Lieutenant-General Charles Alan 'Pop' Fraser (6 April 191518 December 1994) was a South African military commander. He joined the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

as a part-time Active Citizen Force

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

in 1934 and became a full-time

Permanent Force The Permanent Force was an integral part of both the South African Defence Force and the South West Africa Territorial Force which consisted of all the full-time volunteers, volunteers of Auxiliaries and national servicemen. South Africa The Defe ...

member in 1946. He served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. With the rank of captain, he completed the 5th Senior Staff Duties War course at the British Middle East Staff College, Haifa in Palestine during period 8 September - 31 December 1941. During

, the

Cape Field Artillery A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a Hood (headgear), hood in t ...

was amalgamated with the 6th Field Regiment,

South African Artillery South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

, in September 1943. On 1 October 1943 became 1/6 Field Regiment. Fraser, as a

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

assumed command of this regiment on 21 October 1944 when Lt-Col Kay, officer commanding, died of wounds. Fraser was in turn succeeded by Lt-Col IB Whyte. He served as Chief of the Army from 1966 to 1967, and as General Officer Commanding Joint Combat Forces, co-ordinating

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

operations and training, from 1967 to 1973. As GOCJCF, he was the third-highest-ranking officer in the

South African Defence Force The South African Defence Force (SADF) (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag'') comprised the armed forces of South Africa from 1957 until 1994. Shortly before the state reconstituted itself as a republic in 1961, the former Union Defence F ...

's Supreme Command.

Awards and decorations

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Charles 1915 births 1994 deaths South African people of British descent White South African people Chiefs of the South African Army South African military personnel of World War II Western Desert campaign Ambassadors of South Africa to Iran

Awards and decorations

See also

References