Review: The Journal of Private Fraser

[sniper1shot]

Title: The Journal of Private Fraser

Authour: Himself

Publisher: C.E.F. Books

ISBN: 1-896979-28-9

Stars: 5 (out of 5)

This book was purchased at a military show last year, 2012. Norm Christie was selling a bunch of WWI titles published by CEF books and as I love a good memoir I thought why not. I was not disappointed. This book covers this soldier, Donald Fraser, through the entire First World War. He enlisted in the 31 Battalion and transfers later to the 6th Brigade machine gun company. He served from 1914-1917 when he was WIA and evacuated out of theatre, never to return to the fight.

This book is a day by day (or close to it) account of Private Fraser's war. His training and what he did. His eventual trek to the trenches and of all his fights. He talks of the units on either side of his battalion both in the trenches and on the attack. He talks of his friends and their eventual outcome from the war. A lot of the time he was with his buddies when they were either KIA or WIA. He discusses the fatigue duties of getting rations, wire parties, trench clean up etc and holds nothing back when he paints the picture of what the battlefields and trenches looked like after a battle. Both German and Commonwealth.

It was interesting to read on how he collected buttons from the uniforms of dead enemy soldiers and when he found them. Also interesting was later on in the war when he was with the MG company how he found sites for his gun. Some were in abandoned (forgotten?) areas that provided everything that a MG crew would need. The book does end fairly quickly, 1917, as he was WIA and I found myself wanting to hear what happened.

I highly recommend this book if one is interested in journals/memoirs of the fighting man.

[Black Maria]

It is a while since I last read it but it is an excellent memoir, I had the C.E.F Books paperback copy but later purchased the original Hardback version published

by Sono Nis Press in 1985 .