Click on the links below for Minewarfare & Clearance Diving stories or 'dits'. All contributions submitted to the Webmaster will be considered for publication.
A 21st Century Short Story by
Rob Hoole
(Futuristic glimpse of mine countermeasures in the year 2030)
A Boomer in Scotland by Doug Barlow
(Life in the Boom Defence Vessel HMS Barnard)
A Clearance Diving Experience
by Jake Linton
(Autobiographical account of a founder of the RAN CD Branch)
Aden
Revisited by Rob Hoole
(Account of a visit to Aden by three RN minehunters in 1989)
A Forsey Achievement by Alan
Padwick
(Illustrated story of the creation of a pavement mosaic by Dave Forsey's son
Paul)
And so you think you are retired
by Philip Balink-White
(Eventful life of former RN Superintendent of Diving Phil White after his retirement)
A Private Ship Called Lollipop
by Rob Hoole
(Life on board HMS Vernon's diving training tender HMS Laleston)
A
Wartime Tribute by Andrew Bailey
(An illustrated tribute to Bomb & Mine Disposal officer Lt William 'Bill' Bailey CBE,
GM & Bar, DSC, RNVR by his son)
A
Wee Bitty Fish by Rob Hoole
(Naval encounter with a fishing vessel)
Baptism into the MCD Branch
by Rob Hoole
(One man's introduction to the Minewarfare & Clearance Diving branch)
Booze Cruises & Trips Round the Bay
by Rob Hoole
(Some memories of HMS Laleston)
Divers on the Cut
by Alan Padwick
(Familiar MCDO faces on narrow boats)
Getting Down to the Job (Fore-runner of Habitat?)
supplied by Doug Barlow
(Historical item about the diving bell barge in Gibraltar)
HMS Reclaim - A World Record-Breaker
by Rob Hoole
(A brief history of Royal Navy deep diving achievements)
HMS Repulse and HMS
Prince of Wales - The First Wreck Surveys by David 'Ginger'
Lermitte
(Accounts of the first surveys of Repulse
and POW conducted by members of the Far East CD Team in 1965 and 1966
respectively)
HMS Vernon's French Connection
by Rob Hoole
(Pilgrimage of three inshore minesweepers to ancestral home of the Vernon
family)
Life in the West Country by
Martyn Holloway
(The Plymouth Clearance Diving Team in the 1980s)
Operation Neptune: The LCOCU Frogmen
by Rob Hoole
(The bravery of members of the Landing Craft Obstacle Clearance Units
(LCOCUs))
Operation Neptune: The Minesweeping Operation 5-6 June 1944
by David Verghese
(The minesweeping operation for the invasion of Normandy on D-Day)
Playing with Matches by
'Taffrail'
(A tale of Pusser's bureaucracy during WW I)
Return to Egypt - Aswan by Ed
Thompson
(Ed's return to make a 2007 TV documentary about his CD Team's recovery of
ancient artefacts in the 1970s)
Stan's Navy - A Tale of STANAVFORCHAN
by Rob Hoole
(Some memories of NATO's Standing Naval Force Channel)
The Angels
Have Landed by Doug Barlow
(HMS Vernon's affiliation with Roedean School for Girls)
The Bicycle
by Rob Hoole
(Short story about HMS Laleston at Tarbert, Loch Fyne)
The Blackfriars
Bomb by Colin Churcher MBE
(The disposal of a bomb found under Blackfriars Bridge in
London)
The
Buster Crabb Enigma by Rob Hoole
(Short account of the mysterious life of Cdr Lionel 'Buster' Crabb OBE GM RNVR)
The Clyde Explosive Fishing Club by Dan
Nicholson
(Disposal of submarine-laid mines in Etterick Bay)
The Far East Clearance Diving Team
by Brian Braidwood
(An illustrated account of Brian's time in command of the
Far East Fleet Clearance Diving Team during the late 1960s)
The Far East
Fleet Clearance Diving Team by Mike Gillam
(A valuable personal account of clearance diving activity east of Suez during
the 1950s and 1960s)
The Forgotten Few of the Falklands
by Rob Hoole
(RN Minewarfare, Diving & Explosive Ordnance Disposal achievements during the
Falklands Conflict)
The MCMTA - Enforcer
of ETOTITL by Rob Hoole
(A tongue-in-cheek look at MCM in days of yore)
Ton
Class Black Cat Quiz by Rob Hoole
(Rate yourself as a Ton Class minesweeper man)
To
Sweep No More by Rob Hoole
(Probably the last conventional minesweeping performed by the Royal Navy)
Victory is Ours by Doug Barlow
(Entertaining story of the loss and recovery of a yacht in Gibraltar)
Wartime Minesweeping Memories
by Ernest Goodhall
(Fascinating account of minesweeping in an RNPS Motor Minesweeper)
When Things go
with a Bang! by Rob Hoole
(A cautionary tale about unexploded underwater ordnance)