J E (Jock) Fraser 1899 - 1980 was born in Dunedin. As a young man he trained as a primary school teacher, and later studied drawing and watercolour painting at Heatherleys Art School in London. With the outbreak of WWII Jock Fraser served in the Intelligence Section of the 26th New Zealand Infantry Brigade, both in Greece and the Western Desert. In 1941 he was captured at Sidi Rezegh, and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner at Campo 52 in Genoa. There he passed the boredom of camp life by drawing on scraps of writing paper. When the prisoners were marched on to another camp near Udine, he left the drawings with an Italian family who sent them via advancing American forces to New Zealand. In 1943 he and other prisoners were transferred to Stalag Vlll A, near Dresden, where they worked in factories, mines, quarries and railroad construction. With the advance of the Russians from the east in 1945, 3000 prisoners of war were evacuated on foot, marching 643 kilometres across Europe at a rate of 19 kilometres per day. They were eventually liberated by the American forces but many died on the way from starvation, thirst and exhaustion. Jock Fraser was 46 when he made this rigorous journey. Prisoner of war life was harsh and often dangerous. Prisoners were faced with air raids, extreme climatic conditions, hard work, sickness and hunger. The boredom and monotony of camp life could also be unendurable and prisoners went to great lengths to devise entertainments.

Jock Frasers drawing provided a remarkable record of camp life, focusing on the every day routine of the prisoners existence: roll call, meal time, entertainments.  He returned to New Zealand when the war ended and resumed his teaching career.  From 1947 - 1954 he taught at Hampstead school in Ashburton, where he became headmaster. Later he made his home in Timaru, and became well known both as an artist and teacher.