FRASER, Robert Donald
| Service Number: | 506 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Warrant Officer II |
| Last Unit: | 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
| Born: | Rose Valley, New South Wales, Australia, 30 October 1873 |
| Home Town: | Armidale, Armidale Dumaresq, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Inverell, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Soldier |
| Died: | Pernicious Anaemia , London, England , 8 June 1907, aged 33 years |
| Cemetery: |
Brompton Cemetery Inscription appears to say: In Loving Memory of Staff-Sergeant Major Robert D. Fraser Australian Commonwealth Military Forces Born at Inverell 18th October 1875 Died in London while at [training?] 8th June 1907 One of the first Australian soldiers selected for higher training in England A gentleman xxxxxxxx soldier and a true comrade |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Warrant Officer II, 506, 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
|---|
Help us honour Robert Donald Fraser's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Geoffrey Gillon
Death registration
Deaths Jun 1907 FRASER Robert Donald 33 St.Geo.H.Sq. 1a 304
Extract from one of a number of local Australian newspaper obituaries reads:
MILITARY ITEMS.
Staff-sergeant-major Fraser, late of the Instructional Staff and formerly of the N.S.W: Mounted Rifles, (Inverell squadron) died in England on Saturday last.
Some of the old Mounted Rifles in the Queanbeyan district will doubtless remember their late comrade, at least in the Hutton and Duff competitions. At the time of his death he was undergoing a course of instruction with the Imperial troops at Aldershot.
His death was not unexpected as he had been suffering very acutely from bronchial troubles since his arrival in England.
Ancestor Details
Ancestor's Name: Robert Donald Fraser
Ancestor's date of birth: 01/10/1873
Ancestor's date of death: 08/06/1907
Cause of Death: Pernicious Anaemia
Service Number: 506
Colony or State of enlistment: NSW, Place of Enlistment: Tentifield NSW
Unit: 1st NSW Mounted Rifles, D Squadron
Rank attained in Boer War: CSGT, Date Effective: 1895
Highest Rank attained (if served after war): WO2, Date Effective: 1907
Murray Page: 67
Contingent: Second NSW Contingent
Ship: Southern Cross, Date of Sailing: 17/01/1900
Awards/Decorations: Queen's South Africa Medal with Driefontein, Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Wittenbergen, Cape Colony and SA 1901 clasps.
Personal Characteristics: He was born at Inverell NSW. He was a serving member of the 1st NSWMR. In 1895 he sat for examinations and passed for entry to his old unit as Staff Colour Sgt.
Reasons to go and fight: As one of 10 children, including 7 sons he needed to find employment off the property so he joined the volunteer units prior to the Boer War.
Details of service in war: February 1900 - March 1901 in Free State, Transvaal, and western Cape Colony including charge at Diamond Hill (12 June 1900).
Service and life after the Boer War: In 1904 he was classified as Staff Sgt Instructor Class 3 on the permanent instructional Staff. He was selected to go to England in 1906 to undergo training at Chatham and Aldershot. In 1907 he was classified as Staff Squadron Sgt Major, Class 3. After serving in the Boer War he probably acquired a Parasitic infection which led to his death from Pernicious anaemia in 1907 while training at Aldershot in Britain. A portrait, above, of Sgt Major Fraser (copy above) hangs in the boardroom of the Australian War Memorial Canberra and was painted by well-known Australian artist Tom Roberts. Sgt Major Fraser's portrait is one of a suite of full length portraits which Roberts painted on small wooden panels in the 1890's.
Descendant Details
Name of Descendant: Pearl Moffatt, Armidale NSW
Relationship to Ancestor: Great Niece
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