Guy Griffiths, veteran, served in the Royal Australian Navy video
Running time
1 min 12 sec
Date made
Place made
Australia
Copyright
Department of Veterans' Affairs
Guy Griffiths, now 96 talks about his experience when his ship Repulse is sunk by Japanese torpedoes off the Malayan coast in 1941
Transcript
Well she was hit with I think five torpedoes, which had opened up the old lady and she was taking a lot of water and she had listed to 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 like to call it, and slide down the ship’s side. That was life.
We lost 500 chaps of a marvellous ship's company out of the 1,300. You can never forget. Okay, Griffiths, you were lucky. Think of the fellows who weren't and their families. Tragic.
