FORSTER, Eric Bertie
(Service number 54345)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank | Rifleman |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 3 February 1893 | Place of Birth | Wellington |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Hutt Road, Petone | ||
| Occupation | Woollen worker | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single. Married 1917; one child | ||
| Next of Kin | John FORSTER (father), Police Station, Timaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 27th Reinforcements, G Company | ||
| Date | 16 July 1917 | ||
| Transport | Athenic | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Liverpool, Merseyside, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Rifle Brigade | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 27 July 1971 | Age | 78 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Okaihau | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Kaeo Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Eric Bertie Forster was born on 3 February 1893 at Wellington, the third son of John and Mary Matilda (née Furze) Forster. Eric was educated at Foxton and Feilding schools and at High Street Dunedin School before returing to Feilding. As his father was a sergeant of police, the family moved about quite a lot. His mother died at their Petone residence in December 1912 after a long illness. Eric Forster was a munition-makrer at Petone when he was called up. He named his father as next-of-kin – J. Forster, Police-station, Timaru. Rifleman E. B. Forster embarked for England with the 27th Reinforcements on 16 July 1917.
Single when he enlisted, he married Mary Maud Jensen on 2 July 1917 at Wellington. Their daughter, Ena Mary Forster, was born later that year at Dannevirke, while Eric was overseas. Another daughter was born after his return, in 1920. Eric Bertie Forster died on 27 July 1971 at Okaihau, aged 78 years, and was buried in the Returned Servicemen’s Section of Kaeo Cemetery. Mary Maud Forster died in 1978 and was cremated at Karori.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [19 January 2021]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [19 January 2021]; School Admission records [22 January 2021]; Kaeo Cemetery burial record (Far North District Council) [22 January 2021]; Sun, 13 March 1918, Timaru Herald, 18 March 1918 (Papers Past) [09 April 2015; 16 January 2021]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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