Eddie Dibley

1925 — 2024

CFVA No. 2217

London Branch Coastal Forces Veterans have sadly learned of the death of longstanding member, last ever London Branch Chairman, Eddie Dibley. Eddie ‛crossed the bar’ peacefully, at home, on 20 April, 2024, aged 98, .and pleased to announce that Chairman Eddie Dibley has been awarded the Légion d’Honneur by the French Government. A notice about his award has been placed on the forum.

Able Seaman (Radar) Eddie Dibley served on MTB 757, which was part of the 66th MTB Flotilla. The boat's Commanding officer was Robert LeLacheur Atkinson.

The boats of the 66th MTB Flotilla which comprised MTBs 731, 733, 737, 747, 750, 752, 757 and 760, had earlier had their torpedo tubes removed and their decks fitted with racks of depth charges, to function in an anti-submarine role. At Le Havre they had been called upon to destroy sea mines laid by the Germans in the approaches to the port.

Len Reynolds in Dog Boats at War describes the situation: “...the Germans had sown the approaches liberally with a new type of pressure mines — named oyster mines — which took on the character of either an acoustic or a magnetic mine according to the pressure of water displaced by a ship passing over them at more than 10 knots...the 66th were asked to attempt a method of steaming fast over the minefield and dropping a pattern of depth charges.”

Eddie recalled how ahead of the planned operation, the boat disembarked several of its crew at Portsmouth, so as to only carry a skeleton crew over the minefields.