Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Family Group:

A Second War B.E.M. awarded to Police Constable W. G. Grant, Portsmouth Police Force, for his gallantry during the Portsmouth Blitz on 27 April 1941
British Empire Medal, (Civil) G.VI.R., 1st issue (William George Grant) on original mounting pin, nearly extremely fine

Pair: Driver W. T. Grant, Australian Imperial Force
British War and Victory Medals (11065 Dvr. W. T. Grant. 3 F.A.B., A.I.F.) very fine (3) £240-£280

B.E.M. London Gazette 19 September 1941: William George Grant, Police Constable, Portsmouth Police Force (in a joint citation with Miss Jessie Eskdale Walker, Section Leader, First Aid Party, Portsmouth, and John Maurice Holder, Police Constable, Portsmouth Police Force):
‘While a First Aid Party were rendering assistance to air-raid victims, a bomb fell nearby and most of the Party were killed or severely injured. Miss Walker, although suffering from shock and the effects of blast, remained at her post and began rescue work. She was joined by Constables Grant and Holder, who had also been badly shaken by the explosions. The two men entered damaged property and brought out injured people and these were attended to by Miss Walker. A gas main caught fire and conditions were extremely dangerous but Miss Walker and the two Constables continued working and many casualties were rescued and given first-aid treatment. All three showed devotion to duty with no regard for themselves.’

William George Grant served during the Second World War with the Portsmouth Police Force, and was awarded the British Empire Medal for his gallantry on the night of 27-28 April 1941. The recipient’s own account states:
‘After the sounding of the Alert on the night of 27 April 1941, together with P.C. Holder, I left my lodgings at 245 Chichester Road, North End, in civilian clothes, and patrolled that vicinity for the purpose of dealing with any incendiary bombs which might be dropped. Later it came to our notice that high explosive bombs had been dropped in the city, and we decided to change into uniform and report to our station. As we approached Beresford Road we saw that an air raid incident had occurred there, and that a high explosive bomb had fallen near the junction of Laburnum Grove. A number of houses had been damaged and there were casualties lying on the ground. We commenced to help generally... Suddenly there was a blinding flash followed by a loud explosion, and I lost consciousness momentarily. When I recovered I saw masonry and other objects falling down on top of us. I heard cries of help from various directions. Going to the crater we found that a land mine had dropped on the edge of the original crater. Several members of the First Aid Party and Rescue Squad lay near the crater, some dead and others injured.... From No, 57 Beresford Road we heard a man crying out “I am nearly buried”. Holder and I climbed over the debris surrounding the front of this house and in the passage found a man buried up to his neck in debris. We dug him out, and using a door as an improvised stretcher, carried him to the junction of Laburnum Grove and Beresford Road, where we met Miss Walker. She was the only surviving member of the First Aid Party who was not a casualty.
At this time a gas main which had been fractured was blazing furiously, enemy aircraft were overhead, gunfire was extensive, and high explosive bombs were still falling. Together with Miss Walker we attended to other people who were lying injured. The heat from the fire was almost unbearable, but to render aid to the people who were injured we had to work near it. We also found several people in shelters who were injured, and Miss Walker dressed their injuries, working heroically and without thought for herself.’

William Thomas Grant, father of the above, was born in Portsmouth, and having emigrated to Australian attested for the Australian Imperial Force at Lithgow, New South Wales, on 11 September 1915. He served with the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade during the Great War on the Western Front from 29 April 1916.

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