Role: amateur footballer, Ambulance Driver/Mechanic
Peter Gunn Grant (3 June 1879 – 10 December 1937) was a Scottish amateur football full back who played in the Scottish League for Motherwell, Hamilton Academical and Queen’s Park. In 1917, three years into the First World War, Grant joined the French Army’s Special Ambulance Service as a driver/mechanic. He was twice awarded the Croix de Guerre for “outstanding acts of bravery”. Grant died in the Castlecary rail accident on 10 December 1937.
At the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Peter Grant tried to enlist in the armed forces but, at forty years of age, was considered too old. After several more attempts Peter joined the French Army’s special ambulance service which was badly in need of driver/ mechanics. He served at the front until the Armistice and was twice awarded the Croix de Guerre for “outstanding acts of bravery”. His medals, clearly visible on the portrait photo of Peter, are on display in the Scottish Football Museum until 2018 following a loan agreement with his family. The background to the action photo of a French village shows the conditions in which Peter and his special ambulance unit were operating.
