FRASER, Findlay
| Service Numbers: | 2332, 2332A |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 December 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 48th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Broken Hill, New South Wales, 1 May 1887 |
| Home Town: | Adelaide, South Australia |
| Schooling: | St Peters College, Adelaide |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Died of Illness (heart failure - while POW of Germany), Germany, 23 May 1917, aged 30 years |
| Cemetery: |
Cologne Southern Cemetery Plot X, Row G, Grave . 6 , Cologne Southern Cemetery, Cologne, Germany |
| Memorials: | Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial, Hackney St Peter's College Fallen Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2332, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2332, 32nd Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: RMS Mongolia embarkation_ship_number: '' public_note: '' | |
| 9 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2332, 32nd Infantry Battalion, RMS Mongolia, Adelaide | |
| 11 Apr 1917: | Imprisoned Bullecourt (First) | |
| 23 May 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2332A, 48th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2332A awm_unit: 48 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-05-23 | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 32nd Infantry Battalion, Fromelles (Fleurbaix) | |
| Date unknown: | Involvement 48th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières |
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After leaving school Findlay was employed as a clerical officer with Elder Smith and Co., Ltd in Adelaide and while there was a member of the Elder Rifle Club for six months.
Findlay joined the 4th quota of reinforcements for the 32nd Battalion on 16 January 1916 and sailed from Adelaide with that quota aboard RMS Mongolia on 9 March 1916; while in Egypt he was transferred to the newly raised 48th Battalion at Serapeum in April.
He was wounded at Pozières 5 -7 August and admitted to the 4th General Hospital at Camiers, then three days later transported aboard HS Newhaven from Calais to England.
After recovering from surgery to his right arm, shoulder and back, he was attached to 12th Training Battalion until in early February1917 whe he sailed aboard SS Victoria and rejoined the battalion in France. After the ‘First Bullecourt’ on 11 April, he listed as missing but it was later ascertained he had been shot in the left leg and taken prisoner.
The depleted 48th Battalion suffered the loss of a further 425 men during the night of 11 April and while many of them were killed, wounded or missing forever, others were taken prisoner and moved back to camps in Germany.
On 1 May 1917, although seriously ill at Dülmen PW Camp, Private Fraser, concerned about his mother’s anxiety, wrote to AIF headquarters requesting his mother be cabled to inform her he had been wounded in the left leg but was ‘doing well’ in Germany.
Private Findlay Fraser died of heart failure while undergoing surgery to amputate his left leg at Dülmen on 23 May 1917; he was 30 years of age.
Extracted from the Book Fallen Saints by Robert Kearney
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