Maurice Andrew Brackenreed Johnston

Maurice Andrew Brackenreed Johnston was born on November 30, 1892, in Fyzabad, Bengal, India, and later became a British Army officer. He is best remembered as the co-author of Four-Fifty Miles to Freedom, a World War I escape narrative written with Kenneth Darlaston Yearsley.

That book tells the true story of eight British prisoners of war escaping from a Turkish camp during the First World War. Johnston’s writing stands out for its direct, eyewitness quality, giving readers both the danger of the journey and the steady determination behind it.

Available sources also describe him as a career soldier who later served as a brigadier during World War II. He died on August 15, 1979, leaving behind a memoir valued for its vivid account of endurance, courage, and survival.