William Grant from Alloa

[Chrissie]

I have recently acquired my g-grandfathers WW1 pocket bible and tucked inside is a newspaper cutting, a photo of "the late Lieut William Grant, killed in action"  I wondered who this man was and what his significance to my g-grandfather was.

My g-grandfather, although a New Zealander actually served in the Australian army.  From the bit of information I could glean from the story on the back of the cutting William Grant also appears to have served in the Australian army.

I searched the Commonwealth War Graves site and there was only one Lieut W Grant and his next of kin was given as James Grant, Viewforth, Alloa Scotland.

I have searched the Australian Archives site and ordered this mans records, the little bit of info on line states that he was born in Alloa, but I have no idea when.  It is difficult to judge his age from the photo, they all looked older than they were in those days!

Does anyone have any idea where else I can look to find information?  Are there Scottish census returns that might give me more information?  Is there anyone on this site from Alloa that could see if he appears on a local war memorial?

I imagine that I will never discover just why his photo was so important that it was possibly carried around from Williams date of death in 1916 until my g-grandfather came home in 1918 but I would like to know more about this man.

Thanks
Christine in NZ

[mairi]

Hi Chrissie,

I live in Alloa and will look at the war memorial at the bottom of my street to see if I can find anything out for you. There is a local group who may be able to help further; link follows.

http://www.csfhs.org.uk/

Mairi.

[Chrissie]

Hi Mairi,
Thanks for that offer.  I have found out some more about the family and have been given the address of some descendants of James.  I sent a letter yesterday with a copy of the photo and am now waiting (impatiently) for a reply.

Cheers

Christine in NZ