Current Information:

Enlisted-Hornsey

Sailly-sur-la-Lys Canadian Cemetery, France

The 7th Middlesex battalion reached the Western Front in 1915 by a roundabout route. In September they sailed to Gibraltar and there they stayed for five months after which they got back on a boat and sailed to France. There they joined 23 Brigade of 8th Division who were holding the line south of Armentières. In mid-May, 23 Brigade took over the line from Fleurbaix to Laventie with 7th Middlesex in the Fauquissart sector, the most peaceful part of a generally quiet sector. 7th Middlesex’s casualties were low compared with other battalions and it was not surprising that this earned them the sobriquet ‘Lucky Seventh’, a name that stuck until they reached the Somme in 1916, but that is another story.

Harold Grant however was not among the lucky ones. He was wounded, probably by shell fire, on 15th June and died from his wounds the next day.