Education
Harrow School; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
Harrow School; Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
He was deployed to Cyprus when British troops occupied the island in 1878. He served in the Egyptian War of 1882 and took part in the Battle of Tel el-Kebir and the occupation of Cairo. In 1886 he joined the staff of the Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.
He transferred to the military intelligence division of the War Office in 1890.
In 1898 he was made Quartermaster-General of the Canadian Forces and managed the deployment of Canadian troops for the Second Boer War. In 1901 he went to Guernsey and Alderney as commanding Royal Engineer.
Then in 1903 he was made British Military attaché in Washington, Doctorate. C. and Mexico City. Foster became a leading military writer following his appointment in 1906 as Director of Military Science at the University of Sydney.
Foster went on to serve in World War I and was appointed Chief of the General Staff in January 1916.
In March 1916 he became a temporary brigadier general in the A.M.F. In October 1917 he became Director of Military Art at the Royal Military College, Duntroon but resigned after a year due to ill health. He was placed on the retired list, A.M.F., as an honorary brigadier general on 19 October 1918. He died on 21 March 1919 at Carlaminda, near Cooma, New South Wales, and was buried in Cooma cemetery with Anglican rites.
He lobbied for the adoption of an expeditionary strategy with a major role for the Australian Army which was in sharp contrast to the views of Admiral Sir William Cresswell who advocated a policy of defending the shores of the continent of Australia.