Guy Griffiths – The Life & Times of an Australian Admiral. By Peter Jones. Australian Scholarly Publishing, Melbourne 2021.
Reviewed by Greg Swinden
It took Peter Jones some time to convince Guy Griffiths that his story was worth telling and then many more hours of interviews with him, and many of his peers to create this book. Peter also spent time checking the records and documents held in the National Archives and the Australian War Memorial to produce this excellent book. The story is not just of Guy Griffiths as it also follows his 1937 naval college classmates, the ships and units Guy served in and thus, in many ways, it is also a story of the RAN from the late 1930s to the early 1980s.
Guy grew up in the Hunter Valley, NSW, joining the RAN College as one of the 13 year old boys of the 1937 entry. His classmates were high achievers with Geoffrey Willis ultimately becoming Chief of Naval Staff in 1979 and John Goble reaching the rank of commodore. Four were decorated for bravery during World War II, including Guy, and David Hamer who later went onto become a Liberal Senator for Victoria. Three of his classmates were unfortunately killed in action while a fourth was very badly wounded. Another survived the loss of HMAS Perth and spent over three years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese. Overall they were a tough, determined and very capable group of young men.
As a midshipman Guy survived the sinking of the battlecruiser HMS Repulse; in which his classmate Robert Davies was killed and was late awarded a posthumous mention in dispatches. Guy went on to serve in the cruiser HMAS Shropshire, during the heavy fighting at Lingayen Gulf, where he was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross, and deployed twice to the Korean War in HMA Ships Sydney and Anzac. He took up his first command, HMAS Parramatta, in 1961 and then went on to command the new guided missile destroyer HMAS Hobart in the Vietnam War.
Hobart’s deployment on the ‘gun-line’ in 1967 saw Guy awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his command and leadership and the ship was received a US Navy commendation. Guy served on exchange with the Royal Malaysian Navy, commanded the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (flagship of the RAN) and ended his career as a rear admiral in early 1980. On retiring he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services as Chief of Naval Personnel. Guy then had a lengthy career after the navy working for companies, veterans affairs organisations and not-for-profit activities. Unlike some naval biographies his family life is also described in detail and the strong support he received from his wife Carla (whose own family history is a very interesting story on its own).
While Guy Griffiths was a high performing naval officer he had his faults and was considered by many of his juniors as too ‘stiff’, unapproachable at times and with a fixation on dress and bearing. In producing the biography Guy reflected there were many thing he could have done differently and more effectively.
Overall, Peter Jones has produced a highly readable, interesting and informative biography of one the RAN’s more highly decorated and capable officers. In doing so he has also shone a light on the history of the RAN, in both war and peace, during the time of Guy Griffiths career.
