Frederick Severn Foster

Because of his young age and the fact that it was the final year of the war, Fred would have been conscripted into the army. He served as a private in 13th Battalion Durham Light Infantry. The battalion had previously won honours on the Somme 1916, Messines and Ypres 1917.He had not been in the army long before he was soon posted to the Western Front and on October 14th he arrived in France. He wrote to his parents and told them of his journey over the Channel and his present well being. This letter, dated 14th October 1918, was in fact written by Fred whilst the battalion was in Premont and was the only letter Fred sent to his parents whilst on the Western Front. Exactly two weeks later Fred was killed by a sniper's bullet and two weeks after his death, the war ended. He was killed during the very final stages of the Allied assault on the retreating Germans. The Allies had just re-captured the town of Le Cateau and were rapidly pursuing the enemy. They had reached the outskirts of Landrecies, normally a pretty area surrounded by orchards. However, at this stage the Germans were putting up a strong fight and their machine gunners commanded the roads, paths and gaps in hedges. They also had excellent vantage points from houses from where they could observe the movement of Allied troops. The Durham’s battalion diary states that despite this, patrols were sent out day and night. On 28th October, the battalion received orders to establish posts on a designated track. However, patrols reported that the track was held by the enemy. Fred was on one of these patrols when his life was tragically cut short. Fred was on one of these patrols when his life was tragically cut short. He is buried at Landrecies British Cemetery which is situated in the north-west part of the town

In memoriam published 28th October 1919 in the Nottingham Evening Post :- “FOSTER. – In loving memory of our dear son, Pte. Fred Servern, killed in action October 28th, 1918. No morning dawns, no night returns, no matter where we be, but what we think of thee. – From loving father and mother, sister and brothers.” Above is courtesy of Jim Grundy and his facebook pages Small Town Great War Hucknall 1914-1918