Hi I am trying to find why one of the crew members of HMS Fiji was Mentioned in Despatches. It happened when she sank off Crete in 1941. The crew member was Boy First Class Harry Raymond Butterfield, P/TX.I84579. Does anyone have any ideas where to search? Thanks
Did he survice the sinking? He is not on this causualty list (May 22nd - Fiji): Royal Navy casualties, killed and died, May 1941 I mean to have read it somewhere but cannot remember exactly - bravery under fire - conveying AA ammuniton. Not sure. Fred
Perhaps you could try the HMS Fiji Association website. Harry Butterfield is listed on there as a survivor, and the association records him (or his family) as having been in contact with them. His mention in despatches appeared in a Supplement to the London Gazette on 8 January, 1942, but unfortunately without any details of the reason for the mention.
Thanks for the responses. I haven't been in touch with the Association yet. He did survive the sinking and went on to serve on other ships (I don't have much more info than this).
Hello and sorry this is years late, but I have only just seen this forum thread. Harry Butterfield was my father. I don't know the exact details of why he was Mentioned in Despatches and he rarely talked about what happened when HMS Fiji was sunk. I do remember him saying that he was serving on a gun, which was hit and only he and one other person were left unwounded/alive.
Roy_B, Welcome aboard. If you hover over the name of an author, in the avatar, you can see when they were last logged into the site. Some authors "flag" thread and get notified of any new posts - so they may add a new post. In a moment I will send a PM to them all, assuming they are alive and their email address given on joining remains active. Standby.
