Six: Stoker Mechanic R. Fletcher, Royal Navy, who was severely wounded in H.M.S. Amethyst...

Six: Stoker Mechanic R. Fletcher, Royal Navy, who was severely wounded in H.M.S. Amethyst during the Yangtze incident: noted for his modesty and good humour in the home press, he christened his second daughter ‘Hazel Amethyst’ on her birth in May 1950 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Burma Star; War Medal 1939-45; Naval General Service 1915-62, one clasp, Yangtze 1949 (D/KX.145165 R. Fletcher. Sto. Mech. R.N.) mounted for wear, the last a little polished, otherwise nearly very fine or better (6) £3,000-£4,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- Provenance: A Collection of Medals for the Yangtze Incident, Spink July 1997. Ronald Fletcher was born near Penkridge in Staffordshire in 1923 and joined the Royal Navy on, or about, the outbreak of hostilities in 1939. He subsequently served in destroyers throughout the war, seeing action in H.M.S. Hotspur in the Narvik operations and at the evacuation of Crete, and afterwards in the Mediterranean aboard Boadicea, and in the Normandy landings in Fernie. Latterly he took part in operations off the coast of Burma in Palladin. Remaining a regular after the war, Fletcher was serving aboard Amethyst at the time of the Yangtze incident in 1949. One of the first salvoes of 75 mm. shells to hit her crashed through the starboard side of the lower power room bulkhead, spraying the small compartment with splinters. Inside, Electrician’s Mate Hicks was killed instantly, while Fletcher and a fellow Stoker Mechanic were both seriously wounded, the former in the chest and both legs; so severe were the wounds to Fletcher’s lower left leg that it had to be amputated below the knee. On his eventual return to Southampton in August 1949, ‘he was besieged by reporters, photographers and movie cameramen’ but maintained a constant smile throughout, perched atop his crutches. He was also heard to murmur, “I’m no hero.” Later in the year, he was a guest at the Royal Film Performance at the Odeon in London, where he was introduced to ‘his favourite movie star’ Margaret Lockwood. And in May 1950, one the eve of his discharge from the Royal Navy, the Manchester Evening News reported that he had christened his second daughter ‘Hazel Amethyst’. Sold with a copy of The Daily Telegraph’s commemorative pamphlet, ‘The Glorious Story of H.M.S. Amethyst’, this including a picture of Fletcher coming ashore at Southampton.