Reginald Joseph Cowan Grant was born on 3 June 1914 in Woodville, a small town in New Zealand's North Island.

It subsequently moved to Manston, operating Supermarine Spitfire fighters from there during the period from June to July.

He achieved his first aerial victory on 21 June, when he shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter into the English Channel.

His keenness and devotion to duty have set an excellent example.In October, having flown on 84 operations, Grant was posted to No.

[4] At the time, the squadron, flying as part of the Kenley Wing, was engaged in fighter sweeps to northern France.

485 Squadron flew a mission escorting bombers attempting to disrupt the Channel Dash by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

[1][7] In March, Grant was promoted to flight lieutenant and the same month he shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighter inland of Calais while on a large scale sweep from Cap Gris Nez to Dunkirk; another Fw 190 was claimed as probably destroyed on the same sortie.

[9] The published citation read: Since being awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal, Squadron leader Grant has completed numerous sorties and has destroyed three enemy aircraft.

He had become separated from the flight of Spitfires he was leading on a sortie to attack shipping on canals in Holland and had encountered the seaplane, taking the opportunity to shoot it down.

[1][11] On 13 February 1943, the squadron took off for a mission across northern France and shortly after crossing the French coast the Spitfires sighted and engaged a force of Fw 190s.

[12] Grant completed his operational tour in March, by this time having carried out over 180 sorties and destroying at least seven enemy aircraft.

The citation for the bar read: This officer has completed a very large number of sorties and has displayed exceptional keenness, a fine fighting spirit and great devotion to duty.

On coming out of cloud at 1,000 feet (300 m), he bailed out but was too low for his parachute to open properly and fell to his death.