Progressive Party, the Waterworks and Fire Brigade, the Libraries and Museum Committee, the City Redevelopment Committee, Coventry Savings Committee as part of the National Savings Movement, as well as membership of the Coventry Chamber of Commerce. Grindlay was generally regarded as a member of the Conservative opposition in the Council, though he described himself as a "Liberal in thought, but not a member of any political party". On 8 June 1946, Grindlay was present at the laying of the Coventry Levelling Stone, which marks the theodolite point for the rebuilding of Coventry city centre and from which all central building levels were subsequently taken. A symbol of Coventry’s regeneration following the bombardment of WWII, he laid the mortar for the ceremonial placement of the stone, and his name and office form part of the surrounding inscription. Grindlay was elected an Alderman in 1950. Mayor of Coventry During WWII, Grindlay was appointed Deputy Mayor of Coventry in 1940 under John Albert Moseley, and then elected Mayor of Coventry (later styled Lord Mayor) in 1941, becoming in full, The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Coventry, Councillor Alfred Robert Grindlay CBE, JP. He presided over Coventry throughout the Coventry Blitz when the city was devastated by aerial bombing campaigns, particularly the notorious November 1940 raid during which Coventry Cathedral was destroyed, and the April 1941 attack that saw 230 bombers attack the city, dropping 315 tons of high explosive and 25,000 incendiaries. Grindlay led much of the early work to rebuild the city following the bombing, and a large portion of the city owes its design origins to his directives. On 14 October 1942, in response to the war-time solidarity that had developed between the people of Coventry and Stalingrad (now Volgograd), in a telegram to the people of Stalingrad, Grindlay wrote:"The inhabitants of Coventry will never forget the sacrifices which were endured by Stalingrad. They express to you, the people of Stalingrad, their feelings of special sympathy and admiration for your great courage and iron determination to fight until victory." – A R Grindlay, 1942This close war-time relationship, fostered by Grindlay and the citizens of Coventry, resulted in the twinning of the two cities in 1944, becoming what became known as sister cities. This act of comradeship started a trend that spread across Europe and the rest of the world. Social engagement and philanthropy Grindlay was a keen sportsman and prominent figure