Dieter 'Felix' Gerhardt
Born on 1 November 1935, in Berlin, Germany, Gerhardt joined the South African Navy after his father successfully persuaded naval chief Hugo Biermann to take the troubled teenager under his wing to try to instil discipline in him, he graduated from the Naval Academy in Saldanha Bay in 1956, winning the Sword of Honour.
In 1962 he attended a Royal Navy mine school in Portsmouth and completed the parachute training course at RAF Abingdon. After his training in Britain, he was seconded to the Royal Navy.