Foster, Stanley Frederick
390 Stanley Frederick (George) Foster - 28th Battalion AIF
Stanley was born in 1892 in Port Adelaide South Australia to Frederick and Matilda Foster. He had four siblings, Percy 1889, Allen 1890, Eileen 1896 and Cyril 1899.
His father died in Port Adelaide on the 12 September 1904. His mother was left to bring up the children and she moved to Perth with them and remarried in 1907 to David Edward Lamb and they lived at 107 George Street East Fremantle.
Stan completed his education in Fremantle and after leaving school found work as a labourer and then went the country to work as a stockman.
On the 15th August 1914 Stanley enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was accepted as fit for service, with the medical examiner recording his physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 6 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 10 stone 6;
Chest Measurement - 35 inches;
Complexion - Fair;
Eyes - Blue;
Hair - Brown.
After his successful enlistment Stan was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp and was assigned to "D" Company of the original 11th Battalion with the regimental number 430. He remained with the 11th Battalion into October 1914 but then went missing from camp and was struck off the Battalion roll.
This may have had to do with getting married as on the 15th November 1914 Stanley married Florence Violet May You Gipp. They then took up residence in West Perth.
As Stan had left camp without notice he would have been labelled as an absentee, so in March 1915 when he enlisted again, he signed up under the name of George Foster.
He was again passed as fit for enlistment and this time was assigned to "B" Company of the 28th Battalion AIF.
This group trained in WA until they embarked from Fremantle aboard the H.M.A.T. “Ascanius” on the 29th June 1915. After their arrival in Egypt in late July they were given further training and were soon told to prepare to head for Gallipoli.
On the 4th September 1915 the Battalion embarked from Egypt and made their way to the peninsula, however it seems that Stan remained in Egypt with the Battalion details.
After the 28th Battalion arrived at Anzac they were sent to part of the newly captured territory to hold the new trenches around positions such as the Apex. The 28th were not involved in any major actions on Gallipoli but still had a steady stream of casualties. Stan joined the Battalion on the 11th November 1915 and remained with them until the Battalion was withdrawn from the peninsula in late December. The 28th Battalion firstly was taken to Mudros and then returned to Egypt on the 10th January 1916.
Stan trained with the 28th Battalion for the next two months in the Egyptian desert as they also held a portion of the Suez Canal defence line. On the 16th March 1916 the 28th Battalion arrived at Alexandria Harbour and proceeded to board a troopship which took them to France, where they arrived at Marseilles on the 21st March 1916.
After disembarking, the Battalion made their way by train to the north of France. They arrived near Armentieres and took up a position on the Western Front for the first time near Fleurbaix.
The 28th Battalion remained in this sector until June 1916 when they transferred for a short period to Messines. In early July they were then transferred to the Somme battlefield. On July 22nd the 1st Australian Division had captured Pozieres village and they remained under heavy German shellfire until they were relieved by the 2nd Division a week later. The 28th Battalion came into the line and almost immediately were ordered to attack the German trench line known as OG1 as part of a general advance by the 2nd Division. The 28th Battalion had the hardest task as they were attacking along the highest elevation on the battlefield and were subject to heavy German machine gun fire. The survivors made it to the German line and found an unbroken stretch of thick barbed wire and as they were attempting to get through, many men were shot down.
Stan was one of the fortunate men to survive this assault unscathed though there was to be no rest for the 28th Battalion. The next attack being ordered for August 4th, and while the 28th Battalion; due to their heavily reduced numbers were kept in reserve, when the other battalions got into difficulty the 28th Battalion were again sent forward and amazingly they managed to capture the majority of the heavily defended windmill position.
Stan again came though unscathed and after seeing more action at Mouquet Farm in August 1916, the 28th Battalion were then withdrawn from the line, and with the 2nd Australian Division, were now sent to Ypres in Belgium. This was then a quieter part of the front and the 28th battalion spent several weeks through September and October 1916 here.
While in Belgium Stan got into trouble for sending letters via a civilian post office and not through the army post. Stan was given 28 days of Field Punishment No.2 as a result. Sending mail outside of the army was a crime in the army as letters were then not able to be censored hence the large punishment meted out to Stan.
On the 10th October 1916 Stan was sent to hospital with influenza though fortunately it was not severe and he was soon back with his unit.
The 28th Battalion were now sent back to the Somme battlefield and despite the horribly muddy conditions, the 28th Battalion would take part in an attempted advance on German trenches near Flers. On the 5th November 1916 the attack went ahead and was repulsed with large casualties.
During the attack Stan was shot in the leg and after treatment at the Field Ambulance and Casualty Clearing Station he was set to the 4th General Hospital at Camiers. Stan only had a few days here as on the 11th November 1916 he was shipped to England.
On arrival, Stan was sent to the 3rd London General Hospital. He remained here receiving medical treatment until the 7th February 1917. Stan was then released from hospital and was given a two week furlough and was told to report into No.1 Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs on the 22nd February 1917. However Stan never showed up, and a month later on the 21st March 1917 was declared an illegal absentee.
Stan had several months absence and was away until he handed himself in to Australian Military Police in London on the 4th September 1917. He was then taken to No.1 Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs.
On the 20th September 1917 Stan faced a Court Martial due to his long illegal absence. It appears he pled guilty and was given an eleven month sentence and had to forfeit 544 days pay.
Stan was then sent to Devizes detention barracks to carry out his sentence. In February 1918 Stan was released from detention and the rest of his sentence was remitted.
Stan then spent the next few months in the AIF Camps in UK while he regained his fitness. On the 21st May 1918 he was sent to hospital and was diagnosed with venereal disease. He was then sent to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital in Bulford.
On the 5th July 1918 he was released from hospital and was sent to No.2 Command Depot Camp at Weymouth. It appears that the medical authorities made the decision to send Stan back to Australia.
On the 23rd September 1918 Stan boarded the transport ship Runic and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 12th November 1918.
Stan was discharged from the AIF on the 13th December 1918
He then returned home and reunited with his wife Florence. A daughter called Florence was born in 1919. He resumed his previous career as a horse driver and carrier.
In 1927 Stan and Florence were divorced.
In 1929 Stan was arrested when he was in a Chinese gambling den with his ex in laws. Though he was only fined 1 pound and was then released. This occurred again in the 1930's.
Stanley died in Claremont on the 10th November 1947 aged 55. He was buried in Fremantle Cemetery plot Anglican Mon A7 0415.