Sea Your History - Shore to sea 3 - Recording made by wives of HMS Coventry crew

Shore to sea 3 - Recording made by wives of HMS Coventry crew

Diana Hart Dyke

Diana grew up in a naval family. She married her husband David in 1968 having met him whilst he was the Navigating Officer of HMS Gurkha. They have two daughters.

During the Falklands War David was Captain of HMS Coventry. Throughout the conflict, Diana was involved in providing support to the families of the crew. When the ship sank, David was injured and some of the crew lost their lives. On his return the family supported David through during his recuperation and in coming to terms with the loss of both the ship and those who were killed onboard.

Later in his career Diana accompanied David when he was working in Washington DC and witnessed his transition to civilian life after his retirement in 1990.

Diana recalls the failure of an intiative to boost the morale among the crew of HMS Coventry during the Falklands War.

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Extract Text (Duration 0.37)

And then I did something, also which my husband always says he was awfully relieved never actually happened, I did a tape, which the Navy helped me do, to send to the ship's company as if from all the wives, a lot of them told me what they would want to say, and that tape never arrived and my husband said it was a great relief, ‘cause they would have all dissolved, or he would, had he heard my voice suddenly over the loud speaker, you know. But it was just a way of saying how much we were behind them and supporting them. I don't know what happened to the tape but I think it was a very good thing it didn't arrive.