Richard "Dick" Femister Tibbatts DSC
Richard was born on May 6, 1920 in Bombay, India, the son of Walter John (1890-1959) and Aileen Edith (nee Ward) who was born in 1895. Richard (Dick) Tibbatts, was Commander of HMS Gambia for the 1957 - 1958 Commission. He was a Submariner during WW2, serving on various submarines. Dick passed away in New Zealand, having served lastly with the Malayan Navy as Commandant at the Malay Naval Base in Singapore.
From May 1, 1938 to April 30, 1939 he was a special entry cadet serving on HMS Vindictive, the cadet training cruiser. From May 1, 1939 to December 1940 he served as Midshipman on the cruiser HMS Sheffield. He then went on a promotion course as Acting Sub Lieutenant at HMS Victory, Portsmouth from January 6 to June, 1941. He then joined the cruiser HMS Euryalus from June 17, 1941 to February 1943. He was promoted to Lieutenant on August 16, 1941 whilst serving on HMS Euryalus.
Now his association with submarines took place. From April 1943 he was stationed at the submarine base HMS Medway II in Beirut. From June 1943 he served on the submarine HMS Parthian, and from August 1943 on the submarine HMS H30 From September 4, 1943 until December 1943, he served as First Lieutenant on the submarine HMS P511; then from December 1943 to October 1944 he was on the submarine HMS Severn and from October 10, 1944 until July 1945 he served on the submarine HMS Trenchant.
He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) on October 23, 1945 for the submarine war patrols in the far East in May 1945.
Nothing much else about hime is listed, but after the war, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander on August 16, 1949, and then to Commander on June 30, 1953. He was Executive Officer on HMS Gambia from May 1957 to October 1958. He retired on July 22, 1964 and was given the rank of Honorary Captain.
Dick was an avid equestrian, and trained many horsemen in Malaya. Upon his retirement he settled in New Zealand, he passed away on December 3, 2005.