Part 2

Continuing the story of a Yamba man’s grandfather who saw serious service as a Royal Marine in Africa well over a century ago.

During one particularly gruelling forced march during the victorious Sudan campaign, Francis Glencross-Grant was in a party of fellow Marines under the charge of a young lieutenant. The lieutenant collapsed from the intense African heat of the day and Francis is recorded as having gone to the officer’s aid and revived him. Thankful for this assistance, the lieutenant promised in writing that he would return the favour at any time. Interestingly, that young man later became Admiral Earl Beatty of Royal Navy fame.

According to my Yamba informant, after playing his part in the Omdurman victory, Francis was also involved in yet another historical event over the Sudan’s principal city of Khartoum. This former British and Arab settlement had previously seen the death of its Governor, Britain’s Major-General Charles Gordon, at the hands of the Dervishes after Gordon and his men had endured a long and dangerous siege.

Still as determined as ever to do his duty, Francis was a member of the Marines’ brigade that later made a dash up the Nile towards Egypt, only to find them clashing with the French Legionnaires already in possession of the area. The Marines managed, however, to raise their Union Jack in defiance of the French who decided it was best to retire and leave the British forces alone.

After the Sudan wars, Francis saw service in Somaliland before being drafted into service as a naval gunner in South Africa at the start of the two Boer Wars before the turn of the century. Here, he saw a great deal of action against the Afrikaner Boers.

One such event was his participation in the bloody ‘Relief of Ladysmith’, an English town under siege in Natal Province. Another was the part he played in the Battle of Tugela Heights, together with many other British defence engagements against their Boer enemies of the time.

Francis’ family history reveals that he also came in contact with former British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, who, as a young man worked as a foreign correspondent in war-racked South Africa. At one stage, Churchill was taken prisoner by the Boers and was jailed in Pretoria but he managed to undertake what is now regarded as one of the greatest escapes during periods of hostility.

The hero of his Yamba grandson, Francis returned to Britain after years of hard service at sea and on land — and after taking part in the highly dangerous man-to-man warfare in and around Africa in those days. For his courage and loyalty, he was awaded the silver Dongala Medal, the Sudan Medal and the Boer War Medal with nine bars.

When Queen Victoria died in 1901, Francis was reportedly part of a Royal Marine contingent hastily called on to convey the Queen’s coffin on the gun carriage taking her to her funeral. A minor mishap was experienced when the horses pulling the gun carriage became lame or stopped due to ice on the road.

Some years later after migrating to Australia, Francis told relatives that this particular Royal experience was “one of the most inspiring days of my life.”

After being stationed in this country as a petty officer 1st class, he was discharged from the Royal Marines in 1910 and was awarded five Good Conduct Badges for his loyal enrolment from 1894.

During his many seafaring and Royal Marine days, Francis also saw service in the Pacific Ocean, visiting the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides. It is believed that he also may have taken part in the Relief of Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.

After entering civilian life, this man of the sea returned to the land by securing a farm at Colinrobbie in the Riverina district north of Narrandra,New South Wales, after marrying his English sweetheart, Rachel Harrison, and raising a family.