German matchbox : Sergeant C N Fraser, 460 Squadron, RAAF

German match box with a bottom tray and outer casing, containing fifty safety matches. The tray consists of a light wood base and cardboard sides, the outer casing is made from light wood. A black and white label is stuck to the front of the match box which contains details of the packet's contents and the German manufacturer. Along the top of the label is written 'HAUSHALSWARE' (homeware). Underneath this is a picture of a Nazi eagle with 'DEUTSCHE UNDWAREN-MONOPOLGESELLSCHAFT' written around it in a circle. On either side of the eagle, in circular form is written 'KLEINVERKAUFS FUR 10 SCHACHT PREIS 30PF' (small goods price 30 Pfennig for ten packets). Along the bottom length of the packet is written 'SICHERHEITS-ZUNDHOLZER IMPRAGNIERT GLUHEN NICHT NACH'.

Collected by 435111 Sergeant Colin Fraser who served with 460 Squadron, RAAF, during the Second World War. Fraser was born in Melbourne in 1922 and enlisted for service on 15 March 1943. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant during training in Australia.

In March 1944 he travelled to England via the United States. On arrival in England he was assigned as Navigator to a crew consisting of a number of RAAF members and a RAF flight engineer for further operational training. In March 1945 he and his crew were allocated to 460 Squadron in Bomber Command, flying Lancaster aircraft.

On Anzac Day, 1945, 20 Lancasters from 460 Squadron, one carrying Fraser's crew, took part in a daylight raid on Berchtesgaden, Hitler's summer retreat in southern Germany. Shortly after dropping their bombs on the target their aircraft was hit. Fraser had moved forward from his Navigator's seat to get a view of the target and this action may have saved his life. When he returned to his position there was a gaping hole where his feet would have been. With three engines gone, the pilot, Flying Officer Harry (Lofty) Payne attempted to direct the plane north in the hope of getting to American occupied territory about 40 miles away.

The fourth engine then failed and fuel from the severed fuel lines flooded into the fuselage. Payne gave the order for his crew to bail out. Fraser's ankle was injured slightly during his parachute jump and he and the rest of the crew were captured by the Germans almost immediately after landing. They were taken to Stalag 7A in Moosburg and from there to Mainburg Interrogation Centre.

The following day they were returned to Stalag 7A and a few days later the prisoners in the camp were liberated by the Americans. Fraser left the camp by road and travelled to an airstrip near Ingolstadt, where he boarded an American DC3 to Rheims and then a Lancaster to England. Fraser returned to Australia in September 1945 and was discharged on 11 February 1946.