Fraser, who had won the Military Cross and Bar serving with the Machine Gun Corps in 1916, immediately organised escape plans and a clandestine wireless service, and was successful in getting important information out of the camp. He was beheaded by the Japanese after refusing to betray fellow prisoners despite prolonged torture.
The citation for his GC states that under torture “he steadfastly refused to utter one word that could help the Japanese investigations or bring punishments to others. His fortitude under the most severe torture was such that it was commented on by [his] prison guards.”
On the day of his death, Fraser wrote to his wife Kathleen.
“This is my last letter. Remember the only thing I cared about was you and the boys. Everything else gave way to that.”
The letter was discovered, with the rest of his effects, in a battered suitcase that was returned after the war. The suitcase and a copy of the letter were included in the lot sold by Fraser’s grandchildren at Dix Noonan Webb for £190,000 on July 22.
