Regimental number | 6020 |
Date of birth | |
Place of birth | Bellenden Ker Ranges, Queensland |
School | Annandale Public School, New South Wales |
Religion | Presbyterian |
Occupation | Mechanical draftsman |
Address | 132 Albion Street, Annandale, New South Wales |
Marital status | Single |
Age at embarkation | 30 |
Next of kin | Foster Father, R Grant, 132 Albion Street, Annandale, New South Wales |
Enlistment date | |
Rank on enlistment | Private |
Unit name | 13th Battalion, 19th Reinforcement |
AWM Embarkation Roll number | 23/30/4 |
Embarkation details | Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on |
Rank from Nominal Roll | Private |
Unit from Nominal Roll | 13th Battalion |
Fate | Returned to Australia |
Other details |
War service: Western Front Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal Grant was an aborigine who was adopted by a member of the Australian Museum collecting expedition, Robert Grant, after his parents had been killed, possibly in a punitive raid mounted from Cairns, although other sources claim they were killed in tribal fighting. He enlisted in January 1916, but was discharged just as his unit was about to embark for overseas service because of regulations preventing aboriginals leaving the country without government approval. He re-enlisted, and embarked in August 1916 with the 13th Bn. On 11 April 1917, during the first battle of Bullecourt, he was wounded and captured, and became a prisoner of war in a camp near Wittenberg, and later in one at Wunsdorf, Zossen, near Berlin. He was repatriated to England in December 1918, and returned to Australia in April 1919. |
Date of death | |
Age at death | 66 |
Place of burial | Botany Cemetery, New South Wales |
Sources | 'Australian Dictionary of Biography 1891-1939' |