Arthur Gordon Grant (January 20, 1919 – June 12, 1943) was a Canadian professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

player who played as a

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

in the Scottish National League for the Ayr Raiders. He also appeared non-professionally for the Winnipeg Monarchs.

Early life and hockey career

Grant was born on January 20, 1919, in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

to Keith Gordon and Marjory Grant. He joined the Winnipeg Falcon-Rangers of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League in 1937, and played one season there before transferring to the Winnipeg Monarchs. Emigrating to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1939, he played for the Ayr Raiders and

Fife Flyers Fife Flyers is the oldest professional ice hockey club in the UK, established in 1938. The Flyers play their home games at Fife Ice Arena in Kirkcaldy which has a capacity of just over 3000 (seated and standing). They joined the EIHL in 2011 ...

before joining the armed forces. He married in September 1942.

Military career and death

Grant served in the

Royal Winnipeg Rifles The Royal Winnipeg Rifles (R Wpg Rif) are a Primary Reserve one-battalion infantry regiment of the Canadian Army. Nicknamed the "Little Black Devils", they are based at Minto Armoury in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Royal Winnipeg Rifles are part of 3r ...

for 6 months as a private. In civilian life, he worked as a

clockkeeper A clockkeeper, sometimes seen as clock keeper, refers to a form of employment seen prevalently during Middle Age Europe involving the tracking of time and the maintaining of clocks and other timekeeping devices. However, the practice and its appea ...

during his time in Scotland. Moving back to Canada in July 1940, Grant enlisted in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

on February 26, 1941, and was assigned to pilot training, completing the course in January 1943 and being transferred to England thereafter. On June 12, 1943, Pilot Officer Grant took off from

RAF Leeming Royal Air Force Leeming or RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it ...

Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its orig ...

''JB972'' to conduct a raid on

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

. Southwest of

Rheinberg Rheinberg () is a town in the district of Wesel, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. north of Moers and south of Wesel. It comprises the municipal districts of Rheinberg, Borth, Budberg, an ...

, Nazi Germany, the aircraft was shot down, killing 3 of the crew members aboard, including Grant. The remaining 4 crew members became prisoners of war, and Grant and the other 2 crew members killed were listed as

presumed dead A presumption of death occurs when a person is thought to be dead by a group of people despite the absence of direct proof of the person's death, such as the finding of remains (e.g., a corpse or skeleton) attributable to that person. Such a pre ...

in October 1943. The 3 dead crew had been buried at Monchengladbach after the crash, but were disinterred in 1949 and reburied at Rheinberg War Cemetery.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Art 1919 births 1940s missing person cases 1943 deaths Canadian ice hockey goaltenders Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in Scotland Winnipeg Monarchs players Fife Flyers players Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Canadian Air Force officers Canadian World War II pilots Canadian military personnel killed in World War II Aviators killed by being shot down Burials at Rheinberg War Cemetery Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Germany Ice hockey people from Montreal Military personnel from Montreal Canadian Army personnel of World War II Royal Winnipeg Rifles soldiers