Lieutenant-Colonel E.G. Johnson
Toronto Scottish Regiment

Black Mac went by the manual. He firmly believed in spit and polish, square bashing, long route marches, unarmed combat, arduous training schemes—in short, in all the idiotic system of army life which strives to exclude every comfort and turn human beings into robots. So we polished our brass, blancoed our web, rose at ungodly hours for inspections by lantern-light, marched like the Duke of Marlborough’s unhappy sods, dug slit trenches and filled them up again, and slept many a night on the cold moors.

(Bert Whyte, Adventures of a Canadian Communist, 199)

Born in Toronto on 30 June 1909, Ernest George Johnson was manager of a photo engraving factory and a prewar member of the Toronto Scottish Regiment. He mobilized as a lieutenant, went overseas as a captain in December 1939, and succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel D.K. Tow as commanding officer in March 1943. The regiment deployed to France in July 1944 as machine gun and mortar support for the 2nd Division.

Nicknamed “Black Mac,” Johnson commanded the Tor Scots for the entire Northwest campaign. Although one veteran noted that “Black Mac” had been playing soldier for many years, in battle he proved himself an efficient leader. He was awarded O.B.E., the citation stated he had “at all times demonstrated outstanding qualities of high courage, enthusiastic devotion to duty sound appreciation and judgement and aggressive determination under the most difficult conditions.”

He also earned the Distinguished Service Order for personally directing the battalion’s guns in the final days of the war:

With complete disregard fir his personal safety went forward himself under heavy enemy fire to an advance position from which he could gain a clear picture of where neutralizing fire was required … This action is typical of the high standard of initiative, leadership, organizing ability and personal courage displayed throughout the entire campaign in North West Europe.

After VE-Day, he was appointed commanding officer of 3rd Battalion, Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa in the occupation of Germany. He suffered a serious injury that invalided him home in November 1945. He died of medically complications on 30 September 1946 at just 37 years old.