FORSTER, Claude Arthur
| Service Number: | 265 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | 1873, place not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Bowen, Whitsunday, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Station Hand |
| Died: | New Zealand, 2 August 1948, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Hamilton East Cemetery, Hamilton, New Zealand |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 265, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Mar 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 265, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 488 notes 5th QIB embarked at Pinkenba 6 Mar 1901 aboard Templemore arriving Port Elizabeth 1 Apr 1901. | |
| 5 May 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 265, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 491 notes 5th QIB embarked at Cape Town 27 Mar 1902 aboard St Andrew returning to Australia arriving Brisbane 30 Apr 1902, disbanded 5 May 1902. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
When Claude Arthur Forster enlisted in 1901 in the 5th QIB and his details were published with the rank and file in The Queenslander, 16 Mar 1901, he noted his N.O.K. as Mrs. Gray, Lower Proserpine via Bowen. In the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 5th QIB, Bk 2 p. 112, it is noted he directed part of his pay to Mrs. C. A. Forster, c/- Hemmant Hotel, Hemmant.
Claude Arthur Forster was born about 1873 at an unknown location. In the Boer War service paybooks under his entry it is noted he directed a payment to the 'mother in charge', St Vincent's Convent, Nudgee, which included an orphanage. He married Miriam How Gray, from Bowen, on 21 Oct 1891 in Queensland and they had 3 children by 1895. Tragically, their infant daughter died on 23 Apr 1893 while they were residing at Havilah Station, Bowen River, near Bowen.
He ruturned from the South African (Boer) War with the main group of the 5th QIB aboard the St Andrew and was discharged in Brisbane in May 1902. Its unclear whether he returned to his family, his wife lodging a missing persons search through police, as noted in the NSW Police Gazette in Aug 1905, indicating he had left Brisbane in 1902 and had not since made contact. She later sought and was granted a divorce and custody of the children by a Qld court in 1906 citing desertion as one of the reasons. She remarried to John Mitchell at Armidale, NSW, in 1906.
Sometime after 1902, Claude made his way to New Zealand. He married again in 1943 to Bertha Louisa Sinden in New Zealand, just 5 years before he passed there at the age of 75 in 1948.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p.498; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 2 p. 112; various newspaper articles- see links).