| Accession Number | P05736.001 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Digital file |
| Maker |
Unknown |
| Place made | Australia: New South Wales |
| Date made | c 1940 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Studio portrait of NX28792 Private (Pte) William Joseph Foster, 2/2 Casualty Clearing Station, ...
Description
Studio portrait of NX28792 Private (Pte) William Joseph Foster, 2/2 Casualty Clearing Station, later attached to No 5 Australian General Hospital, AAMC. A salesman of Glebe Point, NSW, Pte Foster enlisted on 6 June 1940. He was taken prisoner of war (POW) and killed in action on 14 April 1945 whilst riding on the back of a German ambulance which was fired upon by American tanks. Pte Foster had been a prisoner at Stalag IVf Hohenstein-Ernstahls when the camp was overrun. A British doctor at a nearby hospital had a wounded German and requested an ambulance. The ambulance was sent with a German driver and orders were given that no British personnel were to go with it. Pte Foster and some six others jumped on the ambulance and half a mile from the camp the ambulance, with German markings was fired upon. The driver was killed instantly and Foster and three others wounded. Pte Foster was taken to an American hospital but died of his wounds; he was aged 26.