Bombardier Eric Charles Foster was born in Woolton on October 28, 1888, to Thomas, a local farmer, and Mary Foster.

The 1901 census records the 12-year-old Eric as living with his parents in Quarry Street along with seven brothers (Thomas, 27, John, 26, Fred, 25, Stanley, 23, James, 22, Albert, 18, and Richard, 8) and five sisters (Ellen, 25, Constance, 16, Lucy, 14, Jessie, 10, and Mary, 7). One servant, Mary Coll, also lived with the family, perhaps to help with all those children!

In 1911, Eric was working alongside his father at Newstead Farm, Woolton, together with Constance, Lucy, and Richard. Jessie and Mary were also still living at home, but employed as a dressmaker and milliner, respectivly, while James worked as a railway clerk.

When the war broke out, Eric served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Forces, so had perhaps emigrated since the 1911 census was taken. According to the Auckland Museum Cenotaph record, he embarked from Wellington, NZ, on January 8, 1916, headed to Suez in Egypt.

He served in the 2nd Battery, 2nd Brigade, serial number 11/2096, and was promoted to Bombardier on August 22, 1918. Eric was killed in action on September 18, 1918, aged 29.

Eric is Remembered with honour in the Rocquigny – Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt, in the Somme region of France.

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