Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Warrant Officer 2nd Class John Swanson Grant, AIF No 3251

John Grant was a first generation Australian of 100% Scottish descent. His father, Alexander, born in 1830, at Knockando, Scotland, emigrated to Melbourne around 1852, as part of the gold rush to the Australian colonies. On landing, he went to Ballarat, presumably to look for gold, but he soon found gold more readily by practising his skills as a boot and saddle maker. He established himself in business in Learmonth, 10 kilometres north-west of Ballarat, and continued to work there until around 1901, when he retired to Melbourne.

Alexander had married Janet Swanson, another Scot, in 1870, and John Swanson (Jack) was their third child, born on 28 March 1881. On the family’s move to Melbourne, Jack worked as a conductor on the cable trams. He joined the Citizen Military Forces, serving in the 52nd Battalion, better known as the Victorian Scottish Regiment. A tall, handsome man with a dark moustache and a twinkle in his eye, he soon achieved the rank of sergeant and transferred to the Army’s full-time Instructional Staff in 1907. He also qualified as an armourer and became the Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant. On 2 March he married Jessie Isabella Fergusson.

When the First World War began, he, like most of the standing army, was required to teach raw recruits to become soldiers. It was not until February 1917 that he was permitted to transfer to the Australian Imperial force and prepare for service overseas. He had to wait a further year before he embarked on the transport “Wiltshire”, for Suez and Southampton. After final training in England, exposed to the rigours of winter on Salisbury plan, he joined the 39th Battalion in France. His period at the front was therefore not lengthy, but it was demanding because of the weight of the offensives and counter-offensives being made in the closing months of the war as the two sides sought desperately to defeat each other.

Jack Grant arrived in time for the final offensives leading up to the breaking of the Hindenburg Line in late September and October 1918. During this phase of the war, Australian and American divisions were interleaved on the front line, under the command of General Monash, who used them in a phased way – the Americans to advance to the German lines and then the Australians to penetrate the lines and break out into the German rear areas. All went well and a new battlefield partnership was formed.

Not far to the east of the 3rd Australian Division, of which the 39th Battalion was a member, was the US 35th Division. The commander of Battery D of the 2nd Battalion, 129th Field Artillery Regiment, 35th Infantry Division was Captain Harry S. Truman, later to be President Truman. In September 1950, Australian External Affairs Minister Percy Spender came to the White House to call on President Truman. Spender wanted a formal alliance with the United States. Dean Acheson, Secretary of State, thought that the US had enough alliances to worry about, and when Spender began his pitch, Acheson frowned – but to no effect. The President took over and encouraged Spender to continue, remarking that from the Australian performance in the recently begun Korean War and in the formidable offensive power he had seen them display in France in late 1918, they were good people to have on side when the going became tough. The efforts of the 39th and other Australian battalions at the front in 1918 helped to yield the ANZUS Alliance, the bedrock of Australia’s security since 1951.

Jack Grant and other diggers returned to Australia in the “Wandilla”, arriving at Port Melbourne on 15 May 1919. He continued to serve in the Permanent Military Forces as a Warrant Officer Class 2 until major reductions in defence spending forced the retirement of many service personnel, including Jack. Sadly for him and his family, his wife Jessie died in November 1923, leaving four children in their father’s care. He had a difficult time, given the national economic situation, and never really worked again in a regular capacity. In the early stages of the Second World War he returned briefly to military service as a staff sergeant, but at the age of sixty, the Army did not need to use him for any extended period. He remained in good health and spirits and was always an interesting man to talk with. He died at Ballarat on 28 December 1968, aged 87. His son, William Swanson Grant, served for six years through the Second World War in the 2/11th Field Artillery Regiment.

Robert O’Neill

Grandson of John Swanson Grant

29 March 2016.