John Charles Fraser papers, ca. 1935-1955

fonds

ca. 1935-1955

Graphic Materials, Textual Records, Photographs

910361

John Charles Fraser (known as "Jack") was in the Concert Party, 24th Battalion, 9th Division of the Australian Army from 1941. The Library also holds his son John Fraser's (1930-2010) theatre collection.

From an oral history transcipt of George Pomeroy, 1st Australian Entertainment Unit, interviewed by Sharon Davis for The Keith Murdoch Sound Archive of Australia in the War of 1939-45 held at the Australian War Memorial:
"I went over as a reinforcement to the 24th Battalion in 1941 and I served at the battle of Alamein was the last activity or action we'd seen over there before returning to Australia. Of course, everybody knows well by now that the 24th Battalion was part of the 9th Australia Division.
(5.00) It was commanded in the Middle East by the 8th Army and part of the 8th Army whom General Montgomery was the Supreme Commander. It was there, while I was in ... strangely enough that I first saw the 9th Division concert party. It was after the battle had been concluded that I was told to drive a carrier - a Bren gun carrier - which I'd been driving during the campaign to a certain location and it had a ... twin Bren guns mounted on it and a Vickers machine gun and we were there to do anti-aircraft protection for a group of people that were coming up to entertain us and this happened to be the 9th Australian Division concert party. They arrived at a feature behind where we had had, only a few days previously, been ... blasted out of the place. They arrived in a truck, a couple of vehicles and a bit of an old battered-up bus.
They dropped a few floor boards onto the ground; they brought out a piano and a few other instruments and odds and ends (coughs) ... pardon me ... and then they started off with their concert party. They entertained us with singers and musicians and comedians and it was quite a ... quite a ... well ... I'm sorry you might have to ... to find a concert party so close to the forward lines. It was only a matter of a few days, as I said before, when the place was being blown out. Anyway, they did their job; they packed up their kits and away they went."

SERIES 01
John Charles Fraser, chiefly letters from the 9th Division Concert Party, Egypt and the Middle East, 1941-

SERIES 02
John Charles Fraser, chiefly photographs of the 9th Division Concert Party, Egypt and the Middle East, 1941- / photographs by Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Information