ROYAL NAVY
LIGHT COASTAL FORCES

1940 – 1957

PRESERVING THE HISTORY OF COASTAL FORCES

REMEMBERING THE COASTAL FORCES VETERANS

London Branch

London Branch was the last CFVA branch to close after the death of its final Chairman, Eddie Dibley in 2024. For many years it enjoyed a special relationship with its host, HMS Belfast, moored on the Thames in London. This page contains portraits of some of it longest lived membership

Veterans of Vis

Those members of Coastal Forces who served in the Mediterranean, particularly in the later year of the Second World War, well recalled the campaign in the Adriatic in particular, and the their base on the Island of Vis at Komiza. For many years Coastal Forces Veterans made an annual pilgrimage to the Island, along with members of the Army and RAF. This page records the history of those visits to Vis

poppy wreath
In Memoriam
On this day: 14 September
Able Seaman Raymond F Joyce D/SSX 30034 14/9/1942 Age: 22
Lieutenant Stuart Clarke Lane 14/9/1942 Age: 28
Petty Officer Motor Mechanic Herbert Abbott C/MX 77433 14/9/1942 Age: 21
Able Seaman John Stanley Ayres D/JX 284297 14/9/1942 Age: 20
Telegraphist Michael Richard Cahill C/JX 248059 14/9/1942 Age: 20
Leading Stoker Cornelius Joseph Carey D/KX 87750 14/9/1942 Age: 25
Able Seaman William Caswell D/SSX 16008 14/9/1942 Age: 25
Stoker 2nd Class Sidney William Gibson P/JX 138362 14/9/1942 Age: 26
Seaman Murdo Graham P/X 18818A 14/9/1942 Age: 27
Able Seaman Robert George Guest C/JX 127267 14/9/1942 Age: 31
Stoker 1st Class David Hawkins P/KX 108919 14/9/1942 Age: 28
Stoker 1st Class Harold Kirkham Holt D/KX 132234 14/9/1942 Age: 22
Sub-Lieutenant Hywel Wynn Hughes 14/9/1942
Petty Officer Motor Mechanic Edward Stanley Judge C/MX 73690 14/9/1942 Age: 21
Stoker 1st Class Bernard Kelly P/KX118362 14/9/1942 Age: 30
Ordinary Seaman Ernest Lockley P/JX 276620 14/9/1942
Leading Seaman David Millen C/JX 156611 14/9/1942 Age: 21
Motor Mechanic Bernard Parker P/MX 79877 14/9/1942
Able Seaman Alfred Robert Payne C/J 100840 14/9/1942
Able Seaman William Robertson P/JX 275867 14/9/1942 Age: 27
Stoker 1st Class George Allan Stokes C/KX 103444 14/9/1942 Age: 26
Stoker 1st Class William Thomson P/KX 118412 14/9/1942
Ordinary Seaman Richard Wade P/JX 295922 14/9/1942 Age: 19
Telegraphist Charles Edward Warren C/SR 8368 14/9/1942 Age: 23
Petty Officer Arthur Ernest Wright P/JX 139140 14/9/1942 Age: 25
Sub-Lieutenant Ralph William Yates 14/9/1942 Age: 22
View the Remembrance Book
Lest we forget

Forum Latest

The Coastal Forces Veterans Forum contains over 3,600 posts on a large variety of subjects relating to Coastal Forces in the Second World War, including boats — MTBs, MGBs, SGBs, MLs, RMLs & HDMLs — personnel & crew enquiries, actions, photographs, and documents.