Brigadier Sir William Wallace Stewart Johnston CBE DSO MC KStJ ED
Fourth Commissioner of St John Victoria District, 1951-1956
Dr Johnston was a medical officer at the Melbourne Hospital in 1914 at the start of WW I. He enlisted and served on the Western Front, gaining the Distinguished Service Order. Post-war he was Lt-Colonel commanding 2nd Field Ambulance CMF and by the start of WW II had become Assistant Director-General of Army Medical Services. He served in the Middle East and gained the Military Cross.
In civilian life he was a physician at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Chairman of the Melbourne Medical Postgraduate Committee, an office-bearer of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, the Australian Red Cross Society and a long-time volunteer with St John Ambulance Brigade. He was appointed Commissioner upon the retirement of Dr Sherwin and subsequently also Chairman of St John Council. In 1956 he was appointed Chief Commissioner for the Brigade in Australia. He was invested as a Knight of Grace in the Order of St John in 1947 and Knight Batchelor in 1960. He died in 1962.
