| John Alexander Fraser | |
| Birth Date: | 1896 2, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Death Place: | St. Stephen's Beach, Stanley, Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong |
| Placeofburial: | Stanley Military Cemetery, Hong Kong |
| Allegiance: | United Kingdom |
| Branch: | British Army |
| Rank: | Major |
| Unit: | Royal Scots Fusiliers Machine Gun Corps British Army Aid Group[1] |
| Battles: | First World War Second World War |
| Awards: | George Cross Military Cross & Bar |
Major John Alexander Fraser, (12 February 1896[2] [3] - 29 October 1943) was a British colonial officer who was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest British Commonwealth award for bravery out of combat, for his "magnificent conduct" and "outstanding courage" in resisting Japanese torture during the Second World War.
Born in Edinburgh in 1896, and educated at the University of Edinburgh,[4] Fraser was commissioned into the Royal Scots Fusiliers during the First World War. He served as a machine gun officer and won the Military Cross (MC) in 1916. The MC was announced in the London Gazette on 20 October 1916, and the citation read:
Fraser transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 27 March 1916, was promoted lieutenant on 1 November 1916, and won a Bar to his MC in 1917. He later commanded a machine gun company, with the acting rank of major, and was permitted to retain that rank when he was demobilized.
Joining the Colonial Government of Hong Kong in October 1919 and having been called to the Bar in 1931, Fraser was an Assistant Attorney General when the Japanese invaded in 1941. Interned in the Civil Internment Camp in Stanley, he was instrumental in organising escape plans and operated a radio in secret. The suspicions of the Japanese were aroused and Fraser was arrested and severely tortured but refused to betray his companions. The Japanese, unable to break his resistance, executed him, most likely by beheading,[5] on 29 October 1943. He is buried in Stanley Military Cemetery.[6]
The full citation for his George Cross was published in a supplement to the London Gazette of 25 October 1946 and read: