Ian Fraser (surgeon)

Sir Ian Fraser FRSE PRCSI PBMA DSO OBE LLD (1901–1999) was a Northern Irish[1] surgeon.

In the Second World War he was responsible for the implementation of the widespread use of the newly discovered penicillin throughout military hospitals, saving tens of thousands of lives.

The Sir Ian Fraser Theatre in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, his named in his honour.

His proposers were William J Hamilton, Sir Frederick W Ogilvie, Thomas H Bryce and Duncan M Blair.

After initial service in West Africa, the War Office called upon him to begin field trials of the then-new penicillin, which was felt to be of huge benefit in cases of sepsis.

Not only did this save many lives but it also kept a far higher proportion of troops fighting fit, playing a major role in the winning of the war.

He won the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) in 1943 for his bravery during the Battle of Salerno: at Cape Passero, he left the safety of the hospital ship St David to personally retrieve wounded from the beaches.

As founding Chairman of the Northern Ireland Police Authority and a member of the Ulster Defence Regiment advisory council he was at least twice the subject of IRA bomb attacks.