Private Fritz George Kreutzer

Fritz George Kreutzer was born at Christiania (today’s Oslo), Norway, on 26 October 1884 to parents Frederik Carl Christian Kreutzer and Ingaborg Dorothea Petrea Kreutzer (née Fabricius).

Kreutzer emigrated from New York in March 1904, arriving at Fremantle on the steamship Devon. He resided in Fremantle until 1906 and then moved to New South Wales.

Kreutzer married Louisa Josephine MacMahon at Woollahra, New South Wales, in April 1912 and the couple had two children, Olga (1912–1923) and Ingeborg (1914). In May 1912 Kreutzer applied for naturalisation, which was granted in September 1912. Kreutzer was employed as a tram conductor by the NSW Tramways in June 1911 and is recorded as a tram driver in Sydney prior to his enlistment.

Kreutzer enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Sydney on 4 August 1916 and after a period of training at the 2nd Depot Battalion at Cootamundra, New South Wales, he was attached to the 22nd Reinforcements for the 14th Battalion as a private. Kreutzer embarked from Sydney on the troopship Port Napier on 17 November 1916, disembarking at Devonport, England, on 29 January 1917. On 30 January 1917 Kreutzer was sent to the 4th Training Battalion at Codford, England, for battle training and while there he was hospitalised with influenza. On 20 March 1917, Kreutzer was sent to France and taken on strength with the 14th Battalion on 13 May.

When his battalion was relieved by the 51st Battalion, Kreutzer participated in a concert provided by the “4th Brigade Concert Party” near Neuve Eglise, France, on 14 July 1917, singing “Sunshine of your smile”.

Kreutzer remained with his unit in France and Belgium throughout 1917, and in April 1918 was admitted to hospital for a week with scabies. In November 1918 he was granted leave in England and while on leave was hospitalised at Dartford with furunculosis, or boils. Kreutzer was discharged from hospital on 27 January 1919 and attached to the No. 1 Command Depot at Sutton Veny, England, on 2 February. During February, and until 10 March 1919, Kreutzer was granted additional leave in England. On 1 April 1919 Kreutzer was appointed to a boat police position and embarked for Australia on the troopship Shropshire on 5 April 1919, disembarking on 16 May. Kreutzer was discharged on 26 June 1919.

The activities of Kreutzer in the years following his discharge up until 1929 are unknown, but the 1930 electoral rolls record his occupation as superintendent, and between 1933 and 1936 as a salesman residing in North Sydney. Louisa Kreutzer died at Willoughby, New South Wales on 1 April 1929 and in 1937 Kreutzer married Alice Elizabeth Flaskett, widow, at North Sydney.

Kreutzer was in a business partnership of buying and retail distribution of hosiery and lingerie, trading as Direct Hosiery and Lingerie Service at Crow’s Nest, New South Wales until 1938. Kreutzer left the business in February, and appears to have established himself as a shopkeeper until his death, continuing to reside at Crow’s Nest.

Fritz George Kreutzer died at St Leonards, New South Wales, on 27 April 1968 at the age of 83.