Roger Foster^[1]

1898 - 1918  (19 years)

 Set As Default Person

• Name	Roger Foster
  Born	28 Sep 1898	Lissant Street No 50, Edge Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK   [2]
  		Roger Foster birth 1898 Roger was born on 28 Sep 1898, Wavertree Vale, Liverpool
  Gender	Male
  Census	31 Mar 1901	Wavertree, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK   [3]
  Age: 2y
  Address: Wavertree Vale No 108, Wavertree, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  Image Transcript Ln Hhold Given Surname Relation BirthDate BirthPlace Age Gender Status Years Married Children Born Children Living Occupation Immigration Year Nationality Religion Comments 27 114 William B Foster Head 1870 Preston Lancashire England 31 Male Married carter 28 114 Emily Foster Wife 1871 Liverpool Lancashire England 30 Female Married 29 114 Letta Foster Daughter 1892 Liverpool Lancashire England 9 Female 30 114 William B Foster Son 1894 Liverpool Lancashire England 7 Male 1 114 Thomas L Foster Son 1897 Liverpool Lancashire England 4 Male 2 114 Rever Foster Son 1899 Liverpool Lancashire England 2 Male actually, Roger Foster! 3 114 Emily Foster Daughter 1900 Liverpool Lancashire England 4 Months Female  PRO Class:  RG13  Piece:  3503  Folio:  101  Page:  19   Transcript ID is  dbid=7814&iid=LANRG13_3501_3503-0952
  Census	2 Apr 1911	Liverpool, Lancashire, UK   [4]
  Age: 12y
  Address: Beaumont Street No 74, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  Image Transcript Ln Hhold Given Surname Relation BirthDate BirthPlace Age Gender Status Years Married Children Born Children Living Occupation Immigration Year Nationality Religion Comments 1 01 William Bruce Foster Head 1910 Penwortham, Lancashire, England 1 Male Married Carter 2 01 Emily Foster Wife 1871 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 40 Female Married 3 01 Letitia Frances Foster Daughter 1892 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 19 Female Single Dress Maker 4 01 William Bruce Foster Son 1894 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 17 Male Single Apprentice 5 01 Thomas Lewis Foster Son 1897 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 14 Male Office Boy 6 01 Roger Foster Son 1899 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 12 Male School 7 01 John Foster Son 1905 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 6 Male School 8 01 Elsie Foster Daughter 1908 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 3 Female 9 01 Sidney Foster Son 1910 Liverpool, Lancashire, England 1 Male  PRO Class:  RG14  Piece:  22272  ED:  Toxteth Park Central  SN:  127   Transcript ID is  dbid=2352&iid=rg14_22271_0253_03
  Occupation	2 Apr 1911	Liverpool, Lancashire, UK   [4]
  scholar
  Age: 12y
  Occupation	1916
  Plumber
  Occupation	1917
  Merchant Seaman
  Died	11 Apr 1918	Messines Ridge, Flanders, Belgium   [5]
  	Cause: Enemy Action, Messines Ridge, Ypres, Flanders
  		Roger Foster death 1918 Roger Foster died age 20 on 11 Apr 1918, Ypres, Somme. He was killed the first day he was involved in action.
  Occupation	30 Sep 1918	Durban, South Africa
  soldier in South African 4th Infantry Division
  Siblings	8 siblings
  1. Letitia Frances Foster,   b. Bef 4 Oct 1891, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. 21 Jan 1921, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  2. William Bruce Foster,   b. 26 Jan 1894, Edgeware Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. 27 Nov 1979, Rathbone Hospital, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  3. Thomas Lewis Foster,   b. 6 May 1896, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. Abt Mar 1935, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  4. Emily Foster,   b. Abt Nov 1900, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. Abt Dec 1901, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  5. James Edwin Foster,   b. 5 Sep 1902, Lissant Street No 50, Edge Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. Abt Mar 1905, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  6. John Foster,   b. 7 Feb 1905, Wavertree Vale, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. 15 Apr 1989, Whiston General Hospital, Prescot, Lancashire, UK
  7. Elsie Foster,   b. 13 Apr 1907, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. 15 Jun 1992, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  8. Sidney Foster,   b. Abt Sep 1909, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. Oct 1990, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  Person ID	I38	Foster
  Last Modified	30 Apr 2013

  
  

  Father	William Bruce Foster,   b. 1 Dec 1869, Penwortham, Lancashire, UK ,   d. 30 Mar 1930, Knotty Ash, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK  (Age 60 years)
  Mother	Emily Hall,   b. 7 Jul 1870, Bewley Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK ,   d. 13 Nov 1923, Smithdown Road Hospital, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK  (Age 53 years)
  Married	17 May 1891	St Peter Church, Church Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK   [2]
  	Address: 50 Lissant Street, West Derby
  	Witnesses to the marriage were Thomas Foster, William's elder brother, and Mary Ellen Barrett.
  		William Bruce Foster marriage to Emily Hall 1891 William Bruce Foster married Emily Hall on 17 May 1891, at St Peter Church, Church Street, Liverpool.
  Residence	(Between 1898-1901)	Wavertree Vale, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  	Address: Wavertree Vale No 108, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  Residence	1918	Beaumont Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  	Address: Beaumont Street No 74, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  Residence	1923	Alt Street, Toxteth Park East, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  	Address: Alt Street No 5, Toxteth Park East, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK
  Family ID	F41	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - 28 Sep 1898 - Lissant Street No 50, Edge Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK Census - Age: 2y,Address: Wavertree Vale No 108, Wavertree, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK - 31 Mar 1901 - Wavertree, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK Census - Age: 12y,Address: Beaumont Street No 74, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK - 2 Apr 1911 - Liverpool, Lancashire, UK Occupation - scholar,Age: 12y - 2 Apr 1911 - Liverpool, Lancashire, UK Died - Cause: Enemy Action, Messines Ridge, Ypres, Flanders - 11 Apr 1918 - Messines Ridge, Flanders, Belgium Occupation - soldier in South African 4th Infantry Division - 30 Sep 1918 - Durban, South Africa  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Roger became a plumber on leaving school in 1912(?). He was a big, happy lad, always with a smile on his face. When WWI broke out, his father persuaded him to join the merchant navy, an occupation that protected him from the temptation to sign up as a soldier. However, when his ship docked in Durban (South Africa), he and his mates signed up. This was on 1st September 1917. He joined the 4th South African Infantry Regiment, as Private 17016. He clearly lied about his age on the application form to join the army, claiming to be 20 when he was 4 weeks short of his 19th birthday. Lying about one's age was encouraged by the recruitment teams of all the Allied armies during WWI. After basic training in South Africa, his unit embarked from Capetown on board SS Cluny Castle. This ship escorted some German POWs to Sierra Leone. It then continued to the UK, where they disembarked on 14th December 1917. Roger was then taken into the 2nd Reserve Battalion on 15th December, and had some leave just before Christmas. After further training, the whole unit embarked from Southampton on 1st April 1918. They arrived at Rouen, in France the following day. Three days later, on the 5th April 1918 , the unit made its way towards the front line near Ypres. The South Africans were holding a crescent shaped position that straddled the Messines-Wytschaete road, south of Ypres, with its right resting on the western edges of the Messines village, through the Moulin de l'Hospice, Middle Farm, Lumm's Farm to the north and then back to Petit Puits with a forward post at Romman's Farm. The 1st SAI was under heavy pressure from the Germans, so on the night of 10th April 1918, the 4th SAI was moved in to reinforce the 1st SAI . Roger was one of these reinforcements. On the 11th April, German General Sixt von Armin launched fresh attacks on the British front. This came under heavy pressure, and 2nd SAI was pushed back to a line 600 yards west of the Messines-Wytschaete road. Capt I. Greene launched a counterattack, using 2nd SAI and 4th SAI. This attack was led by Lt S. G. Thompson. The lost ground was regained, but casualties were heavy. It was probably during this counterattack that Roger was killed, on his 1st day of front line duty. His body, I believe, was not recovered. On the night of 13th April, the SA Brigade was relieved. In 4 days of fighting, they had lost 616 men killed, wounded or missing out of 1473. 278 were missing, nearly all killed. Roger was reported "killed in action" on 15th April, by Lt F. Peacock. A telegram was sent to Roger's parents. His father received the telegram, and, knowing the effect it would have on Roger's mother, Emily, he walked around with the telegram in his pocket for weeks before finally, forced by the absence of any letters from Roger, he had to reveal that Roger had been killed. According to my father, Emily's hair "turned white overnight". She was never recovered from the shock of Roger's death. Roger was subsequently awarded the British War Medal (1914-1918) and the Victory Medal. Roger's name is probably recorded on panel 15-16 or 16A of the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, which records all 4th SAI casualties. This is at Leper (Ypres or "Wipers"), WestVl aanderen (Flanders), Belgium. The memorial is on the eastern side of the town, on the road to Menin (Menen) and Courtrai (Kortrijk). It is possible that his death is recorded with the 1st SAI casualties instead.

  
  

• Sources

  [S2] Parish Records. [S4] CRI. [S1978] Census 1901 Wavertree, Liverpool, Lancashire, UK RG13-3503-101-18 (Head is William B Foster.), (RG13-3503-101-18). [S284] UK Census 1911 Liverpool, Lancashire, UK RG14PN22271 RG78PN1316 RD454 SD3 ED20 SN127 (Head is Wm Bruce Foster.), (RG14PN22271 RG78PN1316 RD454 SD3 ED20 SN127), RG14PN22271 RG78PN1316 RD454 SD3 ED20 SN127, 2 Apr 1911. [S9] Military Information Bureau, South Africa, A report of Roger's death in action (Reliability: 3).