ABOARD the HMAS Ipswich during World War II, 18-year-old sailor Allan Grimmer could not have pictured the Naval service he would deliver for his country or that he would still be around to reflect on that service as he turned 100.
The veteran celebrated his birthday with a belated event at the Ipswich RSL Sub-Branch last Tuesday, after bringing up the milestone in March.
“I certainly didn’t think I was going to make it to 100 and I think I’m more surprised than anyone else that I got this far,” Mr Grimmer said.
“I don’t know how I did it or why I should still be alive over anyone else, but you take what’s given to you in this life and be thankful for it.
“My life has been fragmented of course, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and you put it all together and it’s a long, long time!”
Mr Grimmer signed up to the Navy in 1942 and served on the HMAS Ipswich, including assisting in relieving the Greek island of Kastellorizo following the Italian surrender in 1943.
Later, the ship was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet and was present in Tokyo Bay on VJ Day in 1945.
Ipswich RSL Sub Branch deputy president George Piccone said Mr Grimmer was a natural storyteller.
“Talking to him is like talking to history, and he is smart as a tack,” Mr Piccone said.
Mr Grimmer has written a book on his experiences to pass down to future generations and so the events of the war can be remembered.
“You can’t look back in life and think ‘boy, how did I ever put up with that?’ because at the time those things were the norm and there was nothing else,” he said. “You have to roll with the punches and just go with the flow.
“You could look back in sorrow that we had to put up with all those things that people don’t have to put up with now.
“But you change with the times and accept things with how they are.”
