Henry Charles Fleet
Memorial: Thornbury & District Museum: 6th Maritime Regiment Memorial
Regiment: 6th Maritime Regiment
Medals: 1939–45 Star, War Medal 1939–1945
Rank and number: Gunner
Parents: William Thomas and Mary Fleet
Marital status: Married
Home address: Home address: Ludwells, Waltham Close, Droxford, Hampshire. Lived: Basingstoke, Hampshire
Pre-war occupation: Labourer
Date of birth: 1914
Date of death: 04/07/1943
Buried/Commemorated at: Died at sea and commemorated Plymouth Naval Memorial Devon and the Maritime Memorial Thornbury
Age: 29
Further information:
Henry was born in Swanmore, Hampshire and had an older brother William. In 1939 he was living with his widowed mother. Henry married Violet May Elton less than 3 months before he died.
On the day of his death, Henry was serving aboard the British Motor Merchant, ‘St. Essylt’ which was part of convoy KMS-18B on route from Clyde, Scotland to Sicily carrying a cargo of 322 troops, 900 tons of military stores and two landing craft. At 21.40 hours on 4 July 1943, the ship was hit by a torpedo from U-boat U-375 and caught fire then sank. One crew member, two passengers, and one of the gunners, Henry were lost, and 397 survivors abandoned ship. The survivors were rescued and landed at Algiers.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2977.html