www.tinyurl.com/hmsfiji www.tinyurl.com/hmsfijiassociation _____________________________________________________________________________ \\\\\___H.M.S. FIJI ASSOCIATION___\"-._ /////~~~ we will remember them ~~~/.-' _____________________________________________________________________________ HMS FIJI SURVIVOR ORDINARY SEAMAN ALF HARTLESS _____________________________________________________________________________ Ahoy! Visitors to our HMSFA Website: November 7, 2006 A few days ago, we received an urgent message from Jim Hartless, concerning his uncle, Alf Hartless, who was dying of cancer. Alf was an Ordinary Seaman on board H.M.S. fiji, having survived the Battle of Crete. (Interesting to note, he was in the same mess as 19 year-old Gerry Newport, the uncle of our HMSFA President, Gerry Myles, who sadly perished at the sinking.) Jim wanted to get his uncle's name onto our HMSFA Survivor's List, so he could print out the document and present it to Alf on his deathbed. This was happily accomplished, and the following is Jim Hartless' touching response to Gerry's email: Tom Lipscombe Web Administrator HMS Fiji Association _____________________________________________________________________________ Response from Jim Hartless, RE: Alf Hartless, Ordinary Seaman, HMS Fiji: _____________________________________________________________________________ November 7, 2006 Dear Gerry, I regret to inform you that my uncle, "Alf Hartless" sadly passed away at 8-50 am on the 6/11/06. Thanks to your speed in dealing with my request, I managed to print off the amended dedication, and on Saturday morning I took the dedication plus other items off the site and gave these to Alf! You could see the look of delight on his face. And to see him finding his name on the dedication is a pleasure I will never forget! Alf was a quiet person, but he was proud of his time with the Navy. You mentioned that you would like to hear any stories that Alf might have to tell. Alf did tell me a few stories about the battle of Crete which I will try to put in writing. Alf told me the sad story of one young rating that couldn't swim so he locked himself in the gun turret and unfortunately went down with the ship. He also told me that when they abandoned ship he noticed that they had all put their shoes in a neat line across the deck. I think Alf was in the water for four hours. When he first went in the water he pulled his friend up onto a raft because he could not swim, but a me 109 dropped it's bombs and the raft turned over and he never saw his friend again. There was one story that I will always remember, when they were in the water a me 109 came in low and Alf thought well this is it, it was that low he could see the pilot, this is when the pilot waved and then flew out to sea and dropped his bombs! I would like to thank you yet again for your promptness, I wish you could have seen Alf it really meant a lot to him, and when I left him for the last time he put his thumb up at me as if to say well done. Best wishes and good luck with the site. Jim Hartless Email: jim.hartless1@btinternet.com _____________________________________________________________________________ Note: To view a photograph of Alf Hartless, simply copy and paste the following URL into your Browser's Location Box: http://www.angelfire.com/ri/georgev/hartless2.jpg If anyone knows the identity of the sailor on the left of the photo, please contact Jim Hartless Email: jim.hartless1@btinternet.com _____________________________________________________________________________