Christian Fraser-Tytler

Christian Helen Fraser-Tytler CBE (née Shairp; 23 August 1897 – 1 July 1995) was a member of the Scottish landed gentry and a senior officer in Britain's Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) during World War II.

Early life Christian Fraser-Tytler was born at Elie in Fife, the daughter of John Campbell Shairp, a lawyer and the 9th Laird of Houstoun, Uphall, in Linlithgowshire, 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, she joined the Foreign Office as a clerical officer.

Marriage

In 1919 she was working with the British delegation to the negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles. There she met Major Neil Fraser-Tytler of Aldourie and Balnain, Inverness-shire, who had won a DSO and Bar with the Royal Field Artillery (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.

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. ATS personnel operating a rangefinder at a 3.7-inch AA gun site firing against V-1 flying bombs, 21 July 1944. 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), and then to counter the attacks by V-1 flying bombs (codenamed 'Divers'). Operation Diver 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the winter of 1944–45 the V-1 attacks were switched to Brussels and Antwerp, and several Mixed HAA regiments were withdrawn from AA Command to defend those cities.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.

Death Christian Fraser-Tytler died on 1 July 1995.