Death of Major George Grant aged 100

MAJOR George Grant MBE, w h o w a s awarded the Military Medal for his bravery in the Italian campaign of the Second World War, has died just weeks before his 101st birthday.

Born and brought up in Tayport, George was one of five children.

He endured family tragedies with the death of his sister in childhood and the loss of one of his brothers, who was killed while building railways.

Another brother, Ronald, was a victim of the 1959 Mona lifeboat tragedy. He was the coxswain of the Broughty Ferry lifeboat which capsized as it went to the aid of the drifting North Carr lightship.

George joined the 6th Battalion, The Black Watch at the age of 17 and was sent to France two years later at the outbreak of the Second World War.

He was rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk after the Germans forced his unit back to the French coast.

Soon after, George was sent to North Africa with the 51st Highland Division and there he escaped death after being shot by an enemy sniper – the bullet passing millimetres from what would have been a fatal outcome.

He then fought in the Italian campaign from 1943 and his gallantry at the Battle of Monte Cassino in the first half of 1944 saw him honoured with the Military Medal.

George and his battalion were involved in an attack on May 14 in a determined bid to break German resistance. George received his Military Medal from King George VI later that year.

He retired from the Army in 1962, but maintained a military involvement after assuming a role with the local cadet force.

His dedication to the Army Cadet Force was recognised with the award of the MBE in 1983 for services to the organisation.

Major Grant, who lived on Rodd Road, Dundee, was predeceased by his wife Jean in 1998.

The couple were married in Tayport in 1946. He is survived by their children George Jr, Rosalyn and Nigel, and two grandsons.