Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Raymond Lloyd Knight known as [Ray] was the second child to Eva and Stanley Knight. He was born at Oakleigh on 24th March 1924 and had a sister Mary. The family moved to Adelaide after his father passed away in 1932. Prior to the outbreak of war, he was working for Motor Traders and at 17, joined the Royal Australian Navy. During his naval service his mother passed away.

His initial training took approximately 5 months and mainly focused on marching and drill and not at all on activities which would benefit someone going to war.

SERVICE RECORD: HMAS CANBERRA 26/8/41 - 30/12/41

HMAS AUSTRALIA: 22/1/42 - 24/6/44

PNG - LADAPA - MILNE BAY: 26/4/44 - 31/10/45

HMAS TORRENS: 19/11/1945 31/12/1945

DISCHARGED about 24/3/46

The first real encounter with the enemy came when they were patrolling north of Cairns at about the time of the Coral Sea Battle. Bombs were dropped from high altitude bombers landing either side of the ship. Little damage was sustained. The next real action came at the Solomon Islands where 35,000 American marines were to be landed.

Ray married Lillias Milba Jepson [Mel] at Randwick on December 1st 1945 while awaiting discharge from the navy. They returned to South Australia and he returned to school and then Teachers College before he began his life as a teacher and later a Principal, a profession he loved until he retired in 1986. They had 4 children; Richard, Lynette, Robert, and Greg of which 3 were born when studying. He passed away on March 14th 2012 in Adelaide.