Eric Malcolm Fraser (17 November 1896 – 9 December 1960), was a British businessman and civil servant, who held a number of senior positions in the

Ministry of Aircraft Production Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

during the

Second World War 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 ...

Life

Early life

Fraser was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, the son of Susanna Fraser () and Sir Thomas Fraser, a prominent physician and

pharmacologist Pharmacology is the science of drugs and medications, including a substance's origin, composition, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, therapeutic use, and toxicology. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between ...

. The youngest of the family, he had three sisters and seven brothers, including Sir Francis Fraser who, like his father, became a leading medical researcher. After attending

Edinburgh Academy The Edinburgh Academy is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in Stockbridge, Edinburgh, Stockbridge, is now part of the Senior Scho ...

and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, he joined the Army and in August 1915 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, the Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

. In July 1916, he joined the Seaforth's 8th Battalion in France. Here he was wounded on 11 September 1916, and

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

in December 1917. He retired from the Army in 1921 with the rank of captain.

Inter war career

In 1919, Fraser joined the chemical company Brunner Mond & Co as a manager, remaining when it merged with three other British chemical manufacturers to become

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British Chemical industry, chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. Its headquarters were at Millbank in London. ICI was listed on the London Stock Exchange ...

(ICI) in 1926. With 33,000 employees, ICI was one of the largest manufacturers in Britain, able to compete with the rest of the world's chemical producers.

World War II

On the outbreak of the

a significant number of businessmen were seconded to the civil service, particularly in field of army supply. Fraser was part of this group, joining 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 ...

in 1939 as Assistant Director General of Progress and Statistics, then Director of Investigation and Statistics in 1940. Moving to the

(MAP) in 1942, he became

Director General A director general, general director or director-general (plural: ''directors general'', ''general directors'', ''directors-general'', ''director generals'' or ''director-generals'') is a senior executive officer, often the chief executive officer ...

of Equipment Production and, in April 1943, Director General of Aircraft Production, a post he held until the end of the war. In MAP Fraser worked closely with the

Minister of Aircraft Production The Minister of Aircraft Production was, from 1940 to 1945, the British government minister at the Ministry of Aircraft Production, one of the specialised supply ministries set up by the British Government during World War II. It was responsible ...

who, from November 1942, was Sir

Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, Cripps first entered Parliament at a 1931 Bristol East by-election ...

, who worked well with Ministry staff. By 1942 aircraft production had rapidly expanded from a number of small innovative companies to be the largest industry in the country. MAP's role was to monitor and co-ordinate the activity of the industry to maximise output, particularly of bombers, and intervene to remove inefficiency and bad practice where necessary. MAP officials with previous experience in large industries, and who knew more about factories and production lines than ministers and permanent civil servants, played a key role in this work. While Fraser was Director General, Cripps developed Joint Production Consultation Committees, set up in each aircraft factory to allow an exchange of views between managers and workers. These mirrored ICI labour relations policies, which had already recognised works councils for a number of years. In the 1946 King's

Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning monarch's official birthday in each realm by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are ...

, Fraser was made a Commander of the

Order of the British Empire 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 ...

for his services in MAP.

Post war

From 1946 until his retirement in 1958 Fraser was Sales Controller for ICI. He also served on a number of company boards and was a committee member of the Television Advisory Committee and the

British Institute of Management The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947 or 1948, merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (I ...

Personal life

In May 1929 Fraser married Joy Frances Pease at

St Margaret's Church, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...

. They had no children. Living in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Thames, in the South Oxfordshire district, in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, Berkshire, Reading, west of M ...

, Oxfordshire, Fraser retired from ICI in 1958 and died on 9 December 1960, aged 64, at the

London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and London Borough of Tow ...

, Stepney. Fraser was a

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, initiated in the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Lodge No 4 (London) in June 1943, and later also a member of the Royal Somerset House and Inverness Chapter of

Royal Arch Masonry Royal Arch Masonry (also known as "Capitular Masonry") is the first part of the American York Rite system of Masonic degrees. Royal Arch Masons meet as a ''Chapter'', and the Royal Arch Chapter confers four degrees: ''Mark Master Mason, Past Mas ...

.Thomas Everard Johnson (1992). ''The First 100 Years, 1892–1992''. Royal Somerset House & Inverness Chapter of Royal Arch Freemasons, London, pages 4–5.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Eric Malcolm 1896 births 1960 deaths Civil servants from Edinburgh People educated at Edinburgh Academy Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Seaforth Highlanders officers British Army personnel of World War I Businesspeople from Edinburgh Imperial Chemical Industries executives Civil servants in the War Office Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Civil servants in the Ministry of Aircraft Production