Sir David William Fraser | |
---|---|
Born | Camberley, Surrey, England | 30 December 1920
Died | 15 July 2012 East Hampshire, England | (aged 91)
Buried | Holy Cross Churchyard, Binsted, East Hampshire, England |
Allegiance | United Kingdom |
Service/ | British Army |
Years of service | 1940–1980 |
Rank | General |
Service number | 184424 |
Unit | Grenadier Guards |
Commands | Royal College of Defence Studies (1978–80) 4th Division (1969–71) |
Battles/wars | Second World War Malayan Emergency Suez Crisis Cyprus Emergency |
Awards | Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Officer of the Order of the British Empire |
Spouse(s) | |
Relations | Brigadier William Fraser (father) |
General Sir David William Fraser, GCB, OBE (30 December 1920 – 15 July 2012) was a senior British Army officer who served as Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies from 1978 until his retirement from military service in 1980. He was also a prolific author, publishing over 20 books mostly focused on the history of the Second World War.
Early life
[edit]Fraser was born on 30 December 1920. He was the son of Brigadier William Fraser, the younger son of the 19th Lord Saltoun, and Pamela Maude, widow of Billy Congreve a Victoria Cross recipient and daughter of actors Cyril Maude and Winifred Emery.[1] He was educated at Eton College.[2] He left school to join the British Army but was refused. Instead, in January 1940, he matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford.[1]
Military career
[edit]While studying at the University of Oxford, Fraser joined the Home Defence Force.[1] In October 1940, he was training at the Guards' Depot in Caterham, Surrey.[3] He was streamlined during training[4] before taking an intensive four-month course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1] He was commissioned into the Grenadier Guards as a second lieutenant on 4 April 1941. He was given the service number 184424.[5] His first posting was as a troop commander in the 2nd Battalion, 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, part of the Guards Armoured Division.[1] In the last two years of the Second World War, he was involved in the North West Europe Campaign.[4] He finished the war as a war substantive lieutenant.[6]
On 27 February 1946, Fraser's promotion to lieutenant was confirmed with seniority from 30 June 1943.[6] On 30 December 1947, he was promoted to captain.[7] He served as a company commander in the 3rd Battalion, Grenadier Guards in the Malayan Emergency of 1948.[1] Having attended Staff College, he was promoted to major on 30 December 1954.[8] He was involved in the Suez Crisis in 1956 and the Cyprus Emergency in 1958.[2] He was made a brevet lieutenant-colonel on 1 July 1959.[9] On 6 June 1960, he was promoted to that rank.[10]
Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1962,[11] Fraser was posted to the Ministry of Defence as Director of Defence Policy (Army) from December 1966 until 1969.[12] He was appointed General Officer Commanding 4th Division in 1969, and Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Policy) in 1971.[2] He was Vice Chief of the General Staff from April 1973, and was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath later that year.[12][13] He went on to be UK Military Representative to NATO in 1975, and Commandant of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1978 before retiring in 1980.[2] He had been advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath just prior to his retirement.[13]
Later life
[edit]Fraser was president of the Society for Army Historical Research from 1980 to 1993.
Personal life
[edit]In 1947 he married Anne Balfour-Fraser but they divorced in 1952; they had one daughter (Antonia Isabella Fraser).[2] In 1957 he married Julia Frances Oldridge de la Hey;[2] they had two sons (Alexander James Fraser and Simon William Fraser) and two daughters (Lucy Caroline Fraser and Arabella Katherine Fraser).
Books
[edit]He was the author of the following books:
- Knight's Cross: A Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
- Frederick the Great: King of Prussia
- And We Shall Shock Them: British Army in the Second World War
- Alanbrooke
- The Grenadier Guards (Men at Arms Series, 73)
- Fairest Isle: BBC Radio 3 Book of British Music
- The Fortunes of War
- The Christian Watt Papers
- Wales in History: The Defenders, 1066–1485 Bk. 2
- Codename Mercury (Hardrow Chronicles)
- Around the House
- Wars and Shadows : Memoirs of General Sir David Fraser
- A Candle for Judas (Treason in Arms)
- Dragon's Teeth (Treason in Arms)
- The Pain of Winning (Hardrow Chronicles)
- Imperatives for Defence (Policy challenge), 1990
- Adam Hardrow (Hardrow Chronicles)
- Adam in the Breach (Hardrow Chronicles)
- The Killing Times (Treason in Arms)
- The Seizure (Treason in Arms)
- Wellington and the Waterloo Campaign (Wellington Lectures), March 1996
- August 1988
- To War with Whitaker: Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–45, (Reed Audio) with Hermione, Countess of Ranfurly, and Imogen Stubbs (Audio Cassette, 1995)
- Kiss for the Enemy (Thorndike Large Print Popular Series)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "General Sir David Fraser". The Telegraph. UK. 26 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Debrett's People of Today 1994
- ^ "Training for the Grenadier Guards". World War II Today. Archived from the original on 8 May 2013. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ a b "General Sir David Fraser". The Herald. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
- ^ "No. 35163". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 May 1941. p. 2787.
- ^ a b "No. 37481". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 February 1946. p. 1125.
- ^ "No. 38158". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 December 1947. p. 6152.
- ^ "No. 40364". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1954. p. 7375.
- ^ "No. 41858". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 October 1959. p. 6927.
- ^ "No. 42140". The London Gazette (Supplement). 9 September 1960. p. 6227.
- ^ "No. 42552". The London Gazette. 29 December 1961. p. 6.
- ^ a b Mackie, Colin (July 2012). "Senior Army Appointments" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
- ^ a b "No. 45984". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 June 1973. p. 6474.