Hunt for descendants of 'most courageous' soldier

1 hour ago

Alice CunninghamSuffolk

News image — A Suffolk historian is working to find out more about a soldier from Hintlesham

Getty Images A soldier stands with fixed bayonet across No Man's Land amid barbed wire obstacles during a battle on the Western Front in France during World War One. — A Suffolk historian is working to find out more about a soldier from Hintlesham

A historian is working to trace the descendants of a World War One soldier who he believes is "arguably the most courageous man ever born and raised in Suffolk".

Several years ago Gerald Main started researching the names on Hintlesham's war memorial and came across, John Samuel Gant.

Gant, known as Jack, had been born in Whatfield in 1887 and lived in Hintlesham before he emigrated to Australia. He joined the Australian Infantry in 1916 and served in France, where he earned the Military Medal for Gallantry.

Main, a former BBC broadcaster who lives in Suffolk, hopes to find Gant's descendants, as part of a project to create a lasting tribute to him in Hintlesham.

A man with grey hair smiles at the camera. He wears a pink shirt and is in front of a white background. — Gerald Main wants to hear from anyone who might have information about John Samuel Gant

Main discovered Gant had worked as an assistant shepherd in Suffolk before he saved up £17, left his family behind and sailed over to Canungra in Queensland, Australia, where he got a job as a farm labourer.

"Perhaps his next big courageous decision was when they heard about the Great War, he decided that he would do his bit and sign up for the Australian Infantry and become a Commonwealth soldier," Main told BBC Radio Suffolk's Sarah Lilley.

He said: "He signed up and ended up back on a ship. He must have been sick to death of sailing around the world by that stage."

Hintlesham War Memorial/Gerald Main Side by side images of a war memorial in a churchyard. The image on the left is a close up of the memorial with the engraved words: "To the glory of God and in loving memory of the men of Hintlesham whose lives were laid down for us in the Great War. 1914 -1919. 1939 -1945. Their names inscribed hereon shall live forever in hope of a glorious resurrection." The image on the left is the memorial from a distance. — The war memorial in Hintlesham features John S Gant's name on it

In 1916 Gant sailed to northern France to serve on the Western Front, but the following year he was shot and badly wounded.

After spending three months in a London hospital, he was sent back to France and in 1918, was involved in an attack on a very important part of the German trench defences during the Battle of Mont Saint-Quentin.

Gant was a company runner and, for 18 hours non-stop he ran across the battlefield, avoiding machine gun fire, to transfer messages between the different companies.

Main said he had been "central" to the success of the attack and was awarded his medal as a result. However Gant was shot again later that year and died of pneumonia just eight days after the armistice.

In an article about Gant by the Canowindra Historical Society and Museum, it suggests it was unlikely that he would have known of his commemoration before he died. His medal was sent to his father in 1920 but was returned to London unclaimed.

Gant was buried at Ste. Marie Cemetery in France and is commemorated on the Australian National Memorial in Canberra.