Alistar Fraser was born on 14th June, 1913 at Holland Bush, Cambusbarron, just to the west of Stirling.
His father was William Alistar Fraser, an Estate Joiner, and he married Helen Allan in 1910.
Alistar had one older sister, Helen, and one younger sister, Margaret.
By the time of the 1921 Census the family was at Canniesburn Square, Bearsden, living at Number 1:
The area has changed a bit:
To orientate you the road running up to the top-left is Drymen Road, with Canniesburn Road branching off to the left. The road running to the top-right is, of course, Milngavie Road. The road running to the bottom-right is Maryhill Road and the wiggly road coming in from the bottom-left is the Switchback Road – it’s even more wiggly than it once was because the modern road departs from its old course just after BM164.6 and joins Drymen Road roughly at the point marked BM112.3. This left the buildings in Canniesburn Square on an island, including the Fraser’s cottage at Number 1 (ringed in red).
This was a two-way road prior to the 1930s, the road currently taking you from Switchback Road into the roundabout not having been built.
I’m sorry to say that the only other thing I can find about Alistar is the battle in which he died. He was a Guardsman (a private in a Guards regiment) in F Company of the 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards. On 9th November 1943 they were fighting in Italy about 50 miles north of Naples, in mountainous country known by the name of one of its peaks, Monte Camino.
You might have heard of a very similar place Monte Cassino, but that was six months in the future and some miles to the north. Some aspects were common though, the British and their allies attacking with men on foot, up crude tracks, having to carry everything in terms of weapons, ammunition, food, water, with them (it was said a mule is worth three tanks!) The front line would be literally piles of rocks, either assembled during the night or by nature to shelter behind and always (it seemed) overlooked by the Germans who held the highest points and had an inexhaustible supply or mortars, machine guns and snipers).
Alistar was in the Scots Guards and they were in a second wave of attacks after the other two battalions in their brigade, from the Coldstream Guards and the Grenadier Guards had advanced first. A junior officer in the Grenadiers has left an excellent account of the battle and if you want to understand what Alistar must have experienced as well, I urge you to read it (link) – note Alistar was in the company of Scots Guards referred to on page 17:
“The second episode that night was the announcement that a Company of Scots Guards were on their way up to try and relieve Nos.2 and 3 Companies. Led by ‘Bones’ Rathbone, it was to attack across the sea of mud between Points 727 and 819 and I shall never know how it got there without being decimated. I have never felt so sorry for a body of men in all my life; perhaps because we were now so numb, both mentally and physically, that we assumed they would not have the energy to undertake their task, but they went straight in to the attack and never faltered. It reached its objective, but was mercilessly attacked next day and almost wiped out.”
This map shows where the fighting happened, in the top left hand corner. I have added an arrow to point to the position of Alistar’s company.
The Scots Guards took their objective but found as day broke they had no cover and were overlooked from neighbouring peaks; many of the casualties (presumably including Alistar) were from mortar and shell fire.
He was originally buried locally and was re-buried on 17th May 1945 at Cassino War Cemetery:
The words his father chose for his headstone was “They are not dead / Who live in the hearts / Of those they leave behind”.
He is two graves along from John Brocklebank, mentioned in the account by the Grenadier officer (link above).
This is a link to another account of F Company, 2nd Scots Guards (link)