Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Memorial – Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Pilot Officer Alfred Frederick Grant is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Pilot Officer Alfred Frederick Grant is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Photo of ALFRED FREDERICK GRANT – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Group Photo – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Photo of ALFRED FREDERICK GRANT – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Photo of ALFRED FREDERICK GRANT – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Photo of ALFRED FREDERICK GRANT – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Id card – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Document – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Document – Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me

Photo of Alfred Frederick Grant – Sgt. Alfred Frederick Grant, RCAF, youngest son of Charles Edward Grant and Iley Rebeca Bucknell, born July 1, 1925, in Massey, Ontario, died May 12, 1944, near Herenthout, Belgium. He enlisted in the RCAF in October 1942 in North Bay, trained in Canada, shipped to England in August 1943 and was assigned to RAF Squadron 630 in late December 1943. He was an air gunner on Lancaster I ME 737 LE-S that took off at 2228 hrs May 11, 1944 from 51 Base at East Kirkby Airfield, Lincolnshire for a night raid against the marshaling yards at Bourg-Leopold, Belgium. Unknown to the crew of ME 737, the raid was aborted at the last minute and, while they remained circling at 9,000 feet waiting for instructions from the Master Bomber, the plane was attacked and shot down by a Junkers 88 fighter equipped with upward-firing guns, a technique unsuspected by bomber crews at the time. There is a first-person description of the attack, which killed 5 of the crew of 7, by one of the survivors, Flight Engineer Sgt. Roy Witham, RAF, in "Silksheen - The History of East Kirkby Airfield", by Geoff D. Copeman, 1989, 1993. Midland Counties Publications, ISBN 0 904597 84 9 (Chapter 4, p 26). Alfred is buried in Joint Grave IVa, Schoonselhof Cemetery, Anterwerpen, Belgium.

Cemetery Entrance – Entrance … Schoonselhof Cemetery … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Cross of Sacrifice – Cross of Sacrifice located in Plots 4 and 4A … Schoonselhof Cemetery … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Cemetery – View of Plot 3 … Schoonselhof Cemetery … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Grave Marker – Grave marker … Schoonselhof Cemetery … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens