Commemorated: | |||
| 1. Memorial: | Noeux-Les-Mines Communal Cemetery | I. K. 5. | |
| 2. Book: | The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918 | Pg.122 | |
| 3. Memorial: | The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour | 50C GQS | |
Awards & Titles: | |||
Family :
Son of Sir Ralph C. Forster, 1st Bart., of The Grange, Sutton, Surrey.Service Life:
Campaigns:
- The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.
| Unit / Ship / Est.: 8/King's Own Scottish Borderers |
Mike: 8th (Service) Battalion Formed at Berwick-on-Tweed in September 1914 as part of K2 and attached to 46th Brigade in 15th (Scottish) Division. Moved to Bordon and in February 1915 went into billets at Winchester. Moved to Park House and Chisledon Camps (Salisbury Plain) in April 1915. Landed at Boulogne 10 July 1915. 28 May 1916 : in Bethune, merged with 8th Bn to form 7/8th. |
| Action : The Battle of Loos and associated actions |
"The Battle of Loos (25 September to 18 October 1915) was the major battle on the Western Front in 1915, surpassing in every respect all that had gone before in terms of numbers of men and materiel committed to battle. The preliminary bombardment was the most violent to date and the battle was charaterised by the committment of Regular and Territorial battalions on a large scale, in which the Territorials performed just as well as the Regulars. As the battles on the Western Front in 1915 increased in size and violence, so the casualties increased in proportion: Neuve Chapelle 12,000, Aubers Ridge/Festubert 29,000 , Loos 60,000. 1916 was to take the casualty cost to another level. Loos was intended as a minor role in support of French efforts around Arras but circumstances reduced the French effort. It marked the first use of poison gas by the British. Once the initial assualt had failed the battle continued in a series of actions mostly focused on the northern sector around the tactically important Hohenzollern Redoubt."
Detail :
MAJOR Hugh Murray FORSTER (8th King's Own Scottish Borderers) died in France on September 28, of wounds received three days earlier, aged 32. He was in the Charterhouse XI in 1901 and 1902, in the former year being fourth in the averages with 34.72 and in the latter seventh with 13.25. This Wisden obituary differs from the CWGC on the date of death. The 8/KOSB were initially held in reserve for the attack by 46th Brigade of 15th (Scottish) Division towards Hill 70 on 25th September 1915, the first day of the Battle of Loos. They were then brought forward to provide a defensive flank opposite Bois Hugo, a german strongpoint. The failure to take Hill 70 and to the North the failure of the 1st Division to take its objectives along the La Bassee Road left 8/KOSB exposed to german machine guns in Bois Hugo, on Hill 70 and in the German strongpoints along the road. In all 8/KOSB suffered 393 casualties in one day, one of which was Hugh FORSTER. Source: Wisden obituary
Masonic :
| Type | Lodge Name and No. | Province/District : |
|---|---|---|
| Mother : | Mid-Surrey No. 3109 E.C. | Surrey |
Initiated | Passed | Raised |
18th October 1911 | 15th November 1911 | 21st February 1912 |
Source :
The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:
- The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
- The (UK) National Archives
- Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
- ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry
Additional Source:
- Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
- Researcher : Bruce Littley