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GRANT Donald Kerr RANR MB BS FRACP

1918- 1985

Donald Kerr Grant, known as KG, was born on 29th November 1918, in Adelaide, SA. He was the second of the three sons of Sir Kerr Grant and Kate, nee Moffatt. His father was professor and chair of physics at the University of Adelaide. Grant was educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide, and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide, graduating MB BS in 1942. His younger brother, Alan, also followed him into medicine. Grant had a short residency at the RAH, before joining the navy.

Grant was appointed surgeon lieutenant, RANR in Sydney, NSW, on 15th October 1942.  He was initially drafted to Torrens and Cerberus, followed by a seagoing appointment to HMAS Shropshire, in June 1944, for 21 months. Shropshire proceeded to the New Guinea area, on 12th July 1944, in support of the 6th Army. Later Shropshire joined the bombardment group covering the last landing in New Guinea, at Cape Sansapor, on the Vogelkop Peninsula. Her next objective was Morotai Island, which lies midway between New Guinea and the southern Philippines. The Shropshire, Australia, Arunta and Warramunga delivered a pre-invasion bombardment on 15th September before the invasion force landed. Grant remained on the Shropshire during General MacArthur’s Philippines invasion force, on 20th October 1944, which comprised some 550 ships. Australia’s contribution to this famous amphibious operation was Commodore John Collins’ Task Force 74, which included the Australia, Shropshire, Warramunga and Arunta attached to the US 7th Fleet. In the latter months, Shropshire was the Flagship of the Royal Australian Navy due to the damage to Australia, by Japanese kamikaze aircraft.  Command of the Australian ships consequently passed to Captain C A G Nichols in Shropshire.  Following his sea posting on Shropshire, Grant was appointed to HMAS Leeuwin at Fremantle, and returned to the Shropshire, in November 1946.  He had a temporary post to Bataan in April 1947 and finally to Shropshire and Australia in May and June 1947. Grant was promoted to Lieutenant Commander RANR on 5th April 1948 at Torrens with his service terminated on 6th May 1948.

Grant returned to Adelaide and became a medical registrar at the RAH where, as a returned serviceman and experienced doctor, he was much admired by the young RMOs. Grant married Elayne Kryger in Darling Point, Sydney, on 4th November 1949. She was the daughter of Mr and Mrs GK Kryger of Darling Point, NSW. Grant joined the Clinical Research Unit, in 1950 for two years, at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. He was awarded a Nuffield Dominion Travelling Fellowship to the United Kingdom, where he worked in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, London, until 1954. This was followed by a Fulbright Travelling Fellowship to Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, as a senior resident physician in the Children's Hospital. The family returned to Sydney, in 1955, where Grant commenced a private paediatric practice combined with a part-time appointment in the Institute of Child Health at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children. He returned to the United States, in 1958, and moved to Buffalo, New York State, in 1961. Over the next twenty-one years, until his retirement in 1982, Grant held various consultant positions in the Buffalo Children's Hospital and an associate professorship in the department of paediatrics in the State University of New York at Buffalo. He also spent several periods of postgraduate work in Europe including extended time in the department of developmental neurology at Groningen, Netherlands.  He and Elayne retired to England to be with their two daughters who had settled there. They lived quietly in Essex with regular holidays to Spain. Donald Kerr Grant was killed, in 1985, while crossing a notoriously dangerous road at Marbella, on the Mediterranean coast of the Spanish peninsula, shortly after arriving there once again to enjoy the winter sunshine. His wife and daughters survived him.

Source

Blood, Sweat and Fears III: Medical Practitioners South Australia, who Served in World War 2. 

Swain, Jelly, Verco, Summers. Open Books Howden, Adelaide 2019. 

Uploaded by Annette Summers AO RFD