Forbes Historical Museum
11 Cross Street
Forbes NSW 2871
What was William Foster's reaction in 1922 when he received the memorial plaque and commemorative scroll from King George V, in remembrance of his son Frederick? Most likely it was with mixed emotions - grief at the loss of his son but also possibly some pride, as the plaque has been neatly secured on a timber mount.
These plaques, similar in colour to a penny coin, were frequently referred to as the 'dead man's penny'. The 120mm diameter plaques were individually cast in bronze, with the name of the deceased and symbology of Britain's defeat of Germany.
Private Frederick Arthur Foster was born in Forbes. From age 9, he and his two younger siblings were raised by his grandmother at Eleven Mile Creek in Victoria, due to tragic family circumstances. There, he worked as a beekeeper and served for 3 years with the 16th Light Horse at Benalla.
Frederick's military life got off to a somewhat irregular start. He enlisted twice; first in late June 1915 and again at Goulburn NSW on 14 January 1916. He was attached to the 55th Battalion and embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Barambah on 23 June 1916.
Frederick's war was short and brutal. On arrival in France, he was transferred to the 17th Battalion on 23 March 1917. He found himself in a counter-attack against German forces at Lagnicourt on 15 April. The frenzied action resulted in two machine guns and 54 prisoners being captured at a cost to the 17th Battalion of 43 dead, 87 wounded and a further 51 missing. Foster was one of those killed. He was buried in the trenches but his grave, although marked, was eventually lost. He is commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial in France and the Oxley Shire War Memorial in Victoria.
News of Frederick's death was another tragedy for Foster's extended family. His mother Kate had drowned in the Forbes lagoon in 1898 and three of his siblings had died in infancy. The grandmother who raised him, Ellen Kelly, was widowed once, deserted twice and lost seven of her 12 children before her own death in 1923. Frederick was the nephew of infamous Victorian bushranger Edward 'Ned' Kelly.
References
- Service Records of Frederick Arthur Foster, NAA: B2455, FOSTER F A.
- War Diary 17th Infantry Battalion, AWM4, 23/34/21 - April 1917. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1005346/
- 1914 'DISTRICT NEWS.', Wangaratta Chronicle (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), 11 November, p. 3. (Mornings). http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92119214
- Roll of Honour. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1730440/
- Red Cross Missing and Wounded. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1045268
- Jacqueline Zara Wilson, Kelly, Ellen (1832–1923), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/kelly-ellen-13021