GRIEVE, Athol Robert

Athol Grieve joined the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1927 as a Stoker 2nd Class, having previously been a member of the Royal Naval Reserve. He served ashore in HM Ships Philomel and Pembroke and at sea in HM Ships Repulse and Dunedin. In 1935 Grieve was serving in HMS Diomede when the ship was posted to Aden in response to the Abyssinian Crisis. He was part of the ship’s company transferred from Diomede to HMS Achilles in Britain in 1936 to bring her out to New Zealand. In 1938 he served ashore in Philomel.

Following the outbreak of the Second World War Grieve was posted to Achilles. During this time, Achilles was involved in patrolling New Zealand waters and searching for German raiders. In December 1942 Achilles joined a United States Navy task force operating in the Solomon Islands. On 5 January 1943, during a bombardment of Munda island, Achilles was hit by Japanese aircraft and a bomb exploded on the X-turret killing 13 men. Grieve joined HMNZS Gambia in September 1943, serving in the European theatre and the Indian Ocean. He returned to New Zealand in January 1945, serving in HMNZS Killegray and ashore in HMNZS Philomel until the end of the war. Grieve was discharged at the end of the war in August 1945 as a Stoker 1st Class.