In September 1940, he enlisted alongside his younger brother William in the French Liberation Army,[1] and became a non-commissioned officer in the Pacific Battalion trained by Captain Félix Broche.
[3] Following a dispute in the Assembly on 10 April, a fight broke out between Noël Ilari and Alfred Poroi.
[4] The duel ultimately did not occur, after Governor René Petitbon broadcast a radio message forbidding it and stationed police at the homes of the participants.
[4] After relations soured with Bambridge, the RPF lost its funding, and Grand grew closer to the Democratic Rally of the Tahitian People.
[1] In 1955 he made a deal with the RDPT to change the majority in the Assembly, a move which saw him elected its president.
[1] As Assembly president, he welcomed General de Gaulle during his private visit to Tahiti in 1956.