Douglas Ballantyne Fraser

1895 - 1975

BiographyDouglas Ballantyne Fraser was born on 27 November 1895 at Glen Innes, New South Wales to Alexander and Jessie Fraser. He moved with his family to Newcastle, New South Wales in 1908. In 1911, Fraser joined the Royal Australian Naval Brigade (RANB) at the age of 16. Upon the outbreak of war, he was called up in August 1914 to serve as a signalman in the Sydney Harbour pilot vessel CAPTAIN COOK. He volunteered for overseas' service by joining the 1st Royal Australian Naval Bridging Train (1st RANBT) in May 1915. His official service number is 64.

Fraser served with the RANBT at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli Peninsula, before moving to duties along the Suez Canal and the Sinai Peninsula. After the RANBT was disbanded at the beginning of 1917, Fraser returned to Australia in July 1917 and served in the RANB for the remainder of the war. Upon demobilisation, Fraser qualified as a solicitor, a profession he practiced until his retirement in the late 1950s. He dies in 1975.

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