Capt Wallace Fraser

• Age: 40
• From: Bootle, Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 19th Btn
• K.I.A Sunday 30th July 1916
• Commemorated at: Guillemont Rd Cem
  Panel Ref: VII.L.1

Wallace Fraser was born at Oriel Road, Bootle and was baptised at St.John's C.of E. Church, Bootle on 20th January 1876. He was the youngest son of William Fraser and his wife Eliza (nee Fairbairn) who were married at St. Michael's C.of E. Church, Huyton on the 26th February 1863. His father was born in Scotland (a family tree states 28th July 1828 in West Mill, Strathmiglo, Fife) and was a brassfounder whilst his mother was born in Liverpool.  

His siblings were, Mary, Annie, Robert Brown, William Fairbairn, Gilbert Wilson and John Holt.

The 1871 Census which was prior to Wallace's birth shows the family are living at 11 St.Albans Road, Bootle.  Parents, William aged 42 a brassfounder, and Eliza aged 32 with children Mary 6, Annie 4, Robert B. 3, and William F. 1. Eliza Fraser's widowed mother, Mary Fairbairn aged 70, a native of Lancaster, was also a member of the household. 

By the time of the 1881 Census the family have moved to 8 Oriel Road, Bootle - Parents, William, aged 52 and Eliza aged 40 with children, now scholars; Annie 14 b.Liverpool, Robert 13 b.Huyton, born Liverpool are William 11, Gilbert 9, John 7 and Wallace 5. Mary Fairbairn aged 80, was still living with the Fraser family. They have two servants. 

At the 1891 Census the family have again moved this time to 34 Balliol Road, Bootle. Parents, William aged 63 and Eliza aged 50 with children Mary 26, Annie 24, Robert B. 23 a surveyor engineer, William F. 21 a shipping clerk, Gilbert W. 19 architect pupil , John H. 17 a scholar and Wallace 14 a scholar. They now have four servants.

By the 1901 Census the family have again moved to 48 Balliol Road, Bootle - Parents William aged 72 and Eliza aged 60 with children Annie 34, Robert B. 33 an engineer, Gilbert W. 29 an architect, John H. 27 an engineer, and Wallace aged 25 a solicitor. They have three servants. 

Wallace's father died, aged 76, at the family home on the 21st April 1905. 

His death was reported in the Liverpool Evening Express on Monday 24 April 1905: 

FRASER—ApriI 21, at his residence, 48, Balliol-road, Bootle, aged 76 years, William Fraser, J.P. Interment at Anfield Cemetery to-morrow (Tuesday), at 2 30 p.m. (friends please accept this, the only, intimation     Australian and South African papers please copy. No flowers. by request.) 

Probate of his estate was obtained at Liverpool by his sons, Robert Brown Fraser, engineer and Wallace Fraser, solicitor. His effects were valued at £1,697 19s 2d (£258,000 at current values.) His mother died aged 74 at the same address on the 30th April 1915. 

£1,697 in 1905 is equivalent in purchasing power to about £258,589.27 today.

At the time of the 1911 Census the family are still living at 48 Balliol Road, Bootle. His widowed mother, Eliza, is aged 70, with children Ann 44, Robert Brown 43 a master engineer, Gilbert 39 an architect, John 36 a master engineer, and Wallace aged 34 a solicitor. They have one servant. 

Educated at Rugby School. He played in the Liverpool Rugby Football Team and was also associated with the Northern Cricket Club, Crosby being Captain and Secretary. He is described in the Club's history as "a sound opening bat who consistently appeared prominently in the batting averages". He scored 5 Centuries for Northern and received an obituary in Wisden following his death. He is still revered at Northern. A keen sportsman he was also a member of West Lancashire Golf Club, Blundellsands where he won a number of trophies. 

Wallace was a solicitor and at the time of his enlistment he was a member of the firm of Messrs. Tyrer & Kenion of 10 Cook Street, Liverpool.

He enlisted in Liverpool on 31st August 1914 as No 15629 in the 19th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment. He stated that his occupation was as a solicitor. He was described as being; 5' 7" tall, weight 142 lbs, complexion fresh, eyes grey, hair brown, religion Church of England.

He was discharged to a commission 23rd September 1914.

He was killed in action as Captain and Adjutant of the 19th Battalion on 30th July 1916 alongside so many other Pals in the ill fated attack upon the German stronghold of Guillemont.

The Battalion's objectives on that day were the German trenches on the south eastern edge of Guillemont, which was a heavily fortified village on top of a gentle slope, with a front of about seven hundred yards. Each end of the front was also defended by machine-guns, which could give covering and enfilading fire. The line of attack was entirely without cover. The 19th Battalion was on the left flank of the 89th Brigade advance, which began at 4.45 am in a thick and heavy fog. As the Battalion moved forward in the fog, it was heavily shelled with high explosive and gas shells which added to the confusion and consequent loss of direction. Despite this, the edge of the village was reached, but the 19th was unable to link up with the battalion on its left, the 2nd Royal Scots and found both is flanks in the air. By this time the fog had lifted to a large extent, and this allowed the German machine-gunners a clear field of fire and their numbers were augmented by infantrymen and snipers who had left their trenches to lie in No Man's Land to shelter from the British bombardment on their front line trenches. Forty minutes or so after zero hour, the Battalion Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel G Rollo, having received no news of the progress of the attack, decided to move forward and reconnoitre himself. He took Fraser and two subalterns with him, and moved out of the Headquarters trench but fell wounded almost immediately. Fraser then took over command. But he too was hit and although Rollo was evacuated when it was possible to move him, Fraser had already died by this time. He was aged forty. By noon the Battalion had been forced to evacuate all its positions. By the end of the day, nine officers and one hundred and eighty other ranks had been killed or died of wounds, and the Brigade had advanced about three hundred yards in all, along its front.

The events of 30^th July 1916 were regarded at the time as Liverpool’s blackest day. There follows an extract from The History of the 89^th Brigade written by Brigadier General Ferdinand Stanley which gives an indication of the events of the day.

Guillemont

Well the hour to advance came, and of all bad luck in the world it was a thick fog; so thick that you couldn’t see more than about ten yards. It was next to impossible to delay the attack – it was much too big an operation- so forward they had to go. It will give some idea when I say that on one flank we had to go 1,750 yards over big rolling country. Everyone knows what it is like to cross enclosed country which you know really well in a fog and how easy it is to lose your way. Therefore, imagine these rolling hills, with no landmarks and absolutely unknown to anyone. Is it surprising that people lost their way and lost touch with those next to them? As a matter of fact, it was wonderful the way in which many men found their way right to the place we wanted to get to. But as a connected attack it was impossible.

The fog was intense it was practically impossible to keep direction and parties got split up. Owing to the heavy shelling all the Bosches had left their main trenches and were lying out in the open with snipers and machine guns in shell holes, so of course our fellows were the most easy prey.

It is so awfully sad now going about and finding so many splendid fellows gone.   

Of the death of Wallace Brigadier Stanley said; 'He is a very great loss'

He was originally buried about 250 yards south east of Bois des Trones, west of Combles but after the war, when graves were concentrated, his body was removed and reinterred at Guillemont Road Cemetery VII.L.1.

Guillemont was an important point in the German defences at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916. It was taken by the 2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers on 30 July but the battalion was obliged to fall back, and it was again entered for a short time by the 55th (West Lancashire) Division on 8 August. On 18 August, the village was reached by the 2nd Division, and on 3 September (in the Battle of Guillemont) it was captured and cleared by the 20th (Light) and part of the 16th (Irish) Divisions. It was lost in March 1918 during the German advance, but retaken on 29 August by the 18th and 38th (Welsh) Divisions.

The cemetery was begun by fighting units (mainly of the Guards Division) and field ambulances after the Battle of Guillemont, and was closed in March 1917, when it contained 121 burials. It was greatly increased after the Armistice when graves (almost all of July-September 1916) were brought in from the battlefields immediately surrounding the village and certain smaller cemeteries, including:-

HARDECOURT FRENCH MILITARY CEMETERY. The village of Hardecourt-au-Bois was captured by French troops on the 8th July 1916, and again by the 58th (London) and 12th (Eastern) Divisions on 28 August 1918. Five British Artillerymen were buried by their unit in the French Military Cemetery, in the middle of the village, in September 1916; and in 1918 the 12th Division buried in the same cemetery 14 men of the 9th Royal Fusiliers and two of the 7th Royal Sussex.

Guillemont Road Cemetery now contains 2,263 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War. 1,523 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to eight casualties known or believed to be buried among them.

The cemetery was designed by Sir Herbert Baker.

His death was reported in the Liverpool Echo on the 7th August 1916.

Killed in Action. 

FRASER – July 30, killed in action, Wallace Fraser, captain and adjutant, King’s (Liverpool Regiment), youngest son of the late William Fraser J. P., Bootle. 

Probate of his estate was obtained at Liverpool by his unmarried sister, Annie Fraser. His effects were valued at £1,883 14s 5d. (£205,000 at current values.) 

FRASER Wallace of 10 Cook Street Liverpool and of 48 Balliol Road, Bootle Lancashire solicitor captain and adjutant 19th Kings Liverpool regiment died 30 July 1916 in France Administration (with Will) Liverpool 3 October to Annie Fraser spinster. Effects £1883 14s 5d.  

Further details were advised in the Liverpool Echo on 10th August 1916

THE KING'S

The death of Captain Wallace Fraser notified in last night's "Echo" has caused widespread regret. The youngest son of the late Mr William Fraser J.P. of Bootle. He was educated at Rugby where he was prominent in the school and the playing fields. He adopted the law as his profession, and was regarded as an able and astute lawyer. The day war was declared he was called upon to assist in the remount department where he rendered good service, and he further answered the call to duty by enlisting in the King's (Liverpool) Regiment in which he shortly afterwards got a commission and became Captain and Adjutant, serving efficiently as such to the day of his death, with the friendship and confidence of his superior officers. He was a well-known athlete, playing in the Liverpool Rugby Football Club team, and was for many years associated with the Northern Cricket Club, being secretary, captain &c.

A report on his death also appeared in the Bootle Times on the 11th August 1916.

TWO LOCAL OFFICERS,

SONS OF BOOTLE COUNCILLORS AND FORMER MAGISTRATES FALL IN ACTION.

It is this week our sad duty to record the death of two young officers, Captain Wallace Fraser and Lieut. J.W. Musker, who were well known in the borough, and who, at the call of duty, cheerfully relinquished callings in which they seem destined to achieve success, and have finally yielded up their lives in the cause of freedom.

Captain and adjutant Wallace Fraser, of the King's (Liverpool Regiment), killed in action on July 30th, was the youngest son of the late Mr. William Fraser, J.P., of 48, Balliol-road, Bootle. He was educated at Rugby, and at the outbreak of war was successfully practising as a solicitor in Liverpool, having been for the last six years managing clerk with Messrs. Tyrer Kenion, of 10 Cook-street. He enlisted in the "Pals" Battalion in august, 1914, receiving his commission a month later. Early in the following spring he was gazetted captain, and later was promoted adjutant, in which capacity he won the friendship and confidence of his Commanding Officer. He was in the recent advance when the Brigade received the congratulations of the Divisional General upon its achievement. His circle of friends in Liverpool was a wide one; he had obtained great popularity as captain of the Northern Cricket Club, and owing to this he was successful in raising a considerable sum of money for the equipment of the battalion on its formation. He was unmarried. His elder brother, Captain G.W. Fraser, is on active service in France, and is now attached to the Royal Engineers.

Further newspaper items illustrate the esteem in which Wallace Fraser was held by his friends and colleagues.

Bootle Times 1st December 1916

THE LATE CAPTAIN WALLACE FRASER. - The committee of the Liverpool and District National Memorial to Soldiers and Sailors who fall in the War have received a donation of £200 from Mr. Alfred Tyrer, "In Memory of his dear friend Wallace Fraser, captain and adjutant in the King's Liverpool Regiment, who was killed on the 31st July last."

In December 1919, when unveiling a tablet in memory of the ten members of the West Lancashire Golf Club and of two members of the staff who died whilst on service during the war Brigadier-General Rollo said,

" . . . to die in action was the finest thing a soldier could do, and what each soldier expected might be his lot. The men whom they were commemorating had done what they knew to be their duty. He would like to refer to one name of the tablet, that of his own adjutant, Captain Wallace Fraser. The machine gun which hit Captain Fraser happened also to wound himself. After about an hour, stretcher-bearers went to Captain Fraser, but he told them he was "done in," and he insisted on their going off to the help of someone else. He could have been taken to the field hospital, but he thought of others. That was the act of "a very gallant gentleman," and typical of the spirit actuating all the others whose names appeared on the memorial tablet." 

Wisden Obituary notice:

CAPT AND ADJT WALLACE FRASER (King's Liverpool Regt) killed on July 30, age 36, had held office as captain and secretary of the Northern CC. He was not in the Eleven whilst at Rugby.   

Wallace Fraser is commemorated on the following Memorials: 

Bootle Civic Memorial

Waterloo Rugby Football Club

Lyceum Club, Liverpool

Liverpool Cricket & Rugby Clubs

West Lancashire Golf Club, Blundellsands

Southport Civic Memorial     

Northern Cricket Club Crosby

Christ Church C.of E. Church, Bootle

Rugby School Memorial 

His sister, Annie, and brother, John Holt Fraser lived at 'Glengar,' Osmaston Road, Prenton, Birkenhead, after the war.

We currently have no further information on Wallace Fraser. If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.