All you need to know about SAS officer Bill Fraser

Here is all you need to know about the SAS officer.

Bill Fraser: Aberdeen

William “Bill” Fraser was born in Aberdeen in 1917. He followed his father and grandfather into the army, joining the Gordon Highlanders in 1936.

In August 1941, he became an early recruit to David Stirling’s new L Detachment, SAS. He quickly established himself as one of its most capable and aggressive patrol commanders.

North Africa

During the desert campaigns in North Africa, Fraser led small, fast-moving SAS patrols on night raids against Axis airfields.

His patrols destroyed aircraft, fuel dumps and supply lines. In December 1941, a four-man patrol under his command destroyed 34 enemy aircraft in one raid.

Fraser was credited with personally destroying around 37–38 aircraft during the desert war. He received a Military Cross for his leadership and endurance, including after one raid left his patrol lost and hunted in the desert for weeks.

Sicily and Italy

Fraser took part in the 1943 seaborne assault on Sicily, known as Operation Husky. He led No. 1 Troop in fighting at Capo Murro di Porco, known as the “Battle of the Pig’s Snout”.

His unit helped seize three gun batteries and capture more than 500 prisoners.

On the Italian mainland, Fraser was badly wounded when a mortar bomb hit his position at Bagnara Calabra. Two of his men were killed and seven wounded.

He was wounded again at Termoli, when an enemy mortar bomb killed 17 SAS troops in a truck beside him.

France and Germany

In 1944, Fraser commanded A Squadron, 1 SAS, during Operation Houndsworth in Burgundy, France.

From a secret base in the Morvan, his men worked with the French Resistance to ambush German columns, cut transport links and identify targets for RAF attacks.

The operation killed or wounded more than 200 Germans, captured over 130 and directed numerous air strikes.

Fraser later fought through Germany with Paddy Mayne’s “Paddy Force”. He was shot in the hand in March 1945 while leading an assault on a German position.

He was also among the reconnaissance parties that helped uncover the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Awards and later life

Fraser finished the war as an acting major, with a Military Cross and bar and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

Despite his record, he remained relatively obscure compared with figures such as Stirling and Mayne.

Recent research has described him as the SAS’s “forgotten hero” or “most successful WWII operator”.

After leaving the army in 1948, Fraser worked in civilian jobs, including as a purchasing clerk. He died in 1975, aged 58.