John Denis (Jack) Fryer was born in Springsure in 1895. He won a scholarship to the University of Queensland and commenced study in 1915. By the end of first term, Jack decided to volunteer for military service in the first A.I.F. He was commissioned in 1916 and went to France where he was gassed in early 1917. After hospitalisation in England, Jack returned to France for the final push to Amiens, in August 1918. There he was again wounded by a stick bomb. Back home after the war he re-enrolled at the University of Queensland for the first term of 1920 to complete his English honours examinations. His health failed in 1922 and he died of the effects of poison gas in February, 1923. In 1926, as a memorial to their former member and vice-president, members of the University Dramatic Society donated ten pounds to establish a collection of works in Australian literature. The Fryer collection was maintained in the English Department until the 1950's when it became part of the University of Queensland Library.
From the description of Papers. 1803-1981. (Libraries Australia). WorldCat record id: 222660632
