Guy Griffiths

Today we remember Guy Griffiths, who served with the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal Navy (RN). In 1941, his ship was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, leaving Guy with little hope.

Guy Griffiths audio file (MP4 23.94 MB)

Guy Griffiths audio script

75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War

Audio actuality

“Fellow Citizens, the War is over” — (The Hon J B Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia)

On the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, around one million Australians enlisted to serve from a population of just seven million. Many more on the home front rallied to the cause. Australia remembers Guy Griffiths who served with the Navy. In 1941, his ship the Repulse was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, leaving Guy with little hope.

Guy Griffiths

Well she was hit with five torpedoes which had opened by the old lady and she was taking in a lot of water and she had less than 30 degrees to port and I was still able to climb up the deck below the upper deck and get out of that scuttle porthole whichever you would like to call it and slide down the ships side. That was life. You know, we lost 500 chaps of a marvellous ship’s company out of the 1300, you can never forget, that ‘okay Griffiths, you were lucky’, think of the fellows you weren’t and their families. Tragic.

Saturday August 15 marks the 75th Anniversary of the End of the Second World War. Let’s pay our respects to that amazing generation of Australians.