John Duncan Grant

Colonel John Duncan Grant, VC, CB, DSO

John Duncan Grant earned the Victoria Cross while leading an assault up an almost precipitous rock face against the fortified Tibetan position at Gyantse Jong. Wounded and hurled backwards during his first attempt to reach the breach, he climbed again and helped open the way into the fortress. His courage contributed decisively to the success of the assault, and his was the last Victoria Cross gazetted before the First World War.

Grant was born at Roorkee, India, on 28 December 1877, the son of Colonel Suene Grant of the Royal Engineers and Caroline Grant, née Napper. Educated in England at Manor House School, Hastings, Cheltenham College and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on the Unattached List on 22 January 1898. He entered the Indian Staff Corps in 1899 and was initially posted to the 30th Punjab Regiment. After service with the Malakand Force, he was promoted lieutenant on 22 April 1900 and transferred to the 44th Gurkha Rifle Regiment, renamed the 8th Gurkha Rifles in 1902.

In 1903 Grant accompanied the British expedition to Tibet. On 6 July 1904, during the assault on the formidable Gyantse Jong, he led the storming company from the shelter of the village towards the fortress. The attackers had to cross a bare, precipitous rock face with little cover while exposed to heavy fire from the curtain wall, flanking towers and buildings above. Tibetan defenders also hurled rocks and stones down the slope.

The approach to the breach was so narrow and steep that only one man could climb at a time, crawling on his hands and knees. Grant went first, followed by Havildar Karbir Pun of the 8th Gurkha Rifles. Near the top, Grant was wounded and hurled backwards. Karbir Pun was also wounded and fell approximately 30 feet down the rock. Despite their injuries, both men climbed again. Covered by rifle fire from the soldiers below, they reached the top, where Karbir Pun shot one of the defenders. Their example helped carry the assault to success.

Grant’s Victoria Cross citation concluded:

“The successful issue of the assault was very greatly due to the splendid example shown by Lieutenant Grant and Havildar Karbir Pun.”

Grant received the Victoria Cross, while Karbir Pun was awarded the Indian Order of Merit, First Class. Indian soldiers, including Gurkhas serving in the Indian Army, were not then eligible for the Victoria Cross. Eligibility was extended to Indian officers and soldiers by Royal Warrant in 1911. Grant’s award was announced in the London Gazette on 24 January 1905, and King Edward VII presented him with the Cross at Buckingham Palace on 24 July 1905.

On 19 January 1907, Grant married Kathleen Mary Freyer, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Johnston Freyer of the Indian Medical Service. They had two children, Hugh Duncan Grant and Madeline Grant. Grant was promoted captain with effect from 22 January 1907.

After attending Staff College at Quetta in 1908, Grant held several appointments in India. In November 1911 he arrived in New Zealand to serve on the Imperial General Staff in the Otago District, holding the temporary rank of major in the New Zealand Defence Forces.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Grant returned to India. He was appointed brigade major of the 35th Indian Infantry Brigade and sent to Mesopotamia with the force attempting to relieve the British and Indian garrison besieged at Kut. On 13 January 1916, during the Kut relief operations, he was seriously wounded in the thigh at Orah and evacuated to Britain, where he convalesced at Lady Ridley’s Hospital in London.

After recovering, Grant briefly served with II Anzac Corps in France during 1917 before returning to India. In May 1918 he travelled again to Mesopotamia as acting lieutenant-colonel commanding the 3rd Battalion, 11th Gurkha Rifles. His First World War medal entitlement comprised the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal with a Mention in Despatches emblem. The associated recognition was entered in his service record, although the War Office did not publish his name in the London Gazette.

Grant subsequently commanded the 3rd Battalion, 11th Gurkha Rifles during the Third Anglo-Afghan War and served in the frontier operations that followed. His India General Service Medal carried the clasps Afghanistan N.W.F. 1919, Mahsud 1919–20 and Waziristan 1919–21. His surviving medal group confirms all three clasps.

He later commanded a training battalion of the 13th Rajputs. For distinguished service in the field with the Waziristan Force during 1920–21, Lieutenant-Colonel Grant was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. The award, dated from 23 October 1921, was announced in the London Gazette on 19 December 1922.

Grant returned to the Gurkhas as commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 10th Gurkha Rifles. From 1925 to 1928 he served as Assistant Adjutant General at Army Headquarters in India and was promoted colonel in September 1926. He subsequently became Deputy Director of the Auxiliary and Territorial Force in India.

Grant retired from the Indian Army in 1929. In that year’s Birthday Honours he was appointed a Companion of the Military Division of the Order of the Bath for his long and distinguished service. The official notice identified him as Deputy Director of the Auxiliary and Territorial Force in India. In 1934 he became honorary colonel of the 10th Gurkha Rifles, an appointment he retained until 1947. During the Second World War, although already in his sixties, he served with the Home Guard in London.

Colonel John Duncan Grant, VC, CB, DSO, died at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, on 20 February 1967, aged 89. He was cremated at the Kent and Sussex Crematorium, where his ashes were placed in the Garden of Remembrance.

On 2 July 2014, Grant’s complete group of twelve orders, decorations and medals was sold by Morton & Eden for a hammer price of £340,000, or £408,000 including commission. Acquired by the Michael Ashcroft Trust, the group became part of the Lord Ashcroft Collection and is displayed on rotation in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum.