George Foster

This memorial page is dedicated to George Foster, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

Additional information

Grave location: III. A. 4.

Son of Philip and Elizabeth Foster, widow Kathleen Foster, of Buxton, Derbyshire.

The unit to which Foster belonged liberated Deurne from Zeilberg. They advanced from Molenstraat via Lindenlaan to Kerkstraat. According to his commanding officer, Captain Higgins – or at least so he later wrote to George Foster’s mother – George Foster was fatally hit by machine-gun fire. In the book *War Years 1940–1945: The Municipality of Deurne*, Toon Hoefnagels writes that George Foster was killed by a German sniper, a claim which has been repeated by several other authors. However, witness statements such as those from his immediate superior, Captain Higgins, and Willy Vermazeren (both of whom were in the immediate vicinity at the time of the incident), as well as the injuries sustained, clearly indicate that George Foster died as a result of machine-gun fire.

George Foster’s body lay in the middle of the street; his men were taking cover and did not dare to advance any further. Captain Ernie Campbell, from yet another Unit, found them in this situation. To show the men that there was no longer any danger to fear, he walked straight towards the dead body of Lieutenant George Foster, picked up Foster’s rifle and returned to the soldiers without anything happening. Later, Captain Ernie Campbell remarked, ‘It was like walking to the gallows’.

George Foster’s temporary grave, on the corner of Kerkstraat and Molenlaan, in the Stevens family’s garden.

Honour guard formed by members (Toon Hermans and Gerrit Nelemans) of the Special Volunteer Landstorm

A few Allied armoured vehicles in Kerkstraat, where George Foster was killed.

When George Foster’s body was carried by his comrades from the house to the grave pictured above, they gave Willy Vermazeren (then a 14-year-old boy) the spade pictured below, which bore Foster’s initial. Long after the war, Willy Vermazeren handed this digging tool back to George Foster’s son.

Derby Evening Telegraph, Friday, 13 October 1944

The Glasgow Herald, Friday, 20 October 1944

View all persons in the category: Allied soldiers killed in action