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This is the story of Leading Seaman Walker. It should be read along with the sinking of HMS Gloucester, see under Stories. My father agreed to share his story in remembrance of all ship's personnel lost on that day. Clem Walker died on 12 March 2007 but his son, Brian - marbri AT chariot.net.au - (spam protected), would be happy to hear from anyone who has an interest in HMS Fiji.
(My father asked that all who read his story take into account that he was 82 years of age when he wrote this and the events he has recalled are as accurate as his memory allowed).
The Fiji was the first ship my father was posted to after completing his ASDIC training. He was part of the crew for only a short time before it was sunk. He had joined the Royal Navy as a 17 year old in 1936 and all of his service prior to the Fiji had been on destroyers as a general seaman.
On the 22nd May 1941 HMS Fiji was sunk by enemy aircraft 50 miles south west of Gavdo Island. The Fiji, along with HMS Gloucester, HMS Kandahar and HMS Kingston, had been sent to assist HMS Greyhound which was under air attack. By the time this group arrived, however, the Greyhound had sunk. Whilst rescuing survivors the Gloucester was bombed and brought to a halt, her upper deck a shambles and fiercely ablaze. The Captain of the Fiji reluctantly withdrew, leaving behind boats and rafts.
For the next three and a half hours, as Fiji withdrew to the west, she was relentlessly attacked from the air until finally having exhausted all her live ammunition and surviving twenty bombing attacks, she was hit close to the portside amidships. The ship took up a heavy list but was able to steam at 17 knots until half an hour later she was hit again by three bombs above the 'A' boiler room. The list increased and at 2015 hours she rolled right over.
HMS Hereward 1936 Destroyer
HMS Exmouth 1938
HMS Blanche 1938
HMS Atherstone 1940
HMS Fiji 1941 Light Cruiser
Cape Sable 1941 Special Services Vessel (spy ship)
Leading Seaman C Walker was an ASDIC operator on the Fiji. The ASDIC cabin was located well below decks. In the very early stages of the bombing attacks, explosions from near misses rendered their instrumentation useless. The operators (usually 2 or 3) received permission to abandon the cabin and move to their No. 2 battle stations which was a first aid party, located aft of the bridge. After leaving the ASDIC cabin they had to close and lock a number of water tight doors behind them. They had closed and locked one door when they were alerted to an urgent banging on the other side. They opened the door again to find one very frightened stoker who had been sent down to assess and report on any damage. The ASDIC crew had not been aware of this. The stoker used a heavy Davis lamp to bang on the door to attract attention.
At his second battle station he witnessed the sight of HMS Gloucester badly damaged and on fire. He still recalls being shocked at the sight of it burning. It was fiercely ablaze and he remembers thinking at the time, how can a steel ship burn like that?
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164 6.982 745 After leaving the Gloucester, the Fiji headed west. She eventually ran out of live ammunition and resorted to firing flares, star shells etc in token resistance. As soon as the attacking pilots realised this they flew low targeting the anti-aircraft crew with cannon and machine gun fire. The first aid party then had to dash out from behind cover hoping to avoid shrapnel and bullets, place any wounded gunner on a stretcher and take him to the sick bay. My father remained at this task until the ship lost way and there was nothing else he could do.
When the order came to abandon ship (shouted from the bridge by Captain William-Powlett), my father was adjacent to 'B' turret. He noticed a 'Roy' (Royal Marine) standing near the guard rail. He said to him, 'Come on Roy, you better go', when at almost the same moment, the Marine fell forward over the guard rail into the sea with a cannon shell sticking out of his back. The ship continued to list and sailors were throwing overboard anything that would float and then jumping into the sea. Others, including Walker, moved slowly towards the stern of the ship which was the lowest point of the vessel to jump from. At some point near the stern a single aircraft approached and released two bombs. He watched them fall and even recalls vividly today that they were black with white noses, surrounded by a red ring. The bombs impacted aft of the bridge near the 'Y' turret. (When he saw the bombs falling, he sought the shelter, for what it afforded, of a small capstan and hung on tightly.)
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The bombs exploded with a terrific heat which singed off all of his body hair (so he discovered later). The shock wave was so violent that it tore off the boiler suit he had been wearing and blew him overboard, severely stunned. When he collected his senses, he was on a survivors net, completely naked. There were two other seamen already on the net and he assumes to this day that it was one or both who had dragged him to safety. The 'Fiji' continued to list even more; there was a lot of noise with men shouting out and aircraft machine-gunning the survivors.
The 'Fiji' eventually turned turtle and Dad remembers one lonely soul dressed in a white singlet sitting on the hull. He could only think that the sailor was unable to swim. Factors in favour of the survivors were a relatively calm sea, very little ship's fuel escaping and the warm temperature of the water.
After nightfall, HMS Kandahar and HMS Kingston returned to pick up survivors. My father was rescued by HMS Kandahar. The crew threw ropes over the side and hauled men aboard. Each survivor was given a mug of naval rum and sent below. My father says he has no recollection of the return to Alexandria. He slept from total exhaustion but did learn later that the Kandahar had been attacked on several occasions on its return to Alexandria. At Alexandria, he recognised the Marine whom he thought had been killed. He had survived and subsequently was discharged from hospital. He, along with others, was repatriated to England, in convoy, on the Empress of Australia.
The next draft chit he received from the Navy was for the Cape Sable, an S.S.V. (Special Service Vessel) - a spy ship. However, before joining her, he was sent to Shepherds Bush for 3 days training as a projectionist. One wonders at the Naval logic of the time when a trained ASDIC operator with prior service on destroyers and having a light cruiser sunk under him, is sent off to train how to show pictures! The reason for this, as he understood it, was that the crew of the Cape Sable could be entertained by showing them films. He sensed a feeling of foreboding about this ship which was shared by other crew members. Many of them felt that it would be a one way voyage. He was so sure of this that he wrote a letter to my mother (which she remembers) suggesting that he might not return. The ship flew the Norwegian flag and displayed other appropriate symbols. The crew were only allowed to dress in civilian clothing and only a few were allowed on deck at any given time. There was also a feeling amongst the crew that if the ship was sunk and there were any survivors picked up by the Germans, they would probably be shot as spies. His memory is not perfect but he believes that the ship left the Scapa Flow and sailed by the Orkneys towards the Norwegian coast. At a particular point on the voyage they were spotted by a German reconnaissance plane. He learned later from the telegraphist that the pilot was transmitting their position back to shore. Presumably the Admiralty were informed because the ship was ordered to return immediately. The crew expected to be attacked by U boat or German aircraft but as luck would have it, they sailed into a blanketing sea mist which gave them protective cover from the air and the boat returned safely.
He never went to sea again on active duty and was invalided out in 1944.
Lest We Forget
HMS Gloucester sunk Thursday 22nd May 1941 with the loss of 736 crew
HMS Fiji sunk Thursday 22nd May 1941 with the loss of 241 crewThey shall grow not old
As we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them
Nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun
And in the morning
We will remember them
Lest we forget.
God bless the Royal Navy.
Brian Walker, Adelaide, South Australia
