Address / Local links: 2 Napier Cottages, Wickham Street, Welling
Family / Relatives: Son of Thomas George and Lucy Maud Foy. Husband of Lilian Anne Ada Foy of Welling
Other Information: A Builder’s Labourer
Frederick Thomas Foy was born on 4th October 1913 in Camberwell, the year after his parents Thomas George and Lucy Maud (nee Francis) married. His father, Thomas, a house painter, had served in the First World War in, what would become in 1918, the Royal Air Force.
Frederick was the eldest of four children; Nellie Maud born in 1916; Leslie Cecil in 1918 and Dorothy Very in 1919. In 1921 the family were living at 15 Hall Street, London SE15 but the family moved to Welling sometime before the start of the War.
In 1938, when Frederick was living with his family at 66 Tidford Road, Welling, he married Lilian Anne May (born in 1919 in the Lewisham area). They moved to Napiers Cottages in Wickham Street where Frederick worked as a builder’s labourer and Lilian was a housewife and Terence Frederick was born in 1939 (sadly to die when he was 21). It appears they also had another son, Ronald (a Ronald Foy, son of Lilian, was living with his mother in 1961).
Frederick served in the 200 Garrison Regiment, Royal Artillery, which became the 602 Infantry Regiment, Royal Artillery, in 1945. The regiment was never intended for a front line role, but rather to perform occupational duties, to free up infantrymen for front line service. Sadly, on 17th March 1945, aged 31 years old, Frederick died of hematemesis, vomiting blood as a result of internal bleeding, the cause of which is unknown. He was buried in Ramleh War Cemetery in Israel, his inscription reading Into the Mosaic of Victory I Lay this Precious Life.
Ramleh War Cemetery in Israel
https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-cemeteries-memorials/cemetery-details/72001/ramleh-war-cemetery
“During the Second World War, this cemetery was used by the Ramla Royal Air Force Station and by various Commonwealth hospitals posted in turn to the area for varying periods” – so it’s possible that Frederick died here in a military hospital?
Frederick was survived by his parents, who continued to live in Tidford Road until their deaths: his father in1962 and mother in 1979. Sometime before 1961, Frederick’s wife Lilian had remarried, to Wilfred Brown. His apparent son, Ronald, married Daphne and lived in Sidcup.
Some of our images show a military death record for Frederick, along with more images of the Ramleh War Cemetery. Other pictures show some pre WW1 cottages in Wickham Street and a pre WW2 aerial image of the growth of Welling with Tidford Road included. The final picture shows Frederick’s name on the Welling War Memorial.
If anyone is able to add any extra information, provide more family details, or suggest any corrections, please let us know – also, if anyone has any more photos of this individual listed on our memorials, please get in touch. Thank you.
Commemorated
- Welling War Memorial
- Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Frederick Thomas Foy, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.