Gerald MacIntosh Johnston

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Actor Gerald MacIntosh Johnston, known professionally as Gerald Kent, was a Canadian Broadway stage and film actor who was captured at the Dieppe Raid during the Second World War and died in a German POW camp.

Contents

[edit] Stage and film career

Gerald MacIntosh Johnston was born in 1903 or 1904 to James Macintosh Johnston and Clare Maud. [1] Johnston’s family relocated to New York City and in the 1920s he became a professional stage actor. He took up the stage name Gerald Kent and appeared in numerous Broadway plays, including The Royal Family and That's Gratitude. When WWII began he joined the Canadian military and served in the first battalion of the The Black Watch of Montreal as a private; he later joined the commandos under Lord Louis Mountbatten.[1][2] In 1941, while stationed with his unit in Britain, Johnston landed a role in the film From the Four Corners, which starred Leslie Howard. Johnston played a character based on himself, Private J. Johnston, who was a member of The Black Watch of Canada regiment. [2][3]

[edit] Dieppe raid and imprisonment

The next year the Black Watch of Montreal participated in the disastrous Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942. Johnston’s status was unknown for months after the battle and he was listed as missing in action, until it was finally reported in December that he had been captured.[4] Johnston, along with thousands of other Canadians captured at Dieppe, was transferred Stalag II-D Prisoner-of-war camp located near Stargard in the Baltics. On November 5, 1944 Johnston was caught attempting to escape and was shot dead by guards after following their command to raise his hands.[2][5] [6] In January, 1945 the Sunday Pictorial, published out of London, reported that Johnston’s death occurred during a mass escape of 1,500 Canadian P.O.W’s.[7] Several days later the Toronto Daily Star rebuked this story, calling it pure “fabrication” and the “figment of someone’s imagination.” [8]

Johnston’s remains are buried in the Heverlee War Cemetery in Belgium. [1]

[edit] Stage performances

  • September 1936 - Arrest That Woman at National Theatre in New York. Role: Davis. [10]
  • June-December 1932 - That's Gratitude at Waldorf Theatre in New York. Role: Clayton Lorimer. [12]
  • April 1932 - Angeline Moves In at Forrest Theatre in New York. Role: Jerry Dugan. [13]
  • February 1932 - New York to Cherbourg at Forrest Theatre in New York. Role: Floyd Warren.[14]
  • 1928 - The Royal Family at Selwyn Theatre in New York. [16] [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Casualty Details: Johnston, Gerald Macintosh. CWGC. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  2. ^ a b c d “JOHNSTON, ACTOR, DIES !” New York Times (1857-Current file ); Nov 24, 1944; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 23. Hennepin County Public Library, Minneapolis. 29 Nov. 2006.
  3. ^ From the Four Corners. IMDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  4. ^ “Dieppe Casualties” The Globe and Mail; Dec 22, 1942; Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War. Canadian War Museum pg. 23. 19 June. 2007.
  5. ^ Johnston’s obituary states that he died on the fourth of November, but his grave stone states that he died on the fifth of November.
  6. ^ Vance, Jonathan F. (1994). Objects Of Concern: Canadian Prisoners Of War Through The Twentieth Century. VANCOUVER: UBC PRESS, 161. ISBN 0-7748-0504-8. 
  7. ^ "Ottawa Can’t Confirm Break of 1,500 Canadians.", Toronto Daily Star, 08 January 1945. Retrieved on 2007-06-28. 
  8. ^ "No break out tried. No Canadians killed.", Toronto Daily Star, 11 January 1945, pp. 3. Retrieved on 2007-06-28. 
  9. ^ Iron Men. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  10. ^ Arrest That Woman. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  11. ^ A Divine Drudge. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  12. ^ That's Gratitude. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  13. ^ Angeline Moves In. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  14. ^ New York to Cherbourg. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  15. ^ That's Gratitude. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  16. ^ The Royal Family. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.
  17. ^ Brass Buttons. IBDB. Retrieved on 2007-06-19.

[edit] Links