George’s courage

Ex-major’s surprise at seeing his pic in Tele

GEORGE Grant keeps things quiet these days, so he was a little surprised to hear his picture had been in the Tele and people were asking about him.

Particularly as the photo had been taken way back in 1954.

The i mage i n question was a stirring photo of The Black Watch parading through Dundee, which appeared in the “Back in the Day” feature recently.

None were marching more proudly than the decorated NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) with his scarlet sash and many must have wondered if he’d long since marched off into history.

The answer is no. Major George Grant MBE, MM, is very much alive and kicking. He’s 97 now and surprised at the interest the picture has received.

The parade marked the regiment leaving for a tour of British Guyana and George was a warrant officer at the time, serving with the 2nd battalion.

And, as the medals on his chest suggest, he’d seen a fair bit of soldiering.

“I was from Tayport and joined the 6th battalion, as a territorial, in 1937,” he recalls.

“When the war started in 1939, we were sent off to France.”

The German blitzkrieg forced his unit back to the coast and he was one of those rescued from the bulletriddled beaches of Dunkirk.

He was soon shipped out to North Africa with the 51st Highland Division and then on to the Italian Campaign.

It was at the Battle of Monte