FRASER, Ian McRae
| Service Numbers: | WX12009, WX12009, |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 April 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Fort William, Scotland, 29 May 1910 |
| Home Town: | Nedlands, Nedlands, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Bateman Primary School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Seaman (Naval Reserve) |
| Died: | Menora, Perth, Western Australia, 29 December 1994, aged 84 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 29 Apr 1941: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Sep 1941: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009,, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, embarked Fremantle for Middle East | |
| 18 Feb 1943: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, embarked Middle East for Fremantle | |
| 3 Aug 1943: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, embarked Cairns for Milne Bay on board HT Allan | |
| 21 Mar 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, embarked Port Moresby for Townsville on board the Gorgon | |
| 28 Mar 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, embarked Cairns for Morotai on board the Van Heutz en route for Tarakan | |
| 31 Oct 1945: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion, embarked Tarakan for Brisbane on board the Glenngyle | |
| 16 Nov 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, WX12009, 2nd/48th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Ian McRae Fraser (Service No:WX12009) was briefly a Seaman in the Naval Reserves before enlisting in the AIF on 29 April 1941. Private Fraser served with 2/48th Infantry Battalion in the Middle East (9 September 1941 - 18 February 1943), in New Guinea (3 August 1943 - 21 March 1944), and in Morotai/Tarakan (28 March 1945 - 31 October 1945). Private Fraser was attached to 2/48th Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 16 November 1945. Younger brother Andrew (Private; Service No:WX11847) died as a PoW of the Japanese in Thailand in 1943.
Ian was born in 1910 at Fort William in Scotland, fourth of five children of William Fraser (b1871 in Angus, Scotland) and Catherine Ann Stewart (b1883 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland). William (a Postman) and Catherine (a Farm Servant) married in 1902 in Perthshire, Scotland, and settled in Inverness where they raised their family and William was a School Janitor. William and Catherine immigrated with their four surviving children in 1922, arriving in Fremantle on board the Moreton Bay - William had given his occupation as Barman. The family settled in Fremantle, where William worked as a Labourer and Caretaker.
Ian worked in Meekatharra as a Labourer, and in 1933 in Fremantle married his first wife Hilda Beryl Jacques (b1910 in Fremantle, Western Australia). Ian and Hilda lived in Meekatharra, Perth and Fremantle, where Ian worked as a Labourer and Truck Driver. In 1941 when he enlisted in the Army, Ian was a Seaman in the Naval Reserves. Ian and Hilda were Divorced in 1943, and following his Discharge from the Army, Ian settled in Fremantle, where in 1956 he remarried to Veronica Cecilla Fenton (nee O'Dea; b1908 in Geraldton, Western Australia). Ian and Veronica settled in Mount Hawthorn in Perth, where Ian worked as a Packer. Veronica died in 1992 and Ian in 1994.
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