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Lieutenant George Buchanan Foster, MBE DFC QC (19 August 1897 – 3 June 1974) was a Canadian First World War flying ace. He was credited with seven aerial victories.

After the First World War, Foster would become a King's Counsel and prominent attorney as a principal in a major law firm, as well as being appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Quebec.

Early life

George Buchanan Foster was born on 19 August 1897 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His mother was Mary Maud Buchanan; his father was Senator George Green Foster. He had one sister, Ruth Elizabeth Foster. He was the great-grandson of Alexander Buchanan, a noted lawyer and judge.

When George Buchanan Foster joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force to serve in the First World War, he was a single student.

First World War

On 13 November 1917, Foster was commissioned as a temporary second lieutenant on probation.

After training, he was assigned to 24 Squadron in France as a SE.5a pilot from 8 March to 27 August 1918. During this posting, he destroyed an observation balloon, two Pfalz D.III fighters, a Fokker Triplane, and a Hannover two-seater; he also shared in destruction of a Hannover, and drove a Fokker Triplane down out of control. His exploits won him a Distinguished Flying Cross, which was gazetted on 2 November 1918.

After the First World War

After the First World War ended, "Bunny" Foster returned to Montreal, Canada and married Barbara Helen MacDougall.

He studied law at McGill University, with his prior education having been at Lower Canada College and the High School of Montreal. He was admitted to the Bar of Quebec on 16 July 1920, and practised law in Montreal, becoming King's Counsel on 10 January 1931. He became a principal in his own law firm of Foster, Hannen, Watt, Leggatt, and Colby.

George Buchanan Foster was awarded the Order of the British Empire on 1 July 1946.

He was appointed to the Legislative Council of Quebec on 21 August 1946, and served there until the abolition of that institution in 1968.

In addition to his legal career, he served as president of the Children's Memorial Hospital of Montreal and was a member of the Protestant Board of Education for the province of Quebec. He served as president of Canada and Dominion Sugar Co. Ltd. and of Wire Rope Industries of Canada Ltd. and vice-president of Noranda Mines Ltd. He served on the boards of many companies, including IAC Ltd., Travelers Insurance, Brompton Pulp & Paper, Acme Glove, Holt Renfrew, Lake St. John's Paper, Montreal Trust, St. Lawrence Corporation, Sherbrooke Machinery, Donnacona Paper, Sagamo Penmans, Gaspe Copper, Seven Up, J. S. Mitchell, Combustion Engineering Superheater, Hilton of Canada and British Bank Note.

He died on 3 June 1974 and was buried in Knowlton Cemetery, Knowlton, Quebec, Canada.

Bibliography

• Christopher F. Shores; Norman L. R. Franks; Russell Guest (1990). Above the Trenches: A Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the British Empire Air Forces 1915–1920. Grub Street. ISBN 0-948817-19-4. also ISBN 978-0-948817-19-9.
• Ernest J. Chambers; Pierre G. Normandin (1918). Canadian Parliamentary Guide: Guide parlementaire canadien, The. P. G. Normandin.
• William Fong (2008). J.W. McConnell: Financier, Philanthropist, Patriot. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-3270-0. also ISBN 978-0-7735-3270-0.

References

1. ^ "Lieutenant George Buchanan Foster". Canadian Great War Project. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
2. The Canadian Parliamentary Guide, p. 63.
3. "Alexander Buchanan". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
4. Buchanan, Arthur William Patrick (1911). The Buchanan book. The life of Alexander Buchanan, Q.C., of Montreal, followed by an account of the family of Buchanan. pp. 152, 305–306. OL 14005714M. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
5. "No. 30366". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 November 1917. p. 11417.
6. Above the Trenches, pp. 158–159.
7. "No. 30989". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 November 1918. p. 12965.
8. "Old McGill Yearbook, 1921, p 49". Archived from the original on 26 May 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
9. "No. 37633". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 July 1946. p. 3345.

External links

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.

• 1897 births
• 1974 deaths
• High School of Montreal alumni
• Canadian recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
• Canadian Members of the Order of the British Empire
• Union Nationale (Quebec) MLCs
• Canadian King's Counsel
• Canadian World War I flying aces
• Military personnel from Montreal
• McGill University Faculty of Law alumni