Année de naissance: 1894

Lieu de naissance: Queenstown, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Profession: Ouvrier

Pays: Australia

Force armée: Australian Imperial Force

Rang: Private

Numéro de service: 289

Incorporation date: 12/01/1916

Incorporation nom de lieu: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Unités:  —  Australian Infantry, 43rd Bn. (The Hindmarsh Regiment)  (Dernière unité connue)

Date de décès: 04/10/1917

Lieu de décès: Hill 40, Zonnebeke, Belgique

Cause du décès: Killed in action (K.I.A.)

Âge: 23

British War Medal Médaille

Victory Medal Médaille

Private Edward Joseph Foster was part of the 43th Battalion Australian Infantry Hindmarch Regiment (11th Australian Brigade, 3th Australian Division). Before enlisting, the 23 year old Edward Joseph worked as labourer in Queenstown, Adelaide, South Australia. He served together in the same battalion as his older brother Thomas.

On the 4th October, the 43th Bn. Australian Infantry took part in the Battle of Broodseinde. The 11th Australian Brigade divided the task of the attack, where the 43th Bn. A.I.F. was responsible for the first wave. The 43th Battalion was to capture the line until Alma (D.22.c.20.40). It met its objective at 6.20am, after which it was immediately consolidated. However, the battalion suffered heavy losses before meeting its objective on Hill 40. The 42th battalion was to leapfrog through the 43th battalion. As one company missed its barrage, men from the 43th battalion joined. The second objective was reached fairly easy at 7.25 am.

According to his Red Cross Wounded and Missing file, Private Foster was killed by the concussion of a shell. He was buried where he fell near Hill 40 (Zonnebeke 28 NE.1 – D21 b c d). His body wasn’t retrieved or identified after the war. He is remembered on the Menin Gate in Ypres. His brother Thomas was wounded in the same battle and died in a dressing station the next day. A third brother John Foster, 48th Bn. A.I.F. survived the war and returned home to Australia during 1919, as did a fourth brother, George Foster from the 32nd Bn. A.I.F.

Thomas Foster  Brother

43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, (Australian War Memorial, Campbell (AWM), AWM4 23/60/14). https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1338583 Sources utilisées

AWM https://www.awm.gov.au/advanced-search/people?people_preferred_name=Foster+Edward+Joseph&people_service_number=289&people_unit= Sources utilisées

First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920, (National Archives of Australia, Canberra (NAA), B2455, FOSTER E J). https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/SearchScreens/NameSearch.aspx Sources utilisées

McCarthy C., Passchendaele, The Day-by-Day Account, (London, ,Arms and Armour Press, 1995), pg 98-99. Sources utilisées

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/923569

Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=4374ebc6-54b9-4a96-b5d1-2243f2d514db

Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/7443747

The AIF Project (UNSW Canberra) https://aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=101987

A Street Near You https://astreetnearyou.org/person/923569/