Ian Edward Fraser
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lan Edward Fraser (VC, DSC, RD & Bar) is an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
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Biography
Pupil at Royal Grammar School - September 1933 to December 1935
World War 2
He was 24 years old, and a Lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve during the Second World War.
Midget Submarine Operations
Ian Fraser was awarded his VC for his part in a midget submarine attack in the far East. He was commander of an improved X-boat, the XE-3.
On 31 July 1945 in the Straits of Johor, Singapore, Lieutenant Fraser, in command of HM Midget Submarine XE-3, went to attack the Japanese heavy cruiser Takao, which was reached after a long and hazardous journey through mined waters. Lieutenant Fraser slid the submarine under the target which lay over a depression in the sea bed, and his diver Acting Leading Seaman James Magennis went out to fix the limpet mines to the bottom of the ship. The two side-charges then had to be released, but the starboard charge stuck and the diver climbed out again and after a nerve-wracking five minutes released the charge. XE-3 then made for home.
He and Magennis were both awarded VC's.
He is a living recipient. He later achieved the rank of Lieutenant-Commander.
please update if you know where his medal is publicly displayed
After World War II
He realized that frogman-type diving (i.e. what is now called scuba diving) could do many sorts of underwater work that old-type heavy standard diving gear is unsuitable for. He and some associates got hold of war-surplus frogman's kit and set up a public show displaying frogman techniques in a big aquarium tank in Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester in England. This display was popular, and he used the show's takings to set up a commercial diving organization called Underwaterwork. One of his early calls was from the police to recover a little girl's body who had drowned in a pond in Denton, Greater Manchester.
Reference
- British VCs of World War 2 (John Laffin, 1997)
- Monuments To Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
- The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
- SCOTLAND'S FORgotten VALOUR (Graham Ross, 1995)
External links
- & Magennis Ian Fraser (http://www.magicnet.net/~westham/vc04aa.html#Fraser)
This page has been migrated from the Victoria Cross Reference (http://www.victoriacross.net) with permission.