On Tower Hill Memorial, London is the name of First Engineer William Robert Forster serving on Pilot Cutter Protector with the Lighthouse and Pilotage Authorities who died 31/12/1916.
Husband of Mrs. Edith Annie Forster, of 115, Howdon Road., North Shields. Born at North Shields.
William Robert Forster was born on the 21st September 1877 the son of William Robert Forster, a publican in Middle Street, in 1881, and Margaret Jane nee Ryles. Married Holy Saviours Church 1876. William and Edith had three children: Edith, Kenneth, and Sidney.
Stepson of Bennett Thompson married Tynemouth 1887
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Sibling of Martha Forster; Half brother Aaronetta Ryles, Anna and Bennett Lupton Thompson.
Husband of Edith Annie nee Downie married at Christ Church, at North Shields on the 18th April 1908. They had two children Bennett and William Forster. The family attended the Middle Street Mission, Milburn Place.
He was a ship fitter working at the Dry Docks, North Shields. Residing at 46 Lansdowne Terrace, North Shields before moving to 115 Howdon Road, North Shields.
On New Year’s Eve, 31st December 1916, the Tyne pilot cutter Protector was destroyed by a German mine at the mouth of the River Tyne, killing all 19 men on board. The 200-ton steamer was serving the port of Tyne, guiding vessels through hazardous, mined waters during WWI. The loss was a devastating blow to the tight-knit Tyneside maritime community, leaving 33 children fatherless.
The Protector was waiting to transfer pilots to ships entering the Tyne when it hit a mine, likely laid by German submarine UC-31, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto von Schrader.
All 19 men on board perished, including 10 pilots, four pilot assistants, and five crew members.
The crew was mostly from North and South Shields. Victims included 70-year-old pilot Robert Phillips and his grandson Ralph Phillips, representing the interlinked nature of the families involved. The youngest was 16-year-old cabin boy Benjamin Rumney.
Aftermath: The explosion was so severe that only one body, that of Robert Phillips, was ever recovered, found in March 1917.
“There was a noise as if it was a volcano and all they saw was a column of water and smoke and the pilot cutter was no more,” says Bill Watson, whose uncle Ralph Phillips and great-grandfather Robert Phillips were on board.
Shields Daily News 20/01/1917: Deaths. FORSTER – Lost at Sea on December 31st 1916 William R Forster (Engineer). Dearly beloved Husband of Edith A Forster of 115 Howdon Road, North Shields. FORSTER – Lost at Sea on December 31st 1916 William R Forster Engineer. Beloved son of Mrs Margaret L and Stepson of Mr Bennett Thompson of 5 Belle Vue Terrace, Coach Lane, North Shields and son of the late W R Forster of Willington Quay and North Shields.
Sources; James Hoy Archive; Northumbrian WW1 Project; Bill Watson 2012; BBC; Pilots Log; British Newspaper Archive; The Pilots Log: Find A Grave; BBC
William Robert Forster is remembered at North Shields on N34.77, at South Shields on S86.030, S86.062 and in our List of Ships‘ Crews.
