Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alexander George GRANT #4533 31st Battalion

Alex Grant had been born in Rosewood but by the time of his enlistment on 6th October 1916 he was married to Magaurita and farming in Boonah. Alex advised the recruiting officer that he was 42 years old, married with no children. He was unable to sign his name on his enlistment papers; a cross identified as “his mark” and witnessed identifies as his signature.

Alex was placed a depot battalion before being allocated as a reinforcement for the 31st Battalion. He was granted six days of home leave prior to travelling to Sydney by train where the reinforcements boarded the “Demosthenes” on 17th November 1916. Alex had allocated 3/- of his pay to his wife along with one shilling and fivepence separation allowance.

By March of 1917, Alex was in camp with the 3rd Training Battalion at Hurdcott on Salisbury Plain. In July Alex began a slow journey via cross channel steamer and then trains in France and Belgium to finally be taken on by his battalion on 1st August.

The 31st Battalion was part of the 8th brigade of the 5th Australian Division. This division was put into the line after only three days in France at Fromelles in July 1916 where the entire division suffered appalling casualties. The 31st Battalion alone suffered over 540 casualties which amounted to over half its strength. As a result of the impact of Fromelles, the 5th Division was kept in a reserve and support role for the next twelve months. The first major engagement by the 31st in 1917 was an attack in the vicinity of Polygon Wood as part of the 3rd battle of Ypres. Alex Grant arrived in the lines of the 31st as preparations were being made for the Polygon Wood advance.

The battalion war diary for the 26th September contains scant information regarding the events of the day, save for some confusion regarding the Scottish Highland Brigade which was supposed to be covering the left flank of the advance. Casualties for the 26th September were listed as 375, of which 84 had been killed; one of which was Alex Grant.

Red Cross enquiries revealed a number witnesses who describe a heavy artillery barrage coming down on a trench. Alex Grant and two other men, Gadsby and Wells, were sheltering in a trench when “ a shell dropped down close to them. When the dust from the explosion cleared off, I could see nothing of them. Nothing remained for burial.”

Alex’s wife began the long process of tidying up her husband’s affairs including collecting his deferred pay and war gratuity, claiming against a Life Assurance policy and collecting a funeral benefit from a local lodge.


Alexander Grant is commemorated on the sandstone tablets of the Menin Gate Memorial in the city of Ypres (Ieper) in company with over 50,000 British and Dominion soldiers who lost their lives in Belgium and have no known grave. This sacrifice is commemorated each evening with a remembrance ceremony which includes the playing of the last post.