references appear to relate to other men of similar name.

William Johnstone’s story is unusual even among early Victoria Cross recipients. A sailor of uncertain identity, likely Finnish by birth and serving under an anglicised name, he won Britain’s highest award for gallantry in a small but hazardous intelligence operation in the Baltic. His life ended only months after his VC was gazetted, but his action with John Bythesea remains one of the earliest examples of the Victoria Cross being awarded for courage, initiative, and nerve in the face of the enemy.