Roland Griffiths-Marsh


Roland Griffiths-Marsh, was an Australian soldier and author.

Early life

Griffiths-Marsh was born in Penang, then part of the British Straits Settlements, on 22 April 1923 and grew up in Hai Phong, Indochina. On 29 February 1940, at the age of sixteen, he enlisted with the Second Australian Imperial Force, taking his older brother's name and date of birth to ensure entry.

Second World War

Griffiths-Marsh served in the 2/8th Battalion in North Africa and New Guinea, before being recruited to Z Special Unit, a specialist reconnaissance and sabotage unit that operated behind Japanese lines in South-East Asia. He served in the Semut I operation in North Borneo, and was parachuted behind enemy lines to conduct guerrilla warfare with the assistance of local fighters in early June 1945. He was awarded the Military Medal for his service with Z Special Unit, the award was gazetted on 6 March 1947, dated 2 November 1945. The original recommendation for the award states:

Later life

Griffiths-Marsh wrote about his wartime experiences in his 1990 book Sixpenny Soldier. That same year the book was awarded both The Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-fiction, and the Colin Roderick Award, awarded annually for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life" along with the H.T. Priestley Memorial Medal. This book was republished under the title I was Only Sixteen in 1995.
Papers by Griffiths-Marsh about the training of his native guerrilla force and service in North Borneo are held at the Australian War Memorial.
Griffith-Marsh died on 29 December 2012 aged 89.

Book details