Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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   Merchant Seaman Lewis Johnson
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Dated added: 30/12/2015   Last updated: 14/09/2019
Personal Details
Regiment/Service: S.S. River Luger, Merchant Navy (British Civilian)
Died: 26/06/1941 (Died at Sea)
Age: 47
Summary      
Merchant Seaman Lewis Johnson was the husband of Annie Johnson, of Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. Lewis Johnston (aged 47) was killed on active service while serving as a fireman and trimmer on board SS River Lugar (Glasgow) on 26th June 1941. SS. River Lugar was carrying a load of Iron ore from Pepel, West Africa and was bound for Liverpool as part of a 60 ship convoy. She was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat 300 miles South West of the Canary Islands
Further Information
It is believed Lewis Johnston was born in 1894 in Sierra Leone.
Lewis Johnson was the husband of Annie Johnson.
Lewis Johnston was serving with the Merchant Navy on board SS River Lugar as a fireman and trimmer.
SS River Luger
Merchant Seaman Lewis Johnston was killed on active service on 26th June 1941. He was 47 years old.
SS River Lugar was carrying a load of iron ore from Pepel, West Africa and was bound for Liverpool as part of a sixty ship convoy, SL-78. River Lugar was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-69, three hundred miles south west of the Canary Islands. The captain, 34 crew and one passenger were lost.
Six members of the crew survived the sinking and were rescued by the corvette HMS Burdock.
Seaman Johnston has no known grave and is commemorated on panel 87 of the Tower Hill Memorial in London.
River Luger - Tower Hill
The CWGC record Merchant Seaman Lewis Johnson as the husband of Annie Johnson of Cookstown, County Tyrone.
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Relevant Cookstown Area Locations
No Location Region Location Notes Longtitude Latitude
1 Cookstown area Cookstown Central CWGC lists wife in Cookstown 54.646574 -6.743384
References and Links
No Link Reference Map Doc
1 A Cabin Boy's Letters Letters from Denis Collier, also on SS River Luger
2 Convoy SL-78 River Luger was carrying a cargo of iron ore
3 SS River Luger casualties At 01.49 hours on June 27, 1941, SS River Lugar, while in convoy, was torpedoed and sunk…
4 Tower Hill - Lest We forget Photo of the SS River Luger Memorial
5 Uboat.Net - SS River Luger SS River Luger ship information including wreck site
Cookstown District's War Dead Acknowledgements 2010-2023