Christian Helen Fraser-Tytler

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(née Shairp; 23 August 1897 – 1 July 1995) was a member of the Scottish

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

and a senior officer in Britain's

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

(ATS) during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Christian Fraser-Tytler was born at Elie in Fife, the daughter of John Campbell Shairp, a lawyer and the 9th

Laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

of Houstoun, Uphall, in

Linlithgowshire West Lothian, also known as Linlithgowshire (its official name until 1925), is a counties of Scotland, historic county in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. until 1925. It is bounded geographically by the River Avon, Falkirk, Avon to the wes ...

, and his wife Harriet Caroline, daughter of Sir Thomas Erskine, 2nd Baronet of Cambo. She was educated at home by a governess. In 1917, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, she joined the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

as a clerical officer.'Christian Fraser-Tytler', ''Times'', 13 July 1995.'Shairp of Houstoun', ''Burke's Landed Gentry'', 1937.'Erskine', ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'', 1953.

Marriage

In 1919 she was working with the British delegation to the negotiations for the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. There she met Major Neil Fraser-Tytler of Aldourie and

Balnain Balnain () is a small village in Glenurquhart, Glen Urquhart, Scotland, about 5 miles west of Drumnadrochit. It is mostly dependent on tourism, forestry, agriculture and farming. The first buildings were created in the 1870s and 1880s and minor e ...

, Inverness-shire, who had won a DSO and Bar with the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...

(RFA) during the recent war. They were married on 19 June 1919, and she became the Châtelain of Aldourie Castle on the shores of

Loch Ness Loch Ness (; ) is a large freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands. It takes its name from the River Ness, which flows from the northern end. Loch Ness is best known for claimed sightings of the cryptozoology, cryptozoological Loch Ness Mons ...

.'Fraser-Tytler of Aldourie', ''Burke's Landed Gentry'', 1937. Neil Fraser-Tytler continued in the Territorial Army in the 1920s, commanding his old Inverness battery in the 75th (Highland) Brigade, RFA, and being promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel in 1924. He also published his wartime letters to his father under the title of ''Field Guns in France''. However, his health became increasingly poor, believed to be the result of having been gassed during the war. He died in 1937 after a long illness through which his wife nursed him.

Auxiliary Territorial Service

In 1938, as international tensions rose towards the

Munich Crisis The Munich Agreement was reached in Munich on 30 September 1938, by Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy. The agreement provided for the German annexation of part of Czechoslovakia called the Sudete ...

, the British government established the

(ATS) as the women's branch of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. Christian Fraser-Tytler raised the Inverness unit of the ATS. This was based at the

Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders or 79th (The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders) Regiment of Foot was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1793. It amalgamated with the Seaforth Highlanders (the Duke of Albany's) to form ...

' depot and its members wore skirts of the regiment's Cameron of Erracht tartan rather than khaki. INF3-117_Forces_Recruitment_ATS_They_can%27t_get_on_without_us_Artist_Dugdale

INF3-117_Forces_Recruitment_ATS_They_can%27t_get_on_without_us_Artist_Dugdale

After the outbreak of

, Fraser-Tytler's organisational abilities were recognised and she was posted to the Adjutant-General's Department at the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

and soon ran AG16, responsible for recruiting and organising the ATS alongside the ATS Directorate (AG15), under the Chief Controller, first Jean Knox and later Dame Leslie Whateley. Fraser-Tytler had become well known to the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...

when they inspected ATS units, and it is reported that when

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

visited the War Office he expressed surprise that she was no longer wearing the Cameron of Erracht tartan kilt. When told that she had been ordered to revert to

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...

when she joined the WO, he replied 'Well, we'll have to see about that', and shortly afterwards she was permitted to wear the kilt once more. The Auxiliary Territorial Service in the United Kingdom 1939 - 1945 H36315

The Auxiliary Territorial Service in the United Kingdom 1939 - 1945 H36315

In June 1943 Fraser-Tytler was appointed Deputy Director, ATS, at

Anti-Aircraft Command Anti-Aircraft Command (AA Command, or "Ack-Ack Command") was a British Army command of the Second World War that controlled the Territorial Army anti-aircraft artillery and searchlight formations and units defending the United Kingdom. Origin ...

, with the rank of Senior Controller (equivalent to

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

). The usual roles for the ATS included drivers, cooks, telephonists, ''etc'', but the imaginative commander-in-chief of AA Command, Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick 'Tim' Pile, had sought to solve his command's manpower issues by introducing women into every role in anti-aircraft units short of actually firing the guns, which was forbidden under Defence Regulations. From 1941 onwards all Heavy Anti-Aircraft gun batteries and regiments coming from the training regiments were designated 'Mixed', with women comprising about two-thirds of their personnel. Despite practical difficulties, there were some mixed searchlight batteries and one regiment ( 93rd Searchlight Regiment) that was almost wholly female. By the time Fraser-Tytler joined AA Command at its headquarters at Hillingdon House,

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

, more than half the total strength of the ATS was employed in or supporting its units. During 1944 a large proportion of AA Command's units were moved to Southern England to protect the build-up of troops, shipping and equipment for the forthcoming invasion of Normandy (

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

), and then to counter the attacks by V-1 flying bombs (codenamed 'Divers').

Operation Diver Operation Diver was the British code name for the V-1 flying bomb campaign launched by the German in 1944 against London and other parts of Britain. Diver was the code name for the V-1, against which the defence consisted of anti-aircraft guns ...

involved the relocation of hundreds of static AA guns to temporary sites along the South Coast of England, with the ATS housed in hastily constructed tented camps until huts could be provided. During the winter of 1944–45 the V-1 attacks were switched to

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, and several Mixed HAA regiments were withdrawn from AA Command to defend those cities. Christian Fraser-Tytler was appointed a CBE (Military) – one of the first awarded to a woman – in 1941, and received the

Territorial Decoration __NOTOC__ The Territorial Decoration (TD) was a military medal of the United Kingdom awarded for long service in the Territorial Force and its successor, the Army Reserve (United Kingdom), Territorial Army. This award superseded the Volunteer O ...

Voluntary service

On leaving the ATS at the end of World War II, Christian Fraser-Tytler returned to Aldourie Castle and took up voluntary work. Locally, she organised the building of the village hall and founded the local branch of the Women's Rural Institute. She became a Justice of the peace, led the

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

in Inverness-shire and

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county. Historical ...

, and played a prominent part in the

Young Women's Christian Association The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...

, serving as Scottish representative on the national executive.

Family

She had two daughters by Lt-Col Neil Fraser-Tytler: * Ann Fraser-Tytler, born 17 April 1920, married, 4 October 1947, her kinsman Sir Thomas David Erskine of Cambo, 5th Baronet. * Mary Hermione Fraser-Tytler (born 6 June 1922 – died 29 December 2021), married Rear-Admiral Sir Patrick Morgan, KCVO, CB, DSC.

Death

Christian Fraser-Tytler died on 1 July 1995.

Notes

References

* ''Burke's Landed Gentry'' * ''Burke's Peerage and Baronetage'' * Lt-Col Neil Fraser-Tytler, ''Field Guns in France'', London: Hutchinson, 1922//Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2003, (also published as ''With Lancashire Lads and Field Guns in France'', Manchester: John Heywood, 1922).
Sir Frederick Pile's despatch: "The Anti-Aircraft Defence of the United Kingdom from 28th July, 1939, to 15th April, 1945" ''London Gazette'' 18 December 1947
* Brig N.W. Routledge, ''History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery: Anti-Aircraft Artillery 1914–55'', London: Royal Artillery Institution/Brassey's, 1994, .

External sources

British Military History
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser-Tytler, Christian 1897 births 1995 deaths Auxiliary Territorial Service officers Anti-Aircraft Command officers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Elie and Earlsferry British Army personnel of World War II Civil servants in the Foreign Office