My Family Tree

Johnstone Angus was born in October 1899, son of Johnstone and Elixabeth (McFadyen) Mann, and a twin brother of Allison.

He was an employee of the New Glasgow Creamery, and in an article from the Guardian newspaper, the company noted his productivity. He was living in New Glasgow in 1928. Johnstone, like the his brothers, also did some of the roadwork on the Irishtown Road for Public works.

According to a local history of Irishtown/Burlington, Johnstone served in the merchant marine during the second world war. Ancestry has links to lists of crew members, including the ship S. S. Cyrus Field, where Johnstone served as a fireman during the 1940s. Sailing out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, the Cyrus Field was a repair ship for the Western Union Atlantic Cables company, performing maintenance and repairing breaks. These cable lines were critical for Allied communications during the war. Due to the nature of their work, especially in having to remain in position during a repair, made them "sitting ducks". The cable ships were not in a position to defend themselves, and often sailed in navy convoys. Although many ships were attacked, the Cyrus Field was fortunate in not coming under fire. This information came from Bill Burns, who maintains a website on submarine cable ships.

Johnstone's first trip on the Cyrus Field was in 1942, where his occupation was fireman. He was a oiler on the ship on its 1947 trip to New York from Halifax.

Later he moved to Saint John, New Brunswick where he worked for the Irving Oil Company.

He died there in 1971 at the age of 72 years.