Great Scot’s Medal Goes on Sale – George Cross Awarded to Brave Edinburgh Hero
Great Scot’s Medal Goes on Sale –
George Cross Awarded to Brave Edinburgh Hero
When the Japanese took over Singapore in 1941 they showed little humanity to their prisoners and growing up I knew a few families who wouldn’t have anything Japanese in the house. But times change and the wheel of time moves on, but a moment of that time is now going up for sale.
Withstood Everything
John Fraser was a 47 year old colonial administrator who had been captured by the Japanese and he had helped smuggle a radio into his prison camp. He withstood weeks of torture by his captors as they tried to force him to reveal the names of his fellow smugglers and who were the ring leaders of resistance in the camp.
The torture was to no avail and he never revealed the names despite his terrible health and the appalling conditions. The prisoners existed on only 800 calories a day. You need about 2,500 to stay stable if you are a man and about 2,200if you are a woman. So Mr Fraser was as thin as a rake and suffering all the effects of the tropics. He was sentenced to death.
Buckingham Palace Award
He was executed by a samurai sword and he was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his bravery and silence. It is Britain’s highest civilian award for bravery. The medal was presented to his widow, Kathleen, by King George VI the Queen’s Father at Buckingham Palace in 1946. The medal is expected to fetch £150,000 when it is sold at auction with a copy of his farewell letter to his wife and young sons.
Celebrate Achievement
It is a sombre story, but one worth remembering. We all have achievements to celebrate, most of which don’t cost us our lives, but many can be very fine indeed and achieved against all the odds. Bravery comes in many forms.
