We have been advised that Cyril Dybling has passed away at the age of 95.
Cyril was worth in Northam, WA on 23 August 1930 and joined the Navy at the ago of 20 with his occupation listed as a “Shedhand”. He attended HMAS Cerberus as a Recruit Naval Airman and progressed to HMAS Albatross as a NA II, before joining 850 Squadron in January 1953. This would have been on the re-commissioning of that unit, which had previously been an RN Fighter/Bomber squadron in the UK.
Cyril was to see both the beginning and end of 850 Squadron, as it was the shortest-lived in the RAN’s history. It suffered a number of fatal accidents ashore and embarked in HMAS Vengeance. It decommissioned in 1954.
He spent the rest of his engagement at Albatross on 723 Squadron before being discharged in February 1956 at HMAS Leeuwin in WA. It is possible he then worked in the mining sector as we have a report that he was in Port Hedland in the 80s.
His duty done, Cyril retired to WA, his ‘home port’, where he died in late November 2025.
