Chief Steward Thomas Matthew Foster, SS Hollington (London), Mercantile Marine
- Rank
- Chief Steward
- Name
- T W FOSTER
- Regiment
- Mercantile Marine
- Date of Death
- Died 02 June 1917
Thomas Matthew Foster was 58 years old when his ship, the SS Hollington, was torpedoed by a U boat near the Faroe Islands. The ship was part of a convoy carrying tin, ammunition and small arms to Tsarist Russia in June 2017. Remarkably two survivors were rescued, though 32 men drowned, including Thomas' 17 year old nephew Harry Foster. Thomas was Chief Steward. Harry was one of his young assistant stewards.
Two of Harry's brothers were also killed during World War One, serving in France and Belgium. And two of these boys' cousins - Thomas' nephews - Thomas Matthew and David, were also killed in France.
Thomas and Harry are named on the Tower Hill Memorial, but note that Thomas' middle initial is wrongly given as W rather than M for Matthew. (Incidentally, Thomas' brothers Robert and David, fathers of the boys who were killed, each named one or more of the their sons after their own brothers - hence the number of Thomas Matthew Fosters among Liverpool's dead of World War One.)
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