Ing Fraser

Ingeborg Fraser was born in the Baden-Württemberg region in Germany. Her father, a local town councillor, and two elder brothers disappeared when Soviet forces entered the region at the conclusion of World War Two and were never seen again. Sometime in either 1946 or 47 she decided to walk to Berlin in search of better conditions. After three weeks she reached her destination but found herself once again in an area of Soviet control. She escaped into the British sector and for three weeks existed on whatever food she could scavenge until she became ill from malnutrition and was admitted into a hospital run by the British Red Cross. After being declared a displaced person she applied to emigrate to America but was since this was not possible she instead left Europe in 1948 for a new life in Australia.

On arrival in Brisbane she took a job making pottery and joined a local calisthenics group. It was during a display of calisthenics at Brisbane Royal National show that she caught the eye of Hungarian coach Frank Vig and, having previously competed in her native Germany, she soon became a member of the Australian women’s national team that was formed with a view to competing at the 1956 Olympic Games. Inge married mining engineer Bob Fraser in 1955 and in July 1956 received her Australian citizenship papers. After the Melbourne Games had ended the Frasers moved to the mining town of Mount Isa, Queensland. Her health began to deteriorate and at the end of 1957 she was diagnosed with the advanced stages of Leukemia. She died shortly afterwards.