Part 76

=FRASER, ALEXANDER=, V.D., Lieut.-Col., 1/4th Battn. Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders (T.F.), eldest _s._ of the late Alexander Fraser, Provost of Inverness, Agent of the Commercial Bank of Scotland there, by his wife, Elizabeth (Island Bank House, Inverness), dau. of the Rev. John Spray, M.A., Vicar of Kinneagh, Ireland; _b._ Beauly, co. Inverness, 6 May, 1865; educ. the Royal Academy, Inverness, Inverness College and Edinburgh University, and was admitted a Solicitor on 25 March, 1890, and made a Notary Public on 18 Oct. 1892. He practised in Inverness and became Senior Partner in the firm of Fraser & Ross of that town. He joined the ranks of the 1st Volunteer Battn. of the Cameron Highlanders, 9 May, 1883, and served with them until 10 Nov. 1887, and with the Q.R.V.B. Royal Scots from 20 Feb. 1888 to 13 Nov. 1889, and received a commission as 2nd Lieut. in the former, 17 May, 1890. He was promoted Lieut., 20 Dec. 1890; Capt., 10 Aug. 1898; Hon. Major, 5 April, 1902; Major, 25 Feb. 1905; and from 24 Feb. 1909 to 23 Aug. 1913, was Lieut.-Col. Commanding. He then retired and joined the Reserve of Officers (T.F.). On the outbreak of the European War he immediately volunteered for foreign service and rejoined, 19 Sept. 1914, on a reserve unit being formed at Inverness; and his successor in command of the 4th, being incapacitated for active service by an accident, he was re-appointed Lieut.-Col. Commanding, 29 Oct. following. He went to the Front with his Battn. in Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Festubert, France, 18 May, 1915. On the 16th, the first day of the British attack on the German trenches south of La Bassée, the 4th Camerons were in reserve, and occupied trenches and dug-outs made by themselves, about 1,000 yards behind the British line, and on the afternoon of the 17th were ordered forward to the attack, and moved via the village of Festubert up to the trenches captured by the British the day before. The objective was a long trench, previously a communication trench, but now used as a fire trench by the enemy, with a group of houses on the enemy’s right. Two Battns. were ordered to attack, and the Camerons were allotted the houses and the portion of the trench next them; the other Battn. being on the right. Our artillery bombarded the enemy during the day and at 7.30, just as dark was coming on, the attack was launched. They had to advance over what was apparently a perfectly level piece of greasy ground, about 800 yards across, but which was found to be intersected by deep ditches full of water. The Battn. on the right suffered so severely that they had to fall back, and some of D Coy. had to retire with them, but the remainder successfully rushed the enemy’s trench. Every effort was immediately made to put it in a state of defence, but the houses had not been captured and our supports failed in the dark to find the trench where the Battn. was, and when, just at dawn, the Germans made a strong counter-attack and assailed both flanks with hand-grenades, Col. Fraser saw that it could not be held and ordered a retreat. He himself refused to leave his post of danger before the last of his men was away, and just as he was starting to go he was shot at the edge of the ditch. The Chaplain, in a letter to Mrs. Fraser, wrote: “Shortly after I joined the Battn. as Chaplain, we were ordered to take up a certain position. The date was 11 May. The Battn. waited there in reserve until last night. At four o’clock in the afternoon the order came to march out to ---- and turn due east. The front British trench was reached without any casualties, and, led by your brave husband, the gallant Camerons crossed over the backbone right into the German trench. It had been evacuated by the enemy, but a communication trench was still held by them, leading to their reserve trenches. The task allotted to our Battn. was to cut off the German retreat from this communication trench. Officers and men behaved like immortal heroes.... Lieut. ----, A Coy. told me that he saw Col. Fraser at an advanced point. He was then wounded, but was giving orders. Lieut. ... was sent with orders to another point, and when he returned he could find no further trace of the Colonel. When the Battn. had to fall back under a withering fire and the roll was called, there was still no word of the Colonel. At 11 a.m. to-day Dr. Lindsay and I went out to look for him, and though we reached to within a few hundred yards of the spot, no trace of him could be found.... In the few days that I had been with the Battn. I was led to cherish the profoundest admiration for your husband. He was a wise leader, a considerate commander, and one of the finest men that I ever had the good fortune to meet.... I was very much struck with the religious note in his life, and it is a source of inspiration to me to recall how earnestly he counselled his men to guard against all manner of excesses.... It will comfort you to know that the Brigadier-General told me that the Camerons crowned themselves with glory.” He was twice mentioned in Despatches by F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French (31 May, 1915, and 15 Oct. 1915). Col. Fraser was Factor for the Estates of Culloden and Ferintosh; a military member of the County Territorial Force Association for Inverness; a member of the Town Council of Inverness, and for some time a Magistrate; Clerk to the Deacons Court of the United Free High Church; President of the Sanitary Association of Scotland, 1912–13; convenor of Public Health Committee of Inverness, and secretary of the northern branch of the Royal Arboricultural Society. He was Right Worshipful Master of St. John’s Lodge of Freemasons, Inverness, and Provincial Grand Treasurer of Inverness-shire. He passed the School of Musketry, Hythe, 18 Oct. 1899, and had certificates for Tactics (May, 1892), Organisation and Equipment (May, 1903), and Military Topography (Nov. 1903). He had the Long Service medal, the Volunteer Decoration, and the Coronation medal (1911). Col. Fraser _m._ at the West Parish Church, Inverness, 27 April, 1893, Ella (Westwood, Inverness), only dau. of the late Col. Duncan Menzies, Blarich, Sutherland, Scotland, who for many years commanded the 1st Sutherland Highland Rifle Volunteers, and left two sons and seven daus.: Duncan Menzies, _b._ 15 April, 1894; Alexander Redmond Hugh, _b._ 25 Jan. 1908; Elizabeth Sibell, _b._ 9 June, 1896; Mary Millicent, _b._ 14 March, 1898; Muriel Jess, _b._ 26 June, 1900; Alexandra Dorothy, _b._ 1 Jan. 1903; Eleanor Beatrice Stewart, _b._ 31 Dec. 1905; Margaret Iris, _b._ 30 July, 1910; and Frances Alice Murray, _b._ 10 Nov. 1912. Col. Fraser’s elder _s._ Menzies obtained a commission in the Royal Engineers (S.R.) at the outbreak of the war and is now (1916) Lieut. in the 75th Field Company R.E. attd. to the Guards Division in France.

=FRASER, DONALD ALEXANDER=, Trooper, No. 862, 1st Light Horse, Australian Imperial Force, 2nd _s._ of the late William Fraser, by his wife, Mary (Loloma, Barry Street, Neutral Bay, Sydney, N.S.W.), dau. of John Oswald, of Melbourne, Victoria; _b._ Louth River, Darling, New South Wales, 15 Feb. 1889; educ. Scotch College, Melbourne; joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, 12 Jan. 1915, left Australia with the fourth reinforcements and was killed in action at Suvla Bay, 7 Aug. 1915; _unm._

=FRASER, GEORGE JAMES=, Private, No. 2276, 4th Battn. (Royal Fusiliers) The London Regt. (T.F.), eldest _s._ of James Fraser, of 3, Reeves Place, Hoxton, N., Labourer, by his wife, Flora, dau. of William Nixon; _b._ Bethnal Green, 13 Dec. 1892; volunteered following the outbreak of war and joined the 4th London Regt., 22 Aug. 1914; went to France, 5 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Hill 60, 27 April, 1915; _unm._

=FRASER, THE HON. HUGH JOSEPH=, M.V.O., Major, 2nd Battn. Scots Guards, 2nd _s._ of the late Simon, 15th Lord Lovat, by his wife, Alice Mary (Beaufort Castle, Beauly), dau. of Thomas Weld Blundell, of Ince Blundell; _b._ Beauly, co. Inverness, 6 July, 1874; educ. Fort Augustus Abbey School. Inverness-shire; gazetted 2nd Lieut. from the Militia to the Scots Guards, 12 Dec. 1894, promoted Lieut. 15 Nov. 1897, Capt. 16 March, 1901, and Major 12 June, 1907, and served in the South African War, 1900–2; took part in the operations in the Orange Free State, May to 29 Nov. 1900, including actions at Biddulphsberg and Wittenbergen (1–29 July), also in those there and in the Transvaal, 30 Nov. 1901 to 31 May, 1902, and was mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901], and received the Queen’s medal with three clasps and the King’s medal with two clasps; was Adjutant in Lovat’s Scouts (Imperial Yeomanry) from 1 April, 1903 to 31 July, 1907, and Aide-de-Camp to the Viceroy of India from Nov. 1910 to April, 1913. On the outbreak of war with Germany he went to the Front with the 2nd Battn. Scots Guards, which formed part of the 7th Division, and was killed in action in the 1st Battle of Ypres, 27 Oct. 1914; _unm._ He was made a M.V.O. (4th Class) 1912.

=FRASER, JAMES HOWIE=, Lieut., 2nd Battn. Gordon Highlanders, only _s._ of Edward Cleather Fraser, C.M.G., Member of the Council of Government, Mauritius, and a Partner in the firm of Ireland, Fraser & Co., of Port Louis, by his wife, Mary Josephine, dau. of the late Thomas Howie, and gdson. of the late James Fraser, of Newfield, Blackheath Park; _b._ Blackheath, London, 4 April, 1888; educ. Summerfields, near Oxford, Rugby and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, out of which he passed first in Summer Term 1907, with prizes for Tactics and Military Engineering; gazetted 2nd Lieut. to the Gordon Highlanders, 9 Oct. 1907, and promoted Lieut. 20 March, 1909; joined the 2nd Battn. in India, and served with it there and in Egypt, and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders, and was killed in action 30 Oct. 1914, in the attack on Zillebeke Farm House. He was _unm._ and was buried at Klein Zillebeke. Lieut. Fraser was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. [London Gazette, 17 Feb.] 1915, for gallant and distinguished service in the field.

=FRASER, JAMES O’NEILL=, Private, No. 1341, 5th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, eldest _s._ of Evan Fraser, of 4, Caledonian Place, Newton, Cambuslang, Lanarkshire, Railway Signalman, by his wife, Sarah, dau. of John O’Neill; _b._ Beith, co. Ayr, 6 June, 1894; educ. Hallside School, Cambuslang, and after being for some time a clerk with the Caledonian Railway Co., emigrated to Australia in April, 1914, to take up farming. On the outbreak of war he enlisted in the Australian Expeditionary Force; left for Egypt, 1 Feb. 1915; took part in the landing at the Dardanelles, 25–26 April, 1915, and was killed on the latter day; _unm._

=FRASER, LACHLAN HENRY VEITCH=, Lieut., 4th Battn. The Middlesex Regt., yst. _s._ of Major Francis Fraser, of Tornaveen, co. Aberdeen, by his wife, Alexia Mary Beatrice de Dombal, dau. of Capt. John Henderson MacDonald, of Caskieben, co. Aberdeen, 78th Highlanders; _b._ Tornaveen, 22 April, 1894; educ. Malvern and Sandhurst; gazetted to the 4th Battn. Middlesex Regt. 8 Aug. 1914, and promoted Lieut. 15 Nov. following; went to France, Sept. and was killed in action in the trenches at Ypres, 24 Feb. 1915; _unm._ Buried at Goderzom Farm, Vierstraat. He was mentioned in F.M. Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 14 Jan. [London Gazette, 17 Feb.] 1915, for gallant and distinguished service in the field.

=FRASER, ROBERT=, Private, No. 8313, 2nd Battn. Highland L.I., only _s._ of Robert Fraser, of Glasgow, by his wife, Mary; _b._ Glasgow, 1881; educ. Dobbies Loan School there; enlisted in the 3rd Battn. Highland L.I.; served through the South African war and retired in 1905 with the rank of Corpl.; re-enlisted in the 2nd Battn. on the outbreak of the European War; went to France in Nov. 1914; was wounded at Neuve Chapelle and again at Hill 60, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 25 Sept. 1915. After the fighting that day he was officially reported “Missing,” but on 29 Nov. a letter was received by a wounded comrade who stated that he saw him buried that night. He _m._ at Glasgow, 25 May, 1906, Mary (130, Taylor Street, Townhead, Glasgow), dau. of James McLaughlan, of Glasgow, and had four children: Robert, _b._ 22 Dec. 1908; James, _b._ 6 Oct. 1913; Mary, _b._ 23 March, 1907; and Janet, _b._ 13 Jan. 1912.

=FRASER, WILLIAM ST. JOHN=, Lieut.-Commander, Royal Navy, 4th _s._ of Sir Thomas Richard Fraser, of Drumsheugh Gardens, Edinburgh, and Druimbeg, Acharacle, co. Argyle; M.D., F.R.S., LL.D., Professor of Materia Medica and of Clinical Medicine in the University of Edinburgh; Hon. Physician to the King in Scotland, by his wife, Susanna Margaret, dau. of the Rev. Robert Duncan; _b._ Edinburgh, 18 Sept. 1883; educ. Edinburgh Academy and Stubbington House, Fareham; entered the Navy, Britannia, 1898; became a midshipman, 1899; and was promoted Sub-Lieut., 1902, Lieut. 1904 and Lieut.-Commander, 1912; served in China, 1899–1902, on board the Endymion (medal), and in the European War, 1914–15, and was killed while on active service in the North Sea, near Heligoland, Jan. 1915, in command of Submarine E 10, which was destroyed with all hands. Admiral Sir George Warrender wrote: “I knew him well, for he was with me in the Shannon and I admired and respected him as one of the finest of our young officers.” He _m._ at Colinton, Midlothian, 9 April, 1908, Kathleen Lilias (Colinton, Midlothian), dau. of Capt. Abel Chapman, 19th Hussars, and had two daus.: Mary Kathleen, _b._ 16 Aug. 1911; and Rachel Margaret, _b._ 22 Jan. 1913.

=FREDERICK, HENRY=, Stoker (Native), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FREDERICK, JOHN EDWARD=, Gunner (R.F.R., I.C. 43), H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FREDERICKS, WILLIAM=, A.B., 198858, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FREEBOROUGH, CHARLES HENRY=, Leading Seaman, 228949, H.M.S Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FREEMAN, CHARLES WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER=, Stoker, 1st Class, K. 15937, H.M.S. Pathfinder; lost when that ship was sunk by a mine, about 20 miles off the East Coast, 5 Sept. 1914.

=FREEMAN, GEOFFREY WILLIAM=, Private, No. 1201, 5th Battn. (London Rifle Brigade) The London Regt. (T.F.), eldest _s._ of William Edward Freeman, of 77, North Side, Clapham Common, S.W., L.D.S., R.C.S. Eng., Dental Surgeon, by his wife, Maud, dau. of the late John Hopkins, of Sydney, N.S.W.; _b._ Narrabri, New South Wales, 11 Sept. 1896; came to England with his parents, 1903; educ. Manor House School, Clapham Common; and when war broke out was studying to enter Guy’s Hospital. He immediately volunteered and joined the London Rifle Brigade, 4 Nov. 1914, and, after training at Crowboro’ and Haywards Heath, went to France, 12 March, 1915. He wrote home regularly and cheerfully, his last letter being dated 8 May when the battn. was resting from a long spell in the trenches. A day or two later they were rushed up to take part in the Second Battle of Ypres, and he was one of the gallant band of nine who were with Sergt. D. W. Belcher when he won his V.C. on 13 May. Sergt. Belcher, with his handful of men, elected to remain and endeavour to hold a portion of an advanced breastwork south of the Wieltje-St. Julien Road, which was under heavy bombardment from the enemy’s artillery, after the troops near him had been withdrawn, and there is little doubt that the bold front shown by Sergt. Belcher and the few men with him prevented the enemy from breaking through and making a flank attack on one of the divisions. They held on during the whole day, and at nightfall reinforcements came up and the position was saved. Unfortunately, however, Freeman was killed during the course of the day. He had volunteered to take a message under heavy fire to Capt. Somers Smith of the L.R.B.; the message was taken and delivered, but almost immediately a shell burst and he and all around him were killed. He was named in Battn. Orders, and 2nd Lieut. A. G. Sharp wrote; “He was always popular wherever he went, and everyone who came in contact with him, liked him. During the whole time I knew him I never met one person who had anything but good to say of him. In his last term at Manor House he won the Gold Medal, and everyone who was with him during his short but glorious career in the Army says that they have lost in him a great pal. During his whole life he upheld the traditions of his school, which was very dear to him, and he died as every Manorian would wish to die. Truly when one thinks of him one is convinced that Manor House makes no idle boast when she says that all her sons are ‘Sportsmen and true gentlemen.’”

=FREEMAN, JAMES=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 3402), 217667, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FREER, ALEXANDER=, Private, No. 7890, 1st Battn. Highland L.I., 6th _s._ of George Freer, of 18, Cameron Street, off New City Road, Glasgow, by his wife, Barbara Park, dau. of William Ferris, of Dundee, Carpenter; _b._ Glasgow, 31 June, 1894; educ. Oakbank School there; was an apprentice shipwright with Messrs. Berdmore & Dalmuir; enlisted 30 Jan. 1914; went to France, 4 Jan. 1915, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 12 March, 1915. His yst. brother, Robert, died on active service (see his notice), and of his other brothers, James and John are both on active service, the former with the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders and the latter at Salonika.

=FREER, LEACROFT HOWARD=, Sapper, No. 5089, 1st Coy. (6th North Vancouver Engineers), Canadian Engineers, 2nd _s._ of the late Howard Freer, of Bidford Grange, Warwickshire, by his wife, Gertrude Louisa (Port Hammond, P.O., British Columbia, Canada), dau. of Peter Davis, of Bickmarsh Hall, co. Warwick; _b._ Bidford Grange, co. Warwick, 26 Aug. 1884; educ. Bedford Grammar School; went to Canada in 1903, farming, afterwards taking up carpentering; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the North Vancouver Engineers, 11 Aug. 1914; came over with the first contingent; went to the Front in Feb. 1915, and was killed in action at Givenchy, 15 June, 1915, by shell-fire; _unm._ A comrade wrote: “On the evening of 15 June, the Canadians were making an attack, a party of engineers, including your son and myself, were waiting with some infantry in a communication trench immediately behind our front line for the word to go forward. Before the word came a large German shell exploded quite close to us, killing seven of our men, your son being one. He was killed instantly, as he was nearest to the explosion. Your son was thought much of by both officers and men. He was always so willing to help others. His services to the company will be greatly missed. He was so capable, being able to turn his hand to such a variety of works”; and another: “He was the ideal type of an Englishman, I always thought, and I know that everyone who had anything to do with him liked and admired him.”

=FREER, ROBERT=, Private, No. 3351, 3/5th Battn. Highland L.I. (T.F.), 7th and yst. _s._ of George Freer, of 18, Cameron Street, off New City Road, Glasgow, by his wife, Barbara Park, dau. of William Ferris, of Dundee, Carpenter; _b._ Glasgow, 28 Oct. 1897; educ. Oakbank School there; was an apprentice with a boat builder; enlisted 7 April, 1915, a month after his brother Alexander was killed at Neuve Chapelle, and died in the Military Hospital at Ripon, 26 Dec. 1915, of pneumonia contracted while training; _unm._

=FREIGHT, STANLEY GEORGE=, Corpl., No. 123, 1/4th Royal West Surrey Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of Edward James Freight, of 40, Windmill Road, Croydon, Builder, by his wife, Jessie, dau. of Samuel Cross, of Frome, Somerset, Farmer; _b._ Brixton, 1884; educ. Croydon; was a Builder and Decorator in partnership with his father; joined the 4th Surrey Territorials in 1908; volunteered for foreign service on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914; went to India with his regt. 29 Oct. 1914, and died on active service at Lucknow, 1 May, 1915, of enteric fever; _unm._

=FRENCH, ALFRED=, Private, R.M.L.I., Po./11057, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chile, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FRENCH, ARTHUR ROBERT=, Boy, 1st Class, J. 26373 (Ports.), H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914.

=FRENCH, FREDERICK=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 2469), 196044, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=FRENCH, HERBERT=, Private, No. 7145, 1st Battn. (33rd Regt.) 1st Brigade, Canadian Expeditionary Force, _s._ of John French; _b._ Kimer, co. Sussex; enlisted as a Driver (No. 40744) in the R.F.A. about 1894, and was 18 years with the Colours; served in the Sudan (medal), 1897–98, and in the South African War (medal with two clasps), 1899–1902; went to Canada about 1912 and settled at Vingham, Ontario; volunteered on the outbreak of war and joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 16 Aug. 1914; came over with the first contingent Oct., and died on service in Bulford Manor Hospital, 24 Dec. 1914, following an operation. He _m._ at Brighton, Sussex, 22 April, 1894, Jane (Broughdale Avenue, London, Ontario), dau. of Harry Hayles, and had six children: Hezekiah George, _b._ 7 June, 1878, _m._ with three children; Harry, _b._ 8 April, 1883; Herbert John, _b._ 21 June, 1900, now (1916) on active service in France; George, _b._ 9 Aug. 1910; Daisy, _b._ 9 Dec. 1897; and Maude Gladys, _b._ 4 March, 1903.

=FRENCH, JOHN EDWARD=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 10100), 202476, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=FRENCH, JOSEPH ROBERT=, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./16365, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.