Frank William Foster

Wing Commander Frank William Foster DFC, DSM (10 April 1887, London — 5 March 1963, Reading). Although born in West London, he was brought up and educated in the village of Stockcross in Berkshire. He joined the Royal Navy in 1903 at the age of 16, and saw action in many theatres of World War I, including the Battle of Jutland, in which he gained the Distinguished Service Medal.

Contents

• Navy career
• RAF career
• Honours and awards
• References

He transferred to the RAF in the latter part of the War, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for gallantry and devotion to duty. At the cessation of activities he joined the little group of pioneers who were struggling to develop an aircraft carrier deck landing technique on an old converted cruiser — HMS Argus.

In 1927, trouble flared up on the North-West Frontiers of British India, and Flying Officer Foster was drafted with a squadron of old Bristol Fighters to police the Himalayas and keep order. This involved active duty for five years. As a form of relaxation, on one of his leaves he made a trek accompanied by an Indian guide to Tibet, visiting the district of Ladakh.

Returning from India in 1933, a short spell as radio and communications instructor followed, prior to a return to the sea in the ill-fated HMS Courageous. F/O Foster was transferred to a Coastal Command at Plymouth, a comparatively short time before HMS Courageous was sunk by enemy action. Coastal Command service led to promotion to the rank of Wing Commander, involving transfer to Western Approaches Command, Derby House, Liverpool, one of a number of vital communication centres for the three services. It figured in the tracking and final annihilation of the Bismarck. For his service he was mentioned in despatches three times, on 17 March 1941, 11 June 1942 and 14 January 1944.

Wing Commander Foster's service in World War II carried him beyond the normal retiring age, but the day had to come, of course, when he had to take leave of the services, in November 1945. Not for him however was the sedentary life of retirement. In January 1946, he joined the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) as a Communications Officer, serving until the administration closed down in June 1948. The Ministry of Supply knew the Wing Commander next, and he became an experimental officer acting as a liaison between the Air Ministry and aircraft manufacturers. In December 1955 he had finally to retire from the active scene.

Wing Commander Foster had a wife, Edith, and two children, Harold and Betty - his home remained at Stockcross until the end of his life, when he was taken to the Battle Hospital in Reading after a long fight against Parkinson's disease. He died there on 5 March 1963, aged 75.