Background
Percy Winslow Grant was born December 26, 1896 in Fredericton, New
Brunswick to Neville and Aurella Grant. According to marriage records,
Neville and Aurella married one another July 3, 1895. Together, they would
have four children, including Percy, occupying a residence in downtown
Fredericton at 332 Church Street while extended family lived at the Mouth
of Keswick. Percy was the eldest in the family followed by his two sisters,
Eva and Annabelle, and a younger brother named Julius, or “John” as he was
referred to in newspapers. According to the 1911 census, just prior to the
war, all of the family was still living at home as was Percy’s maternal
grandmother, Felicia Morse.
Although little is known of his childhood growing up in Fredericton, local
newspapers reveal that his family was well-known and that they had strong
connections in the community, referring to the father, Neville, as being
“one of the best coloured men in Fredericton”. While papers noted his
African-Canadian background, as highlighted in the language used at the
time in the Daily Gleaner, records show that Percy’s father worked as a
labourer and cleaner for the Canadian Pacific Railway while his mother
worked at home raising their family. Neville would pass away on October 12,
1912 after a battle with cancer. At the time of Percy’s formal enlistment
in Sussex, New Brunswick, September 28, 1915, with the 140th Battalion,
Private Grant’s attestation paper shows that he was working locally as a
labourer and that he had no prior military experience. While pictures
published by the Daily Gleaner in 1917 would highlight his African-Canadian
ancestry, Percy’s personnel records would describe him as having blue eyes,
brown hair, and a fair complexion while standing five feet five inches
tall. Just prior to leaving to go overseas, in early September 1916,
Private Grant named his mother in his will, a process records show he would
have to repeat four more times while in service with the Canadian
Expeditionary Force. Percy would never return home to his family.
Wartime Experience
On September 25, 1916, Private Percy Winslow Grant embarked from Halifax,
Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England, on the S.S. Corsican landing over a week
later on October 6. Upon arrival, Percy would be with 140th Battalion and
would spend the next four months training over the winter with the 13th
Reserve Battalion, RCR, and PPLC. According to his active service record,
on February 17, 1917, Private Grant was transferred to the 26th Battalion
from Saint John, New Brunswick, and would arrive at Le Havre, France a week
later. While fighting with the 26th Battalion, Percy would take part in the
Battle of Vimy Ridge two months later, widely considered a defining moment
for the Canadian Corps at a critical point in the war. Lasting
approximately four days, the Canadians would be fighting as one corps for
the first time and would experience over 11, 598 casualties. Despite this,
with the support of British units, all Canadian divisions would fight
together over four days and would earn a “storm trooper” reputation in
defeat of the German Army on Vimy Ridge that had been occupied since the
early part of the war.
While few details exist of Private Grant’s exact movements after the defeat
of the German Army on Vimy, he would remain with the 26th Battalion over
the next few months as the unit shifted down the slopes of Vimy continuing
to push forward, pressuring the German line. Percy would be with the
“Fighting 26th” near Lens on August 15, the beginning of the Battle of Hill
70 which would last until August 27, when according to his circumstances of
death record he would be killed and his body never recovered. A vicious
series of forward attacks and repelling of German counter-attacks,
Canadians would prevail at Hill 70 against five divisions of the German 6th
Army while suffering thousands of casualties. News of Percy’s death would
reach home August 29, 1917, while the Daily Gleaner would report his death
the following day revealing the significance of him being the first
African-Canadian New Brunswicker to be killed. Private Percy Winslow Grant
was twenty years old also illustrating the fact that he was only seventeen
when his enlisted, two years younger than what he had attested to. The
significance of Percy’s ancestry is important to highlight and remember so
that the stories being told about Canada’s past is inclusive of all
Canadians, including people of minorities, immigrants, African-Canadians,
and First Nation people.
Lest We Forget
Private Percy Winslow Grant is honoured and remembered on the Vimy Memorial
which is located in Vimy, France, northeast of Arras. According to the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Percy is one of approximately 11, 161
names etched into the Vimy Memorial for Canadians who died in France during
the First World War and who have no known grave. The memorial was designed
by Walter S. Alward.