Naval Tribute to Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths AO DSO DSC RAN (Retired). 15 March 2024 at the Navy Chapel, HMAS Kuttabul delivered by Vice Admiral Peter Jones AO DSC RAN (Retired)
Good Morning,
We all have our own memories of Guy Griffiths.
For Rear Admiral Rothesay Swan, who is with us today, it is of Guy being the Chief Cadet Captain at the Royal Australian Naval College and then again as the midshipmen’s training officer in HMAS Shropshire.
For some, it is of Guy Griffiths being their outstanding Captain. They remain, I am sure, immensely proud of him and of their ship.
For some, it is Guy Griffiths as a dynamic admiral, with strategic vision, who kept pushing for change. When my classmates and I, first saw Guy Griffiths when we were midshipmen, he was the most impressive looking admiral we had ever seen.
For some of you here this morning, it is Guy Griffiths the war veteran, who, well into his 90s, would lead the Navy contingent at Sydney’s Anzac Day March. In that vein, Guy will always be remembered for the manner in which he would speak most eloquently and poignantly of his and his shipmates wartime experiences. Equally, Guy could also be the most dogged and persuasive of advocates for the welfare of veterans and the preservation of the Navy’s heritage.
For some, it is Guy Griffiths, the loving patriarch of the family.
For all of us it is the courteous gentleman, who belied his age and the weight of his experiences.
But before all these many facets of his character developed, over his 101 years, Guy Griffiths was a country boy. Indeed, when I wrote the first chapter of his biography, about his childhood and his ancestors, Guy said “just call the chapter A Country Boy because that is who I am.”
Guy always maintained that affinity with the land and the bonds with his childhood friends. He was also, of course, an unusually good judge of Hunter Valley reds.
Those early years in the Hunter Valley shaped Guy’s outlook, his resilience, his fascination with the practical use of machinery and of his love of sport and fitness. When Guy became Chief Cadet Captain at the Naval College he said the country boys felt a sense of pride that one of their own had reached that lofty position, over the boys from the city, who had the benefit of better schooling. Classmate, and later Senator, David Hamer, who had been to Geelong Grammar, said Guy’s selection was a natural one. Rear Admiral Andrew Robertson, then a first year cadet midshipman said Guy by his bearing and achievement was someone to aspire to be like. Guy Griffiths was to be that role model for many, throughout this 42 years service and beyond.
This is not the time or place to recount in detail Guy’s remarkable service to his Navy and the nation. But there are some threads that run through his professional life that are notable.
The first, was his deep interest in things mechanical, technology generally and how developments in that field could be practically applied. Guy related that while initially he hoped to be an engineering officer, his tour of the old destroyer HMAS Vampire in 1938 convinced him to become a seaman officer. He found that technology and its application pervaded nearly every aspect of the Navy. Guy’s ambitions in the Service broadened commensurately.
Guy’s optimist embrace of technology would colour his outlook to the Navy, and in later years, the need for the Navy to change with the times.
That openness Guy had for doing things better for the benefit of the Service, meant that he was particularly receptive to practices in other navies. Notably, he took from the Royal Navy, the importance of staff courses for officer development. To Guy, the United States Navy, which he first encountered in 1944, was a complete revelation. He drew from that well for ideas for the next 25 years.
As a Commodore, Guy approached his loan service with the Royal Malaysian Navy in the same manner. He looked for various ways he could assist the young Commodore Thana Thanabalasingham and the Malaysian Navy more generally.
As a result of that receptiveness to new ideas and practices, Guy Griffiths never felt the ‘Old Navy’ was better than ‘Today’s Navy’.
Another key quality of Guy Griffiths was his ability to develop as an individual and a leader. Early in Guy’s career, he could be particularly strict with subordinates, as he later freely admitted. Rothesay Swan recalled one of the positives of being at Action Stations for long periods of time in the Battle of Leyte Gulf was Guy was not able to task the midshipmen with extra training.
Guy’s leadership journey was not just a process of emulating the great captains he served under – William Tennant in Repulse, John Collins and Geoffrey Nichols in Shropshire and David Harries in the Sydney. It was finding his own authentic path. Guy acknowledged the great debt he owed to the huge amount of knowledge and naval lore shared by many sailors he served with, who saw potential in him.
The final notable quality, was Guy Griffiths’ undemonstrative bravery. As a 22 year old Lieutenant he was responsible in Shropshire for directing the anti-aircraft defences on the port side of the ship during the many kamikaze attacks then befell the ship in the Philippines Campaign. Guy, said there was fear, but it was mixed with determination in facing kamikazes, which were a completely new phenomenon. The citation for Guy’s Distinguished Service Cross commended his “marked leadership, ability and courage.” When recalling his service in Shropshire he also talked about the professionalism and teamwork exhibited onboard. Qualities he always prized.
Twenty two years later, in a similarly undemonstrative but resolute way, Captain Guy Griffiths manoeuvred HMAS Hobart to safety as it was straddled by numerous North Vietnamese artillery shells. Guy’s professionalism, and the confidence he demonstrated in his officers and sailors, inspired them through their eventful wartime deployment. Since Guy’s passing there have been many messages on social media, Keith Turvey from the Hobart summed up the sentiment when he said of Guy,
“You affected so many lives of the men that had that privilege of serving with you and knowing you. What a great man.”
Guy’s legacy extends beyond his sea going achievements. As Chief of Naval Personnel, in the face of some resistance, Guy was able to implement an array of sweeping reforms to officer training and personnel management. On Guy’s retirement in 1980, a future Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ian MacDougall wrote to Guy to say, “I always felt that whatever your command or position, only good for the RAN could result. Guy’s reforms are still benefitting the Navy today.
When I first approached Guy to write his biography, he demurred saying he did not have a remarkable career. Yet, the outpouring of sorrow and expressions of high regard by so many people, both within and beyond the Navy, in Australia and beyond our shores, tells a vastly different story.
Guy Griffiths was a most consequential admiral and holds a special place in the annals of the Royal Australian Navy.
Admiral Thana Thanabalasingham in his message of condolence said Guy Griffiths “had a long and illustrious life which no one can match.” Our Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond wrote, “Rear Admiral Guy Griffiths is irreplaceable.”
Guy Griffiths will always remain in our memory and in our hearts.
As was in keeping with his modest nature, Guy wished to leave us quietly, and without fuss, as he would, in leaving a crowded anchorage in the twilight of the day. He deserved that quiet passage to Carla and his old shipmates.
Rest in Peace Guy
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Eulogy. Guy Richmond Griffiths. 15 March 2024 at the Navy Chapel, HMAS Kuttabul. By Erica Griffiths (daughter).
We do indeed all have our own memories of time spent with Dad, – and what I remember most about him was his genuine optimism and positive outlook on life, which is astonishing really, after spending all those years at war.
Dad was 40 years old when I came along, already fully immersed in his demanding career, being promoted to Captain just over 6 months after my birth, shortly afterwards being appointed to command and commission the Destroyer Hobart while in America for 12 months, before being deployed again in early 1967 to participate in the Vietnam War. Returning home briefly for Christmas of 1966, he didn’t get quite the welcome home he expected when my three-year old self – not recognising him, defiantly shouted “Who is that man Mummy? Tell him to go away!” Not quite the greeting he expected from his darling 3-year-old daughter!
They were certainly different times. Mum always remembered the navy wives ringing her to ask for news of HMAS Hobart and the ship’s company, to which she could only reply, “I just know what I heard on ABC radio.”
However, once Dad retired from the Navy we were able to spend a lot more time together beginning with Mum and I accompanying him to Nepal in 1987 to help fulfill his lifelong dream of trekking in the Himalaya. It was not just a short hike; no it was a 27-day trek for Dad at the young age of 64.
Through that trip and other holidays spent together – I really got to know him well, clearly seeing his enthusiasm for life; his motivation to always try new things; and his ability to never let age be a barrier. In fact I strongly believe that Dad always felt young. Up to the age of 100 he always answered that standard question of ‘how are you?’ with his standard response of “not bad for a young bloke.”
I remember asking him once about a funeral he attended for a dear family friend when he was about 85 years old. “Oh it was ok he said, but the church was full of all these old people!” “Old people” I said, “you mean like you.” “Oh no, not like me – really old people, people in their 90s!”
When Dad had his pacemaker fitted at 95 years of age, he still had one question for cardiologist, so as he was leaving he asked, “oh by the way, what is the battery life on this thing?” Ten years came the reply. “Ooh that’ll do” said Dad.
He never let anyone tell him he was too old for something. After an unusual couple of fainting falls Dad had his driving licence temporarily suspended when he was 98. But he hung onto that word temporary, faithfully took his new prescription, looked after himself and sure enough he got his license back at 99!
I remember thinking – ‘thank goodness Dad lived to be 101, because at 90 he still had so many projects in life that he wanted to complete. But I can happily report that he achieved them all, finishing a comprehensive Griffiths family history volume, a 50-year project for Dad; travelling to the UK with my brother and myself at age 100 to attend a Repulse/Prince of Wales Reunion; and speaking to a large extended family reunion in his beloved Hunter Valley in the same year.
Right to the end Dad’s determination was strong. After helping him carefully select a shirt, tie and possibly a jacket for his 101stbirthday gathering, my brother arrived first at his care home facility to see Dad dressed in nothing less than his tuxedo! He had obviously convinced the staff that this would be the only outfit he would be wearing!
My hope is that not only will Dad remain in our memory and in our hearts – but also that some of his optimism and positive outlook on life has rubbed off on all of us, a sentiment beautifully expressed in these verses by Maya Angelou:
When great trees fall, rocks on distant hills shudder, lions hunker down in tall grasses, and even elephants lumber after safety.
And when great souls die, after a period peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly.
Spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration. Our senses, restored, never to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed. We can be. Be and be better. For they existed.
RIP Sir
from Sandgate Sub-Section, Naval Association of Australia.