Banner Johnstone

Who was Banner Johnstone?

Banner Carruthers Johnstone was a British rower who competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Johnstone was born in Bebington, then in Cheshire and educated at Eton, where he was captain of the boats, and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the Pitt Club. At Cambridge he rowed in the head of the river four times and won the pairs, fours, and double sculls. He rowed for Cambridge in the Boat Race in 1904, 1905, 1906 and 1907, being in the winning crew three times he was once President of the C.U.B.C.

After Cambridge Johnstone joined Leander Club At Henley Royal Regatta he won Silver Goblets in 1906 and 1907 with R V Powell and 1909 with Edward Gordon Williams. He twice beat Julius Beresford and Karl Vernon. He also competed in the Grand Challenge Cup in a series of contests with the Belgian Royal Club Nautique de Gand, being twice on the winning side. In 1908 he was a crew member of the Leander eight, which won the gold medal for Great Britain rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

In 1909 Johnstone joined the Ceylon Government Surveys and in 1913 joined the Colonial Civil Service in Zanzibar. At the start of World War I he was in the Transport Corps in East Africa, but went to France in 1917 with the 1st Black Watch and 1st Infantry Brigade. He was awarded the OBE for services in France and Belgium.