Frederick Foster (1915-1990)

Born in Claypole, Fred Foster never spoke about his wartime activities.

Yet when they were discovered by his son Steven, they were worthy of a book.

He joined the 8th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (TA) as a Private in 1939 at Newark.

He was transferred to 148 (North Midlands) TA Infantry Brigade Staff 1939 and promoted to Lance Corporal later that year.

He was appointed Brigade Chief Clerk and promoted to Sergeant.

The Brigade, consisting of 8th Sherwood Foresters and 5th Leicesters moved to Durham in October 1939 for pre-deployment training for Norway.

Frederick was billeted in Barnard Castle where he met Peggy Urquhart  (who became a Grtantham magistrate for many years) They were married 1940.

The merchant ship carrying the anti-tank artillery, communications equipment and Bren carriers was torpedoed and sunk on passage to Norway.  The Brigade disembarked at Andalsnes, Norway, in April 1940 and immediately moved south to Lillehammer in the Gudbrandsdal Valley on Lake Mjosa to support the Norwegian Army.

Later that month,  148 Brigade fought with German forces south of Lillehammer an after four days of constant fighting in Arctic conditions and with very little food, the Brigade made a stand about a mile south of the village of Tretten to prevent the road bridge falling into German hands.

The battle at Tretten gorge began early on 23rd April with the Leicesters passing through the Foresters’ positions and then retiring to Tretten to form the Brigade reserve.

Subjected to continuous mortar and machine gun fire, the Sherwood Foresters, armed only with rifles, attempted to stem Armoured and Ski troops overrunning their positions and taking the bridge.

Hand to hand fighting took place between the Germans and most of the Brigade were killed, wounded or captured and it ceased to exist as a fighting unit.  Sergeant Foster formed a rifle platoon from the Brigade Staff other ranks and fought at Rindheim where he was wounded and captured near the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ford.

He was imprisoned in Stalag XXA at Thorn Podgorz, Poland where he remained until August 1942 when he and Oxford don L/Cpl Coulthard undertook a meticulously prepared escape to the Swiss border on Lake Constance.

In the prison camp, Cpl Coulthard, a modern languages specialist, spent three hours a day for 18 months teaching the Cpl to speak German while brushing up on his own.

Sgt Foster was unable to lose his Lincolnshire dialect to pose as a Hungarian named Dr Benecz.

After escaping the camp, they took a tour around Berlin that included a visit to the Reichstag and even dined in a restaurant alongside Nazi officers.

When they reached the Swiss frontier, Cpl Coulthard strode confidently across but Sgt Foster raised the guards’ suspicions. Ignoring an agreement not to go back should the other one be stopped, Cpl Coulthard re-entered Germany to help his friend.

Both men were arrested and tortured for two days by the Gestapo before they admitted who they were.

Cpl Coulthard was returned to Stalag XXA where he made a further eight unsuccessful escape attempts, while Sgt Foster was sent to another camp. The two never met again. In 1945 as the Red Army advanced the Germans sent PoWs on a forced march westwards.

Cpl Coulthard died aged 27 of a heart attack after being forced to bathe in the icy Elbe. He was buried beneath an unnamed cross.

Mr Foster became a successful businessman with the building company that bore his name, building several major estates in the town, both in the private and council sectors.

The family home was on Harrowby Lane, before moving to Four Gables, on Beacon Lane. They later moved to Woolsthorpe-by-Belvoir and finally retired to Maiden Newton, in Dorset.

He joined Grantham Town Council and was Mayor in 1957.

Mr Foster died in Dorset on the operating table.

Compiled with the help of Steven Foster and Peter Reichelt