Part 74

=FORD, HORACE FISHER (“RED”)=, Private, No 12982, 5th Battn. Canadian Expeditionary Force, eldest _s._ of George Robert Fitzroy Ford, of 2, Cavendish Mansions, Langham Street, W., by his first wife, Charlotte Diana, dau. of the late Capt. John Kendall, 4th West Yorkshire Regt.; _b._ Hitchin, co. Herts, 14 Dec. 1889; educ. privately; The Roan School, Greenwich, and St. Francis Xavier’s College, Bruges; went to Canada in 1906, and settled at Moose Jaw, and had been Sporting Editor of the “Moose Jaw Morning News” since 1912, and was, according to his editor, responsible for the initiation of clean sport into Western Canada. It was in the Y.M.C.A. building at Moose Jaw where his influence for good athletics was most felt. After the declaration of war he enlisted in the 27th Light Horse, under his friend Col. Tuxford, afterwards transferring with him to the 5th Battn.; left for England with the first contingent in Oct. 1914; went to the Front, 7 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, 24 May, 1915. Col. Tuxford wrote of him: “His conduct was always good and he never gave trouble; during the Battle of Festubert, when we took the German trenches and machine-gun emplacement at a cost of nearly 400 casualties, a position that had been attempted on three previous occasions by other units and failed; Ford was wounded, not seriously, and was walking down the trench to the dressing station when another shell caught and killed him. His death was instantaneous;” and in his letter to the “Moose Jaw Morning News,” chronicling the events of the Battle of Festubert, he said: “Private Ford came to me to enlist, and said he was determined in his course and that I could rely on him to ‘play the game.’ He died as he declared to me in my office ‘playing the game.’” The “Winnipeg Telegram” said: “‘Red’ Ford was a character of the great West, and in the days to come he will be remembered as a first-class sporting editor, a fighter and a hero.” His brother, Ernest Kendall Ford, is a Sub-Lieut. in the Royal Naval Division.

=FORD, PERCY GORDEN=, Rifleman, No. 3250, 9th Battn. (Queen Victoria Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F), 2nd _s._ of John William Fletcher Ford, of 57, Friday Street, London, E.C., and Rozel, Roydon, Essex, Linen Merchant, by his wife, Catherine, dau. of Thomas Strout; _b._ Hornsey, London, 11 Sept. 1891; educ. Tollingham School and Christ’s College, Finchley; was a Traveller; joined the Queen Victoria Rifles immediately on the outbreak of war, in Aug. 1914; went to France, 14 Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Hill 60, Flanders, 24 April, 1915; _unm._ A comrade wrote: “He was in hospital when we went up to Hill 60, but joined us up there in the dug-outs when we had been relieved from the firing line. I remember him, Claude, coming up to me and saying, as we shook hands, ‘By Jove, Ashford, old man, I’m glad to see you; you fellows have had a rough time.’ Not a word about the narrow escape _he_ had had with our transport in Ypres. We left on the Thursday morning, 10 men at a time; they were shelling us and it was dangerous to offer too large a target. We assembled outside the hospital at Ypres and Smith-Dorrien inspected us. We marched back to huts as we thought to a well-earned rest. The huts were not completed and we had to bivouac. About 6.30 p.m. we saw the French coming pell mell across country, a regular rout, we spoke to them and found they were retreating. We had to fall in and dig ourselves in by hedges in some fields near. We did not know which way the Germans were supposed to be coming, and had to change our position three times during the night. We were fagged out and had had no proper sleep since the Saturday previous--we couldn’t get much at Hill 60. At about 2.30 a.m. we had orders to stop digging; marched back some way and spent the remainder of the night in a field. In the morning we had to sit in ditches along the road, in order to be out of sight of aeroplanes, awaiting orders. The cookers came up and we had some tea, I remember as well as if it were yesterday; Percy gave me some of his condensed milk, and I sat down beside him and we laughingly arranged to go to Golder’s Green in the afternoon. Shortly afterwards we had to march off with the rest of the 13th Brigade, to which we were attached. We were in support on the banks of the Yser. The Canadians had driven the Germans back after the French retreat. During the night we had to go up to the firing line, but only for a few hours. The morning of Saturday found us on the banks of the Yser, awaiting orders. We had dug ourselves in as a protection against shrapnel. We moved off about 11 o’clock in single file along the banks of Yser, towards Ypres, then we cut inland and gradually wound our way forward, moving in zig-zag manner, taking as much advantage of hedges, etc., as we could. Shells were flying all around, but Percy was there then, and that was Saturday. Amy tells me you were told Friday; I feel certain that it was Saturday. Well, we must have marched about 3 to 4 miles and we then got right into the thick of it, it was raining shells. We deployed and were told to take shelter behind some semicircular parapets. The Germans seemed to have them taped and dropped shells right in amongst us. It was flat country and evidently they could see us approaching and shelled us very heavily indeed, the air was thick with shells. We advanced by short stages about 100 yards, and then I got hit by a shell in the right shoulder, and missed Percy then; he was in the right half platoon and I was in the left half, so that we got separated. Those that were comparatively lightly wounded were the fortunate ones, Claude. I am sorry that I cannot give you more news of Percy; the last I saw of him was coolly smoking a cigarette as we marched along over those fields in that awful hail of shells.” He was junior sidesman in the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Finchley.

=FORD, ROBERT JOHN=, Private, R.M.L.I., 15137 (R.F.R., B. 1785), H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FORD, WILLIAM FRANK=, A.B., 212470, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FORD, WILLIAM GEORGE=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 1469), 211586, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FOREMAN, SAMUEL JOHN=, Private, No. 1713, 12th Battn., Australian Imperial Force, 3rd _s._ of the late Samuel Foreman, Carter, by his wife, Anne; _b._ Ladywood, Birmingham, 27 Feb. 1875; educ. Foundry Road Board School there; went to Australia, and was an employee with the Commonwealth Salt Company in Kangaroo Island; enlisted shortly after the outbreak of war, and died at the 10th Australian Clearing Station, 14 June, 1915, of wounds received in action; _unm._

=FOREST, HENRY SCOTT=, Private, No. 41781, 2nd Field Artillery Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 5th _s._ of John Forest, of Coaticook, Quebec, Canada, Farmer and Teamster, by his wife, Mary Ann, dau. of Neil McGeehan; _b._ Coaticook, Quebec, 8 Oct. 1897; educ. Coaticook Academy; enlisted July, 1914; left Canada with the first contingent; trained on Salisbury Plain during the winter; went to France, Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Ypres, 25 April, 1915; _unm._ Buried on the St. Julien Road.

=FORFEITT, FREDERICK WILLIAM LAWSON=, Private, No. 2739, 1st Battn. Hertfordshire Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of Frederick Joseph Forfeitt, of Medburn, Elstree, A.C.P., Schoolmaster, by his wife, Lucy Jane, dau. of Charles Cooper; _b._ Elstree, co. Herts, 22 July, 1889; educ. Medburn School (his father’s), and St. Alban’s School (Scholar and Member of the Cadet Corps), and on leaving there entered Messrs. Barclay’s Bank, St. Albans. After the outbreak of war he joined the 1st Hertfordshire Regt. 4 Sept. 1914, went to the Front 5 Nov. following, and died 20 May, 1915, of wounds received in action at Festubert the previous day; and was buried in Bethune Cemetery; _unm._ A letter from a comrade showed that he met his death in a most gallant fashion. His friend had been killed near him, and though sorely wounded he said: “Never mind me, have a look at poor old ‘Mal,’ I’m afraid he’s gone.” Another wrote: “I have never known a man bear a wound more bravely than he”; and his Capt., writing later, described him as being “much loved by us all, and one of the bravest men in his company.”

=FORREST, JOHN=, Private, No. 13451, 12th (Service) Battn. The Royal Scots, eldest _s._ of Robert Forrest, Engine Driver, by his wife, Isabella, dau. of Hugh Fraser; _b._ Leith, 4 Aug. 1890; educ. St. Thomas School, Leith; was a Riveter at Ramage & Ferguson’s; enlisted soon after the outbreak of war, 2 Sept. 1914; went to France, 11 May, 1915, and died of wounds received in action at Loos, 25 Aug. following; _unm._ 2nd Lieut. R. B. Stewart wrote: “Your son was wounded last night when he along with some others was carrying out a difficult piece of work in front of our trenches.... He was a fine and plucky fellow and a man in whom I could place my implicit trust. He was always one of the first to volunteer if there was any ‘ticklish’ work to be done.”

=FORREST, WILLIAM LYON=, Third Writer, M. 2759, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FORRESTER, ADRIAN ANDREW=, M.B., Fleet Surgeon, H.M.S. Implacable, only _s._ of William Forrester, of Glenmiln, Campsie Glen, co. Stirling, by his wife, Jessie Ann Hill, dau. of Archibald MacFarlane; _b._ Glenmiln, afsd., 20 Jan. 1874; educ. Larchfield, Helensburgh, co. Dumbarton, and Glasgow University, graduating M.B. in 1897; entered the Navy as a Surgeon, 8 Nov. 1898; and was promoted Staff Surgeon, 8 Nov. 1906, and Fleet Surgeon, 8 Nov. 1914. He was appointed to H.M.S. Implacable in Feb. 1914, and was killed in action at the Dardanelles 25 April, 1915. He married at Sydney, N.S.W., 20 Jan. 1904, Ruby Westwood, dau. of Charles Andrew Guesdon, of Hobart, Tasmania, and had a dau., Thelma Westwood _b._ 10 March, 1905.

=FORRINGTON, CHARLES HOARE=, Signalman, J. 10092, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=FORSTER, ANDREW FORRESTER=, Private, No. 1713, 11th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, 2nd _s._ of William Forster, of Mainsoflaig, Newluce, co. Wigtown, Farmer; _b._ Brownknowe, Nicolforest, co. Cumberland, 17 Sept. 1887; educ. Newluce and Stramuir; went to Australia; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 16 Aug. 1914; went to the Dardanelles and was killed in action there, 17 May, 1915, and buried behind the trenches; _unm._

=FORSYTH, ARCHIBALD JAMES=, L.-Corpl., No. 10/1054, 9th (Hawkes Bay) Wellington Infantry Battn., New Zealand Expeditionary Force, _s._ of Archibald William Forsyth, of Gisborne, New Zealand [a native of Scotland]; _b._ Frasertown, Wairoa, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, 6 Feb. 1894; educ. Frasertown, and High School, Gisborne, at which latter he passed the Junior Civil Service, and matriculated, gaining a first in Hawkes Bay Education Board. On leaving there he started teaching, and when war broke out was Assistant Master at Patutahi School, Gisborne. He was a Territorial and immediately volunteered and joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force; left with the main body for Egypt in Oct.; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25–26 April, and was killed in action there at Walker’s Ridge, 29 April following; _unm._ Chaplain Major Grant (since killed) wrote: “His time of service was soon over, but he was of the heroic band who climbed and conquered this hill.”

=FORSYTH, PETER=, A.B., J. 19371, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=FORTES, THOMAS=, Sergt., No. 7687, 1st Battn. East Yorkshire Regt., _s._ of Harry Fortes, of 4, Clark’s Pace, Wilbert Lane, Beverley, by his wife, Mary Kidd, dau. of Philip Spencer; _b._ Cherry Tree Terrace, Grove Hill Road, Beverley, 25 Oct. 1888; educ. Minster School there; enlisted in the East Yorkshire Regt., 20 Nov. 1903, and joined the 1st Battn. at Shorncliffe; after a few months was drafted to the 2nd Battn. in Burmah, with which he served first in Burmah and after 1909, in India, till 1913, when he came home and rejoined the 1st Battn. at York. He was promoted Sergt., 6 June, 1914, and after the outbreak of war, went to France with the Expeditionary Force, 10 Sept., and was killed in action at Parride Hill, 28 Oct. 1914. He _m._ at Shorncliffe, 1904, Louisa, dau. of Henry Kent; _s.p._ His brother, Private William Fortes, No. 7651, was with him in this engagement and is still (1916) on active service.

=FORTUNE, JAMES=, Private, No. 6844, 3rd Battn. Coldstream Guards, 4th _s._ of the late Henry Fortune, of Foxham, co. Wilts, Platelayer on the Great Western Railway, by his wife, Hannah (Little Alne, Wooten Wowen, Birmingham), dau. of the late George Lovelock; _b._ Foxham, 5 Dec. 1887; educ. there; enlisted July, 1906, and served seven years with the colours, including two in Egypt, when he passed into the Reserve and obtained employment at Farnborough. On mobilisation he rejoined, went to the Front 12 Aug. 1914, served through the retreat from Mons and the subsequent engagements, on the Aisne and the Marne, and was killed instantaneously at Rentel, by a bullet while on sentry duty 27 Oct. 1914; _unm._ While living at Farnborough he was connected with the Gospel Mission and was an earnest worker and devoted Sunday School teacher.

=FOSTER, ARCHIBALD COURTENAY HAYES=, Lieut., Hampshire Regt., attd. 4th King’s African Rifles, 4th _s._ of the late Montagu H. Foster, of Stubbington House, Fareham, co. Hants, by his wife, Mary Henrietta Foster (The Lodge, Stubbington, Fareham), dau. of the Rev. Richard Foster Carter; _b._ Stubbington House afsd., 19 May, 1886; educ. Stubbington House and Cheltenham; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Hampshire Regt. 24 Jan. 1906; promoted Lieut. 19 Oct. 1907, and seconded for service with the King’s West African Rifles, 8 Oct. 1913; took part in the Jubaland campaign, 1914, and was killed in action at Marabu, British East Africa, 19 Sept. 1914; _unm._ It appears from the official report of this action that on the night of 6 Sept. orders were given for Lieut. Foster and A Coy. King’s African Rifles to start at dawn and regain touch with the enemy, Lieuts. Phillips and Hardingham, with 80 King’s African Rifles, to support him. No sign of the enemy was seen on the 7th or 8th. On the 19th the three section A Coy. 4th King’s African Rifles (Lieut. Foster, King’s African Rifles), with one maxim, one section Somali Mounted Infantry (Capt. Isaacson, East African Rifles, and Lieut. Miles, East African Mounted Rifles), “were occupying Campa Ya Marabu. The Somalis and mules were occupying a thorn boma ‘A.’ and the King’s African Rifles a similar boma ‘B.’ It was arranged between Capt. Isaacson and Lieut. Foster that, in case of attack, the mules were to be taken out of the boma ‘A’ and crossed over to the north bank of River Mol Turesh at point ‘D’ through bushes at point ‘E.’ A picquet, composed of Somalis, was posted at point ‘G.’ At 5.30 a.m. the enemy advancing up the river came into touch with the picquet at ‘G.’ Capt. Isaacson immediately ordered the mules across the river and then proceeded towards the picquet, shortly afterwards meeting a wounded Somali retiring on the boma, who reported the enemy to be in strength. The enemy, estimated at three or four white officers and rank and file, had now opened out on either side of the track at point ‘G’ and kept up a heavy fire; seven of the mules were hit in crossing the river. Lieut. Foster, on being informed that the enemy’s strength was only about 100, ordered his company to advance to bushes ‘E’--one section King’s African Rifles, one section Somalis, two sections King’s African Rifles on the right, with Capt. Isaacson and Lieut. Miles. The enemy kept up a very heavy fire to our front and left. As our men reached point ‘E’ Lieut. Foster was hit, but continued to urge on his men in a very gallant manner.... The whole action lasted about two hours, and from reports received later from the Masai the enemy appear to have retired in disorder.... This little action was fought with spirit and determination. Lieut. Foster died a gallant death, and the British officers and rank and file of the Somali section and A Coy. 4th King’s African Rifles gave him courageous support.”

=FOSTER, ARTHUR CEDRIC=, 2nd Lieut., 1st Battn. Grenadier Guards, yr. _s._ of Capt. Arthur Wellesley Foster, of Brockhampton Court, co. Hereford, M.A., J.P., D.L., T.D., late Master of the South Herefordshire Foxhounds (now serving as Brigade Instructor of Musketry, attd. to the Staffordshire Infantry Brigade), by his wife, Alice Madeline, dau. of the late Eben Dyer Jordan, of Boston, U.S.A.; _b._ Caton Green, co. Lancaster, 26 April, 1891; educ. at Remenham, Eton, and Exeter College, Oxford; entered the Diplomatic Service in Feb. 1914, and was for some time Hon. Attaché to the British Legation at Stockholm. When the European War broke out he was home on leave, and obtaining his release from the Foreign Office, volunteered and joined the Public Schools Battn., 18 Sept. 1914, from which he was gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Grenadier Guards, 24 Oct. following. He went to France, 12 Jan. 1915; was wounded in action at Neuve Chapelle, 11 March, 1915, and died in Merville Hospital the following day; _unm._ He was buried in Merville Churchyard. He was a good all-round athlete, and at Eton won both the Junior and Senior Long Jump, the latter in 1909, when he created a record of 20 ft. 1 in. He also played frequently for the Hereford County Cricket Club. His brother, Lieut. Cuthbert Foster, R.M.A., is (1916) on active service.

=FOSTER, DAVID=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9343), S.S. 106620, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FOSTER, FREDERICK=, Petty Officer, 1st Class, R.N.V.R. (Sussex), 298, H.M.S. Hawke, _s._ of John Foster, of 4, Nelson Road, Hastings; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=FOSTER, HERBERT KNOLLYS=, 2nd Lieut., 1st Battn. Gloucester Regt., only _s._ of the Rev. Herbert Charles Foster, T.D., Vicar of Groombridge, co. Sussex, and Hon. Canon of Gloucester Cathedral, by his wife, Susan Edith, dau. of Rev. Prebendary Robert Shuttleworth Sutton, of Winkenhurst, Hellingly, formerly Rector of Rye, Sussex; _b._ All Saints’ Vicarage, Gloucester, 18 Oct. 1895; educ. Glyngarth Preparatory School, Cheltenham, Marlborough College, and Sandhurst; obtained his commission in the 1st Battn. Gloucester Regt. 8 Aug. 1914; went to France, 20 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action at Gheluvelt, near Ypres, Flanders, 29 Oct. 1914; _unm._

=FOSTER, JOHN=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., B. 8497), S.S. 104740, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FOSTER, JOHN THOMAS=, L.-Corpl., No. 12374, 10th (Service) Battn. Durham Light Infantry, eldest _s._ of Robert Foster, of 28, Wear Street, Southwick-on-Wear, Shipwright, by his wife, Dorothy Ann, dau. of John Rames; _b._ Southwick, co. Durham, 15 July, 1886; educ. National School there; was employed in a shipyard at Sunderland; enlisted 10 Aug. 1914; trained in Surrey, went to the Front in May and was killed in action in France, 31 July, 1915, and buried at Sanctuary Wood, near the dressing station; _unm._

=FOSTER, LAURENCE TALBOT LISLE=, Lieut., 16th (Service) Battn. Durham Light Infantry, 4th _s._ of the Rev. Albert John Foster, Vicar of Wootton and Rural Dean of Haynes, by his wife, Edith Margaret, dau. of the Rev. T. A. Voules, Rector of Beercrocombe, Somerset: _b._ Wootton Vicarage, co. Bedford, 15 Feb. 1885; educ. Eastbourne College (Scholar); was a Forest Manager in the Bombay and Burma Trading Corporation; gazetted Lieut. 16th Durham L.I., 21 Nov. 1914; left England for the Dardanelles, 12 May, 1915, was attd. to the 5th Manchesters, and was killed in action at Anafarta 7 Aug. 1915; _unm._ His Colonel wrote: “As an officer he was splendid, always steadily doing his duty and quite fearless. He led his men with the utmost bravery, and was killed, as he would have liked to have been, at the head of his men, and without suffering. He is a great loss to the Battn. and you have every right to be proud of him, as we are.”

=FOSTER, ROBERT=, Private, No. 8/137, Otago Infantry Battn. New Zealand Expeditionary Force, yst. _s._ of the late Edward Foster, of Lowburn Ferry, by his wife, Christine (Lowburn Ferry, via Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand), dau. of George Dalziell, of Shetland; _b._ Lowburn aforesaid, 10 Aug. 1894; educ. Lowburn Public School, and was engaged in farming. He volunteered for Imperial service six days after the declaration of war, joined the Otago Infantry Battn., 11 Aug. 1914, and left New Zealand with the main body. He took part in the landing at the Dardanelles on 25 April, and remained in the trenches until 4 Aug. 1915, on which day he was killed in action. His second brother, William, died on active service (see following notice), and his eldest and now only surviving brother is now (1916) on active service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

=FOSTER, WILLIAM=, Trooper, No. 9/698, Otago Mounted Rifles, New Zealand Expeditionary Force, 2nd _s._ of the late Edward Foster, of Lowburn Ferry, by his wife, Christina (Lowburn Ferry, via Cromwell, Central Otago, New Zealand), dau. of George Dalziell, of Shetland (see preceding notice); _b._ Dunedin, 25 May, 1888; educ. Lowburn Public School; volunteered for Imperial service after the outbreak of war, and joined the Otago Mounted Rifles, 10 Oct. 1914; left New Zealand with the second reinforcements and landed at Anzac on his 27th birthday. He served in the trenches for three months, when he was removed to Malta suffering from pneumonia, and afterwards contracted enteric fever and died at St. Andrew’s Hospital there, after four months’ illness, 16 Nov. 1915; _unm._ He was well known as a footballer, and before the declaration of war was for some years one of the representatives for Vincent County in the interprovincial Rugby matches.

=FOTHERINGHAM, ALEXANDER BOYNE=, Leading Seaman, No. 2/2693, Anson Battn. R.N., yr. _s._ of John Fotheringham, of 34, Dudley Avenue, Leith, Baker, by his wife, Mary Ann, dau. of Alexander Boyne; _b._ Leith, 26 April, 1894; educ. Bonnington Academy, Leith, and George Heriot’s School, Edinburgh; and was employed as goods clerk in the Leith Walk branch of the Caledonian Railway until the outbreak of war. He had joined the R.N.V.R. in July, 1913, and after the outbreak of war was called up and attached to the Anson Battn. Royal Naval Division; served at Antwerp Sept. 1914, and afterwards at the Dardanelles, took part in the landing at Cape Helles, 26 April, and was killed in action there, 6 May, following; _unm._