FOSTER, Ernest George
| Service Number: | 148 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
| Born: | Avoca, Tasmania, Australia, 28 June 1873 |
| Home Town: | Kariong, Gosford Shire, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Stockman and Farmer |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Gosford, Gosford Shire - New South Wales, Australia, 4 August 1954, aged 81 years |
| Cemetery: |
Point Clare General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia Sect. CE 6 Row 2 Plot 32. |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Sergeant, 148, New South Wales Citizen Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Feb 1900: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Sergeant, 148, New South Wales Citizen Bushmen, Embarked from Sydney. Disembarked at Beira in Portuguese East Africa. Entrained to Rhodesia. Regimented into Rhodesian Field Force to invade the Transvaal. | |
| 22 Jul 1900: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Sergeant, 148, New South Wales Citizen Bushmen, Elands River, Kosters River Action. | |
| 8 May 1901: | Transferred Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Sergeant, 3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles | |
| 8 May 1901: | Promoted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lieutenant, 3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles | |
| 31 May 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lieutenant, 3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles, Discharged in South Africa to purchase a farm under the Milner Reconstruction Scheme. Awarded both the QSA and KSA Medals. He did not R.T.A. to farm again until 1926. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Maurice Kissane
Ernest George Foster was born in Tasmania in 1873 but worked as a Stockman in New South Wales. He aspired to make his living as a Farmer. However, he had to work as a Stockman as it was not yet viable.
He likely had prewar militia service for when the NSW Citizen Bushmen contingent was raised he was quickly enlisted as a Sergeant. He saw it was his duty to HM The Queen and Her Empire to enlist. Ernest survived his Active Service but he did not return with his time expired contingent. Instead he transferred to the 3rd NSW Mounted Rifles. He was quickly comissioned as a Lieutenant because of his demonstrated leadership skills under fire.
Ernest decided not to return when the Anglo-Boer War Peace Accords were signed. Instead, he took advantage of the Milner Reconstruction Scheme to purchase his own farm. It was not until 1926 that he sold his South African Farm to be a Dairyman in New South Wales.
He was active in the Gosford Rifle Club. That would have given him an outlet to pass on his unique skills.
Ernest died in New South Wales in 1954 after long illness. His death was not war related. It was natural causes. However, his Boer War service entitled Ernest to receive both the QSA Medal and the KSA Medal.
Lest We Forget.
His Australian Boer War Memorial Bio sketch is cited.
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Death Of Boer
War Veteran
GOSFORD. Wednesday.
When Gosford's last Boer War veteran is buried in Point Clare Cemetery, tomorrow morning, an Australian flag, which he brought back from the war, will cover the casket. The veteran was Mr. Ernest George Foster, 82, of Gosford, who died this morning after a long illness. Mr. Foster was a captain in the Australian Bushmen contingent in the Boer War, and for the past decade was a prominent member of Gosford Rifle Club.
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