The AIF Project

John Henry GRANT

Regimental number2415
Date of birth29 January 1898
Place of birth'North Loan', Cowra, New South Wales
True NameGRANT, Ivan Francis
SchoolDubbo Public School, New South Wales
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationLabourer
Address168 Botany Street, Waterloo, Sydney, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation21.1
Height5' 6.5"
Weight156 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs Margaret Jane Grant, 168 Botany Street, Waterloo, Sydney, New South Wales
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date21 February 1916
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name53rd Battalion, 5th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/70/3
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A47 Mashobra on 14 September 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll53rd Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularGrant was an Aboriginal man, who used the given names of two of his older brothers to enlist.
FateKilled in Action 29 March 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death19
Place of burialNo known grave
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: William and Margaret GRANT. On 29 March 1918 his mother placed an 'In Memoriam' notice in the 'Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate': 'A hero he lived, a hero he fell,/Though only a lad he did his part well;/He gave his young life for a cause that is true,/Fighting for country, for home, and for you.'
Family/military connectionsBrother: 5373 Pte Cedric Hordon GRANT, 54th Bn, returned to Australia, 13 February 1917.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Embarked Sydney, 14 September 1916; failed to re-embark at Capetown, and declared an illegal absentee, 11 October 1916; found guilty of being absent without leave; awarded 168 hours' detention and fined £1.15.0; re-embarked on board HT 'Commonwealth', 18 October 1916; disembarked, Plymouth, England, 14 November 1916.

Proceeded overseas to France, 15 December 1916; taken on strength, 53rd Bn, in the field, 24 December 1916.

Admitted to 15th Australian Field Ambulance, 17 February 1917 (condylomata, sore penis); discharged to duty, 21 February 1917; rejoined unit, in the field, 22 February 1917.

Killed in action, 29 March 1917.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, GRANT John Henry

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