GRANT, Thomas Roy
| Service Number: | 4499 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Cobram, Victoria, Australia, 13 July 1895 |
| Home Town: | Cobram, Moira, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Cobram State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Manager |
| Died: | Killed In Action, France, 11 August 1918, aged 23 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heath Cemetery, Picardie |
| Memorials: | Cobram Barooga RSL War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 4499, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 28 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 4499, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne | |
| 11 Aug 1918: | Involvement Lieutenant, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 7 Battalion awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-08-11 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Lieutenant Thomas Roy Grant 7th Battalion AIF, killed in action 11th August 1918.
Thomas Grant was the 23 year old son of James and Elizabeth Grant of Cobram.
Roy was born in Cobram in 1895, attended Cobram State School, and was the assistant manager at Grant and Stewarts Flour Mill when he enlisted 3rd August 1915. He was very solidly built, over 6 foot tall and weighing 13 stone. He trained at Bendigo Camp until he was sent overseas during December 1915 with the 7th Battalion.
He wrote of the trip he had from Egypt to France and how beautiful the country was in France he passed through. Known as Roy Grant he was a prolific writer and in a letter to his parents, he described how during the Battle of Pozieres he and several mates were buried in dirt up to their chins by the high explosives bursting around them. Roy took to soldiering and was quickly promoted to Corporal, Sergeant and finally Lieutenant during August 1917. He was evacuated to England once suffering with trench feet, caused by the intense cold and mud of the trenches on the Western Front.
Lieutenant Fred Presnell of Cobram and also a member of the 7th Battalion with Grant was in England at the time that Lieutenant Roy Grant was killed in action in the Battle for Lihons. He gathered what news he could in regard to the death of his loved mate, and as all of Roy's fellow officers in the attack were either killed or severely wounded Lieutenant Presnell obtained a written account from a Private who knew Roy well and was in his company. It appears from the soldier's letter that “the battle for Lihons was the hottest that the 7th Battalion AIF had ever been in. In the face of a most murderous fire from machine and big guns the Battalion steadily attacked; officers and men were falling everywhere, and Roy was the only officer of his Company to reach their objective, and he accordingly assumed command of the men. Later on they were joined by other batches of Australians in charge of three junior officers, and while Roy was consulting with the latter as to consolidating the position a bomb from an enemy aeroplane dropped among them and killed the whole four.”
The commanding officer's comment on Roy Grant was: "He was a soldier and a leader." Lieutenant Thomas Roy Grant was buried in the Heath Cemetery, Picardie, France.
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