Forster was a British novelist, essayist and social and literary critic. Among his most notable works is ‘A Passage to India’ (1924), which is based on his experience in the country.
A pacifist, Forster thought he would be deemed medically unfit for conscription to the British army in the First World War. To his consternation, he was declared fit.
He managed to avoid signing up to the military and got a job as a Red Cross ‘searcher’ in Alexandria, Egypt, in October 1915.
It was his job to interview the wounded in hospitals for information about fellow soldiers reported missing. He died in 1970, aged 91.