Roland Fraser was the second son of John Laurie Fraser and Lucy May Fraser, of 8 Ebbsfleet Rd., Cricklewood, London. His father was a manufacturer’s salesman of shirts, collars and other related items. He was born on 23 April 1895, and volunteered for war service in 1914, joining the 7th (City of London) Battalion of the London Regiment. Recruited from London working men, this infantry battalion saw extensive service on the western front.

Roland spent the winter of 1914-15 training with his battalion at Watford. They disembarked at Le Havre on 18 March 1915, going into the line near Bethune where they received instruction in trench warfare from the regulars. They carried out working parties and were involved in fighting at Festubert, before moving to the line near Loos which they held throughout the summer.  Then the battalion was put through intensive training for the forthcoming Battle of Loos, a carefully planned attack which started on 25 September 1915 after 4 days of bombardment and the release of a gas cloud. Advancing across fields within range of German machine guns and artillery caused devastating losses, but they succeeded in capturing the town of Loos. Casualties for the battalion were 14 officers and 250 other ranks. But the British failed to exploit their success, and by the time the fighting subsided on 28 September, they had retreated to their starting positions. The attacks cost over 20,000 casualties.

Roland was seriously wounded during this battle and eventually died from his injuries.

He was buried on 28 September 1915 at the Lapugnoy Military Cemetery, near Bethune, which was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens.

Malcolm Linfield