John Gildroy Grant VC (26 August 1889 – 25 November 1970) was a non-commissioned officer in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award of the British Commonwealth for gallantry "in the face of the enemy", during the First World War.
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Ae a 29 year old sergeant in the 1st Battalion, Wellington Infantry Regiment, New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War when he performed a deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
On 1 September 1918 near Bancourt, France, the leading waves of the battalion on reaching a crest of high ground, found that a line of enemy machine-gun posts offered a serious obstacle to further advance. The company, however, advanced against these posts under point-blank fire, and when about 20 yards (18 m) away Sergeant Grant, closely followed by a comrade, rushed ahead of his platoon, entering the centre post and demoralising the garrison so that the platoon were able to mop up the positions. In the same manner he rushed the post on the left and the remaining posts were quickly occupied and cleared by his company.
He later achieved the rank of lieutenant. Died aged 81.
Grave/memorial at Golders Cemetery, Waikumete, New Zealand. Block M. Section 9. Plot 95. Headstone. His Victoria Cross was displayed at the QEII Army Memorial Museum, Waiouru, New Zealand. On Sunday 2 December 2007 it was one of nine Victoria Crosses that were among a hundred medals stolen from the museum.[1] On 16 February 2008 New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$300,000 reward offered by Michael Ashcroft and Tom Sturgess.[2]