The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3735) Private Harold Ambrose Grant, 1st Battalion, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Meredith Duncan, the story for this day was on (3735) Private Harold Ambrose Grant, 1st Battalion, First World War.

3735 Private Harold Ambrose Grant, 1st Battalion
KIA 5 May 1917
Photograph: P06392.001

Story delivered 2 August 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Harold Ambrose Grant, who was killed fighting in France during the First World War.

Harold Grant was born in 1889, one of six children of George and Maria Grant of Whipstick on the New South Wales south coast. Known as “Ambrose” to his family and friends, he attended state school at Wyndham before working as a cattle farmer in the years before the war.

Grant enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in August 1915, and after a period of training at Holsworthy military camp he embarked for Egypt with a reinforcement group for the 1st Battalion. By the time he arrived the Gallipoli campaign had ended and the AIF was undergoing a period of reorganisation and training before deploying to the Western Front.

Having disembarked at Marseilles, the men of the 1st Battalion entered the line for the first time in the relatively quiet “nursery” sector near Armentières on the Franco–Belgian border. Here they patrolled no man’s land and carried out a number of trench raids. In July they transferred to the Somme, where Grant fought his first major action at Pozières. He spent the following months rotating in and out of the line as Australian troops drove towards the high ground of Mouquet Farm.

The 1st Battalion spent several weeks in Belgium recovering from its losses before returning to the Somme in October. It endured Europe’s coldest winter in decades, where the mud, rain, and frostbite proved far greater enemies than the German army.

As winter thawed the 1st Battalion participated in the advance that followed as German troops withdrew to their formidable defences along the Hindenburg Line. By April the Australian forces stood ready to assault at Bullecourt where, having repulsed a German counter-attack near Lagnicourt, men of the 1st Battalion were drawn into the fighting for the Hindenburg Line.

On 4 May 1917 troops of the 1st Battalion crossed no man’s land, where they were repeatedly hit by German bombing parties and flamethrower teams. Throughout the following days, and in spite of heavy casualties, the battalion repelled wave after wave of German counter-attacks. The fighting continued throughout the following days, resulting in the eventual capture of Bullecourt several weeks later.

Victory came at an immense cost. The Australians suffered more than 7,000 casualties, among them Private Grant, who was killed in action on 5 May 1917. Aged 28, he was buried near where he fell, and today rests at the Cabaret-Rouge British Cemetery. A small epitaph on his headstone reads, “In loving memory of our dear son Ambrose.”

Harold Ambrose Grant’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is just one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Private Harold Ambrose Grant, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Aaron Pegram
Historian, Military History Section