Warrnambool soldier's war legacy remembered

Corporal John Murray Granter enlisted in 1915, a year after the war began and, after distinguishing himself on the battlefield, claimed military honours.

However, much of Corporal Granter’s story, and his medals, had been lost with the passage of time.

They were rediscovered as part of The Belgians Have Not Forgotten exhibition held in Warrnambool in December. As part of the event, RSL member Doug Heazlewood researched the role of south-west soldiers who fought in Belgium.

The Granter family was one of those to come forward to have their story told and, in the process, Corporal Granter’s sons Jack, 92, and Murray, 88, were re-united with their father’s medals, including his coveted Croix de Guerre, or war cross.

“Those two fellas hadn’t seen those items for over 60 years,” Mr Heazlewood said.

“Corporal Granter’s wife died in 1940, he remarried and moved to Portland and moved all his household effects to Portland and the two sons hadn’t seen them until a few weeks ago.

“I finally tracked them down in the Portland RSL and they loaned them back to me for the presentation and for the family to see.”

Mr Heazlewood traced Corporal Granter’s history as part of lunchtime lectures that complemented the Belgians Have Not Forgotten.

“He enlisted in the AIF quite early in the piece, but late enough to be doing it with his eyes open,” Mr Heazlewood said. 

“By July, somewhat of a stalemate had been reached in Gallipoli and plenty of casualty lists had appeared in the paper at home and people knew that this was no picnic.

“Those who might have believed it would be easy no longer did and people like Corporal Granter were putting themselves forward to be in for the long haul.”

Before the war, Corporal Granter served in the citizens’ military forces in Warrnambool, often then referred to as the militia, as well as working as a fitter and turner.

“He served in the artillery unit, the 46 Battery Australian Field Artillery, which was located here,” Mr Heazlewood said.

Corporal Granter soon found himself in Europe and was referred to as a “wheeler” in his records.

“In the artillery, private soldiers are called gunners and the next stop up, the non-commission rank, is called a bombadier, so I’m not quite sure what the term wheeler means and what the term corporal means to the artillery,” Mr Heazlewood said.

“I’ve got a feeling that his job may have been to service and keep the guns in action.

“(They were) very important people, guns that go out of action are guns that are totally useless.”

What set Corporal Granter’s service apart was the Belgian Croix de Guerre awarded to him 

Mr Heazlewood said the honour was bestowed on soldiers by the exiled Belgian government.

“The Belgian government almost didn’t exist through most of the war, all of Belgium was occupied,” he said.

“The only part of Belgium that was still at war was that part around Flanders that had been seized by the British expeditionary forces as a way of stopping the German advance and protecting the Channel ports. The Belgian government, which still existed in exile, gave bravery decorations to those who had served it well and Corporal Granter was one of them.”

Corporal Granter claimed the honour for always showing “great devotion to duty, conspicuously so on the 18^th and 19^th of October, 1917… on the Ypres front. The battery was under continued harassing fire and it was with the greatest difficulty that the guns were kept in action. (Corporal Granter) was always at the guns and it was through his effort that we were able to have six guns in action for operations,” the recommendation for the honour states.

A notification was then sent to his father back in Warrnambool.

“His medal was sent back to Australia and it was sent out from Central Army Records in Melbourne to his next of kin and this arrived before Corporal Granter got home. He arrived a little later in 1919,” Mr Heazlewood said. A diploma from the Belgian Ministry of Defence followed.

An article appearing in The Standard at the time sang Corporal Granter’s praises.

“His comrades are delighted at the success he has achieved and recent letters indicate that his Battery has taken part in the strenuous fighting and Corporal Granter has been through some most exiting adventures,” it read.

A later article documented further efforts on the battlefield. “Mr and Mrs J. Granter have received a letter from their Croix de Guerre hero, Jack wherein he tells of another laurel won through his gun bringing down an enemy aeroplane. He deplores the wasted labour of the poor French women, who have tilled the fields, and how the crops of oats and barley will be destroyed,” it read.

“Near by are numerous deserted homes, as the owners had had to flee suddenly – their chattels came in very usefully for our soldiers.”