Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 155 continued ... continued ... Company Sergeant Major Daniel (Danny) Joseph Fraser WWII Killed in Action January 17, 1944 Daniel (Danny) Joseph Fraser was born in Sydney Mines, NS, on November 12, 1916. He was the son of Dan M. Fraser from Pleasant Bay, Cape Breton, andAnnie (née Jobes) Fraser from Bay St. Lawrence, Cape Breton. Annie passed away in the late 1930's. Including Daniel, there were six children in the family. Daniel moved to New Waterford when he was young. He received his education in New Waterford and became a coal miner at the No. 16 Collier. He married Catherine Jane MacDonald from Inverness, Cape Breton, and they had two children together. The new family resided in New Waterford. Daniel served in the Cape Breton Highlanders militia before the war and was immediately called up upon mobilization of the unit in September 1939. He officially signed on to the Canadian Active Service Force Cape Breton Highlanders on October 14, 1939, in NewWaterford. His rank was private and he was given the service number F54767. Daniel trained in Canada with the battalion, sailed to the U.K. with them in November, 1941, and then on to Italy in October/November, 1943. In October, 1942, after having quickly risen through the noncommissioned ranks, he was promoted to company sergeant major. Tragically, Daniel was killed in action with the Cape Breton Highlanders in Italy, on January 17, 1944. It was during the unit’s first major battle, an ill-fated assault across the valley of a stream called the Riccio, located near Ortona, on the Adriatic Sector of the Italian Front. The battlefield later became known as "The Valley of Death." He was company sergeant major of "C" Company at the time, and was 27 years old. Daniel Fraser was laid to rest in Moro River Canadian War Cemetery, near Ortona, Italy. Sgt. Finlay Stewart Fraser WWI Finlay Stewart Fraser was born in McLellans Brook, Pictou County, NS, on January 6, 1894, one of thirteen children born to Robert Overstone and Jessie Ann (MacDonald) Fraser. Finlay enlisted with the Canadian Army Service Corps in Halifax on November 21, 1916. He was 22 years old and single at the time. His attestation document lists his trade as machinist and his present address as New Glasgow, NS. His rank was private and he was issued service number 513303. The Canadian Army Service Corps transported and supplied food, forage, ammunition, equipment and stores to the Canadian troops overseas. They were also responsible for repairing motor vehicles. Amonth after enlisting, Finlay departed for overseas on the RMS Olympic, a huge and luxurious pre-war ocean liner turned troop ship, sister ship of the RMS Titanic. He arrived in England on December 28, 1916. While in England, Finlay received training at the Canadian Army Service Corps’ training depot in Shorncliffe and also at Seaford. In April, 1917, Finlay proceeded to France where he was attached to the 28th Company, Canadian Forestry Corps. He joined them in the field on April 24th. The Canadian Forestry Corps was divided into companies containing approximately 190 officers and men plus additional labourers. They worked in the forests in the U.K. and France and ran saw mills creating lumber for the front lines and the war industry. By the end
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