| Regimental number | 3059 |
| Place of birth | Fitzroy, Victoria |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
| Occupation | Bank accountant |
| Address | Ivanhoe, Victoria |
| Marital status | Married |
| Age at embarkation | 23 |
| Height | 5' 8.5" |
| Weight | 149 lbs |
| Next of kin | Wife, Mrs Muriel P Fraser, Braemar, Ivanhoe, Victoria |
| Previous military service | Served as Lieutenant (Provisional), Citizen Military Forces, Kew, Victoria; still serving at time of AIF enlistment. |
| Enlistment date | |
| Place of enlistment | Melbourne, Victoria |
| Rank on enlistment | Private |
| Unit name | 37th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement |
| AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/54/3 |
| Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A70 Ballarat on |
| Rank from Nominal Roll | Lance Corporal |
| Unit from Nominal Roll | 37th Battalion |
| Recommendations (Medals and Awards) |
Military Medal Recommendation date: |
| Fate | Killed in Action |
| Place of death or wounding | Passchendaele, Ypres, Belgium |
| Age at death | 24.7 |
| Age at death from cemetery records | 24 |
| Place of burial | No known grave |
| Commemoration details | The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 25), Belgium The Menin Gate Memorial (so named because the road led to the town of Menin) was constructed on the site of a gateway in the eastern walls of the old Flemish town of Ypres, Belgium, where hundreds of thousands of allied troops passed on their way to the front, the Ypres salient, the site from April 1915 to the end of the war of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. The Memorial was conceived as a monument to the 350,000 men of the British Empire who fought in the campaign. Inside the arch, on tablets of Portland stone, are inscribed the names of 56,000 men, including 6,178 Australians, who served in the Ypres campaign and who have no known grave. The opening of the Menin Gate Memorial on 24 July 1927 so moved the Australian artist Will Longstaff that he painted 'The Menin Gate at Midnight', which portrays a ghostly army of the dead marching past the Menin Gate. The painting now hangs in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at the entrance of which are two medieval stone lions presented to the Memorial by the City of Ypres in 1936. Since the 1930s, with the brief interval of the German occupation in the Second World War, the City of Ypres has conducted a ceremony at the Memorial at dusk each evening to commemorate those who died in the Ypres campaign. |
| Panel number, Roll of Honour, Australian War Memorial | 128 |
| Miscellaneous information from cemetery records | Parents: James Newport and Caroline FRASER; husband of Muriel P. FRASER, Ivanhoe, Victoria. Native of Ivanhoe |
| Medals |
Military Medal 'On 4th October 1917, East of YPRES, he displayed conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty in action. After capturing a German Officer, he single handed rushed a Machine Gun position, killed the crew and captured the gun. he organised mopping up parties and throughout showed great ability as a leader and coolness on all occasions.'
Source: 'Commonwealth Gazette' No. 95 Date: |
| Other details |
War service: Western Front Embarked Melbourne, 19 February 1917; disembarked Devonport, England, 25 April 1917; reverted to the ranks on marching into 10th Training Bn, 26 April 1917. Proceeded overseas to France,, 25 June 1917; taken on strength, 37th Bn, in the field, 14 July 1917. Appointed Lance Corporal, 1 August 1917. Reported missing, 12 October 1917. Now, 3 November 1917, listed as 'Killed in action, 12 October 1917, previously reported missing'. Note on Red Cross File: 'No trace Germany. Cert. by Capt. Mills. 10.10.1919.' Statement, Red Cross File, 3163 Pte C.W.P. WOOD, 37th Bn, 10 October 1919: 'I knew Casualty, he was dark, well built, 5' 8" in height, 37 years of age. He went away with the 7th. Reinforcements on the "Ballarat". Casualty was in the attack on Passchendaele Ridge, Ypres, when a bullet entered his heart, killing him instantly. I saw his body as I passed in the advance. I do not know if he was buried.' Medals: Military Medal, British War Medal, Victory Medal |
| Sources | NAA: B2455, FRASER Roy Newport
Red Cross File 11103028 |