- William Grant (general)
Infobox Military Person
name= William Grant
lived=30 September 1870 – Death date and age|1939|5|25|1870|9|30|df=yes
placeofbirth= Stawell, Victoria
placeofdeath= Dirranbandi, Queensland
caption= Portrait of Brigadier General William Grant
nickname=
allegiance=Australian Army
serviceyears= 1901-1928
rank= Brigadier General
commands=
unit=
battles=World War I
*Gallipoli Campaign
*Sinai and Palestine Campaign
awards=Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
Distinguished Service Order & BarMember of the Order of the British Empire Mention in Despatches (4)
laterwork= PastoralistBrigadier General William Grant CMG, DSO and Bar, MBE (30 September 1870 –25 May 1939 ) was anAustralian Army colonel and temporaryBrigadier General inWorld War I .Early life and career
William Grant was born on
30 September 1870 inStawell, Victoria , the son of a miner. He was educated atBrighton Grammar School andOrmond College at theUniversity of Melbourne , graduating with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (BCE) in 1893. He worked in railway construction inNew South Wales but after his father's death in 1894 he became a pastoralist, purchasing Bowenville Station on theDarling Downs inQueensland in 1896.Grant was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Queensland Mounted Infantry on
1 January 1901 . He advanced rapidly and became commander of the 14th Light Horse in 1910, and was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel on18 December 1911 . He was still in command whenWorld War I broke out.World War I
Grant joined the
First Australian Imperial Force on16 March 1915 , taking command of the 11th Light Horse Regiment. Part of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, it was sent toEgypt dismounted and there broken up on 26 August 1915. The 11th Light Horse Regiment was sent toGallipoli , and there itself broken up, with a squadron being attached to each of the 2nd, 5th and 9th Light Horse Regiments. When the commander of the 9th Light Horse, Lieutenant Colonel Reynell was killed in the fighting for Hill 60 on29 August 1915 , Grant took over command of his regiment. He remained with the 9th Light Horse until he was sent for duty at the rest camp on2 December 1915 .When the 11th Light Horse was reformed in
Egypt on22 February 1916 , Grant was given command again. AtRomani , the 11th Light Horse formed part of a mobile column of light horse and took part in the defence of theSuez Canal .At
Maghara in October, the 11th Light Horse led a column on a night march across the desert, navigating by the stars. On the second night of the march, dense fog closed in and hid the stars, but somehow Grant, who apparently had a phenomenal sense of position and direction, managed to lead the column through the desert to emerge at daybreak directly in front of the Turkish position.For his part in the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign , Grant was awarded theDistinguished Service Order (DSO).On
14 February 1917 , Grant led the 11th Light Horse out fromSerapeum on a mission to sweep the remaining Turkish troops from theSinai Peninsula . Grant learned from a British pilot that the Turks were evacuating,Nekhl , a significant town in the central Sinai, situated roughly in the centre of the Sinai, atop the desert ranges. His men entered Nekhl riding with fixed bayonets on 17 February. The light horse had travelled some 150 miles in seven days across steep and rocky mountain tracks. Only a few Turks and Arabs were captured, but the action marked the end of the campaign in the Sinai.In February 1917,
4th Light Horse Brigade reformed and the 11th Light Horse Regiment rejoined it. On13 August 1917 , Grant became commander of the3rd Light Horse Brigade and was promoted to temporary brigadier general. Then on13 September 1917 , he took over command of the 4th Light Horse Brigade, becoming a colonel and temporary brigadier general.The
Desert Mounted Corps began its most famous campaign on the night of 30 October. The tactics were similar to those at Rafa and Maghdaba, with the mounted troops making a surprise night march, enveloping the left and rear of the enemy's position atBeersheba and attacking it from the east while the infantry attacked frontally from the south. TheAnzac Mounted Division was held up atTel el Saba , the hill overlooking Beersheba, where the defenders held on until captured by theNew Zealand ers late in the day.Lieutenant General Chauvel ordered Grant to attempt a mounted attack on Beersheba, his goal being to take the town wells before they could be destroyed. The light horse did not carry swords but had sharpened their bayonet points some days before in anticipation of such a tactic. The 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments formed up with their squadrons in three lines, each about 300 to 500 metres apart. Wielding their bayonets like swords, they moved forward at a trot while the 13-pounders of the British Notts Battery suppressed Turkish machine guns. Grant initially rode in the lead, but dropped back to the reserve line once the column was headed in the correct direction so as to control their subsequent movements. Three Turkish batteries opposed the light horsemen but they moved forward so swiftly that the Turks could not range on them. The light horsemen swarmed over the Turkish positions and swept into the town, capturing all but two of the seventeen wells before they could be destroyed. For his part, Grant was personally decorated with a bar to his DSO by the commander-in-chief, General Sir
Edmund Allenby , the next day.Grant served as acting commander of the
Australian Mounted Division from15 December 1917 to2 January 1918 .During the raid on
Es Salt in May 1918, Grant's 4th Light Horse Brigade was given the task of guarding the flank. When the plan failed, it was on his brigade that the main Turkish blow fell. The light horsemen fought hard but the Turks subjected them to fierce artillery and machine gun fire, and were able to drive them from their positions. Grant managed to avoid being overrun, and was able to withdraw by night without issue. Nine of the twelve British guns supporting the brigade were lost. Grant was blamed for the loss of the guns and for faulty defensive positions.In his final campaign, Grant was ordered to capture the town of
Semakh , on the southern shores ofLake Tiberias . With only half his brigade available, Grant surprised the defenders with a quick night approach and a moonlight assault with drawn swords. Grant used his machine guns to reduce the enemy's fire. The garrison, half of whom were Germans, fought hard and the light horsemen had to fight from building to building, but the town was eventually captured.Grant commanded the
Australian Mounted Division from8 November 1918 to24 December 1918 . For his services, he was made a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1919New Year Honours List .Post war
He embarked for Australia on
29 April 1919 , where he commanded the 1st Cavalry Brigade from 1920 to 1925. He retired from the Army in 1928.After the war Grant returned to his property at Bowenville but he sold it in 1931 and moved to
Brisbane . Then in 1934 he purchased another property near Dirranbandi in southern Queensland.William Grant died suddenly from a heart attack on
25 May 1939 and was cremated with full military honours inBrisbane .ee also
List of Australian Generals References
*cite web
url=http://www.unsw.adfa.edu.au/%7Ermallett/Generals/index.html
title=Brigadier General William Grant
publisher=Australian Defence Force Academy
accessdate=2008-05-15
*Australian Dictionary of Biography
last= Hill
first= A. J.
authorlink=
year=1983
id=A090081b
title= Grant, William (1870 - 1939)
accessdate=2008-05-15Persondata
NAME=Grant, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Australian Army colonel and temporaryBrigadier General inWorld War I
DATE OF BIRTH=September 30 ,1870
PLACE OF BIRTH=Stawell, Victoria
DATE OF DEATH=May 25 ,1939
PLACE OF DEATH=
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