William Oluf Grut was born in Denmark, but of Swedish nationality. He volunteered for the Malayan Volunteer Air Force as well as for the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. William Olof Grut was born on 2 November 1907 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was of Swedish nationality, though. He was among the men working for United Plantations in Malaysia before the war, who was trained as a pilot and who volunteered for the Malayan Volunteer Air Force as the Japanese turned on South-East Asia. He made a narrow escape from Malaysia and arrived in Sydney on NIAGARA in the company of his wife Annetta Mary and son Nils Peter on 1 June 1940. He enlisted for the Royal Australian Air Force on 12 September 1942 in Melbourne. He was discharged on 30 April 1945 at which point he was attatched to No. 1 Aicraft Performance Unit holding the rank of Flight Lieutenant WW2 Nominal Roll
