Studio portrait of NX40359 Private (Pte) Douglas Marks Fraser, 2/18th Battalion. Pte Fraser, ...

Accession Number P09496.001
Collection type Photograph
Object type Colour - Toned black & white print
Maker Unknown
Place made Australia
Date made c 1941
Conflict Second World War, 1939-1945
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Studio portrait of NX40359 Private (Pte) Douglas Marks Fraser, 2/18th Battalion. Pte Fraser, the Battalion Band's Drum Major and Conductor, survived more than three years as a prisoner of war (POW) of the Japanese in Changi Gaol, Singapore. During his incarceration his skills as a potter were put to good use and he was charged with the production of many small pots and jars required by the Australian Army Medical Service (AAMC within the camp. War Artist Murray Griffin, also a POW, produced a highly detailed pen and ink drawing of Pte Fraser at work at his potters wheel and this image is held in the Memorial's collection as ART25074. Pte Fraser's uncle, Sergeant Robert Donald Fraser a volunteer in the New South Wales Mounted Rifles, was painted by Tom Roberts in 1896 and the original is held as ART19505.