_____________________________________________________________________________ «¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»¥«¤» ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ \\\\\___H.M.S. FIJI ASSOCIATION___\"-._ /////~~~ we will remember them ~~~/.-' _____________________________________________________________________________ Survivor's Story - R.M. Musician - Norman Lewis _____________________________________________________________________________ From: "Norm" Date: January 24, 2006 3:24:27 PM EST I joined Fiji, my first ship at the age of 18 in Glasgow on the Clyde in Scotland where she was built by John Browns. My first adventure was to the West Indies where the ship patrolled for subs and surface vessels. Then, back to England to head the convoy of troop ships heading for Dakar in Africa to protect the French ships there . It was during this operation that Fiji was torpedoed way out in the Atlantic and was, fortunately, able to make her way, if slowly, back to the Clyde for repairs. This occurred in August 1940 and it wasn't until February of 1941 that she was ready for the fray again. She attached to "H" Force at Gibraltar for a while and then proceeded to the East Med Fleet at Alexandria in May. The first job was to take troops of the York and Lancashire Regiment to Crete - Suva Bay - and it was at that time that Fiji was directed with HMS Gloucester to attack landing barges making their way to the island. The attack was successful. It was at this time that the cruisers were spotted by German aircraft and it was on the afternoon of the 22nd of May that Gloucester went down. Fiji threw most of her life rafts over the side for those in the water and fought on until running out of ammunition. She was hit by three bombs which brought her to a stop and the rest we know. I, with my mate, went over the side at about 2230 and was eventually picked up by HMS Kandahar at about 0030. We both had to be hoisted aboard as we were exhausted but not so much.. ..we refused a tot of rum which, believe it or not, we were ordered to down. The ship's band comprised The Bandmaster, corporal and thirteen musicians each of whom would play at least two instruments, one string and and one millitary band instrument. So the line-up would be:- four violins, viola, cello double bass, Clarinet, oboe, flute, three trumpets, trombone and tuba. The band was kept very busy entertaining the crew and performing at the many functions both aboard and ashore. The action station, as I've mentioned, was in the T.S where all the calculations relating to the guns were calculated on what was then the computer of its time - a very complex piece of machinery. The transmitting station was situated in the bowels of the ship and scores of bandsmen lost their lives being trapped down below suffering what must have been a terrible end. It is said that in proportion to its size, the band service lost more men than any other service.. Sincerely, Norman Lewis _____________________________________________________________________________ ADDENDA HMS Gloucester RM family Hi Tom, A charming email you might like to forward on. I have replied to Susan and referred her to Norm Lewis who has contacted her but it appears her research has gleaned all she can. We are battening down the hatches here so to speak for some very hot weather coming. Best wishes Brian and Mari. (ps. *dad has been taken to hospital twice in recent days so we have some concerns for his general well being.) *Note from HMSFA Web Admin: Brian is referring to his father, Clem Walker, HMS Fiji Survivor. More info about him here: http://www.warlinks.com/memories/walker.html ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Belcher To: marbri@chariot.net.au Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:07 AM Subject: HMS Gloucester RM family Hello My name is Susan Belcher and my uncle, Frank Pritchard, was a Royal Marine aboard the Gloucester (the fighting ‘G’). He was one of the 83 Marines who died on the 22 May 1941, there were 92 on board at the time of the sinking - 9 survived, one died on Kythera, one died in a prisoner of war camp, 7 came home. It has taken me over ten year to piece together the little I know together. My Mum was ten when Frank died. I have wanted to do this for a long time - From a member of the ‘G’s family to a member of the Fiji’s family - thank you for the *support you showed to the ‘G’ and its crew. Though it didn’t benefit us, it benefited some and that means a lot. Yours, Susan. _____________________________________________________________________________ *Note from HMSFA Web Admin: The WWII Cruisers website has an interesting page on HMS Gloucester, where the generosity of Capt. Powlett is mentioned, in connection with the large carley floats thrown into the water. Here is a quote from URL: http://www.world-war.co.uk/index.php3 "Those who could swim, jumped into the water and struck out boldly for the large carley floats which the cruiser Fiji had thrown over the side as she steamed past us. This was an exceedingly generous gesture on the part of H.M.S. Fiji because she was herself destroyed by a concentrated bombing attack later in the day." -again- "The thirty-three men of the Gloucester's ship's company who were eventually picked up by a German rescue boat, owe their survival to the carley floats which the Fiji so unselfishly placed at their disposal. Seventeen years have passed since that fateful day but we have not forgotten the great debt of gratitude that we owe to Captain W. William-Powlett, R.N., who was in command of H.M.S. Fiji at the time." _____________________________________________________________________________ Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html Doctrine of International Copyright Law ____________________________________________________________________________