World War I Commemorative Website

War Memorial Hall  c1929

Memorial Hall circa 1929
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Joshua Alexander FORRESTER

FORRESTER

Alexander Forrester was born on 2 January 1887 in Footscray, Victoria. His parents were Alexander Paterson and Missie (née Bell) Forrester. He attended Scotch from 1902 to 1903. Alexander Forrester’s was a new World War I death that was only brought to Scotch’s attention on 4 June 2009 when a Footscray researcher contacted the Scotch College Archives.

Alexander was a Marine Engineer when he enlisted on 22 August 1914 at Sydney, New South Wales. He served in the 2nd Battalion with the rank of Lieutenant. His Regimental Number was 844.

Alexander died on 2 May 1918 at Meteren, France. He was 31 years of age.

Service record

Alexander Forrester was allotted to the 2nd Battalion as a Private. A fellow soldier described him as ‘tall, dark, impediment in speech.’ He was at the Gallipoli landing on 25 April, and within the first three days received a gunshot wound to the right hip (one source says right buttock) that required his evacuation to Egypt on 30 April. He rejoined his battalion on Gallipoli just two weeks later, on 14 May. He was wounded again on 8 August in the fighting at Lone Pine, this time with a gunshot wound to the face. He was taken for treatment to Mudros on the island of Lemnos, but was back with the 2nd Battalion on Gallipoli just three days later, on 11 August.

On 16 August he was promoted to Lance Corporal. In September he contracted jaundice, and his eventful time on Gallipoli ended on 18 September when he was evacuated ill to Mudros. In November he embarked for treatment in England – his service record suggests that he was suffering from dysentery as well as jaundice - but he was back with the battalion in Egypt on 20 February 1916. He was promoted to Corporal that month. In March 1916 he sailed with the battalion for Marseille, France. In May he was given 11 days’ leave to the United Kingdom. On 23 July 1916 at Pozieres he was wounded for the third time: this time receiving a gunshot wound to the right ankle. He was evacuated and transferred to Newcastle in England. Less than two months later, on 19 September, after 15 days’ leave, he was classified Class ‘A’: that is, ready to return to active service. While still in England in October, he received the one blemish on his disciplinary record, earning a ‘reprimand’ for being absent from early morning parade on 10 October 1916.

On 13 December he sailed for France, where five days later he rejoined the 2nd Battalion. He was sent to a school for three weeks in February. On 9 April 1917 in the battalion’s attack on the Hindenburg Line he was wounded for a fourth time. This time he received a severe gunshot wound to the right thigh. Again he was evacuated to England, arriving there on 28 April. By July he was convalescing and by mid-October he was on his way back to France. He rejoined the 2nd Battalion, and was promoted 2nd Lieutenant on 8 November 1917. He went to a School of Instruction in January 1918 and was away for six weeks before rejoining his battalion. He became a full Lieutenant on 1 April 1918, while away for a few days at Area Command. On 2 May Alexander’s luck came to an end, and he was killed in action near Meteren. His service record notes that he was hit ‘by a bullet which penetrated his abdomen, causing almost instantaneous death.’

In his Red Cross Wounded and Missing file, Private William Hulbert explained that Forrester had been killed by a sniper while on patrol. Several others confirm that it was on patrol. Hulbert had helped to take him to the Dressing Station, but he had ‘died on the road’. In the same file, a fellow Lieutenant described him as ‘very popular’. A Lance Corporal in the same unit claimed that Forrester was able to say to a fellow Lieutenant: ‘I’m done this time Bobbie’. The epitaph on his headstone reads: ‘HE DIED THAT WE MIGHT LIVE. THY WILL O LORD BE DONE’. This was at the direction of his aunt, Miss Clara Bell, of Kilmore, Victoria.

Alexander Forrester is buried in the Borre British Cemetery (Plot I, Row B, Grave No. 22), France.

Sources:

  1. Australian War Memorial – Roll of Honour and Red Cross Wounded and Missing file
  2. Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
  3. Mishura Scotch Database. Alexander Forrester’s was a new World War I death that was only brought to Scotch’s attention in 2009 when a Footscray researcher contacted the Scotch College Archives.
  4. National Archives of Australia – B2455, FORRESTER A
  5. The AIF Project - https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=101540

Page last updated: 11 November 2015