b. 28/03/1906 Market Harborough, Leicestershire. d. 05/01/1941 Thames Estuary.
DATE OF AM ACTION: 05/01/1941 Thames Estuary.
He was the son of the Revd. Canon Edward Sumner Bicknell Fletcher, M.A., and of Bertha May Fletcher, of Monks Risborough, Buckinghamshire. He joined TS Conway in 1919, and was promoted to Lieutenant on 1st April 1929, and served on the Winchelsea, Nelson and Vivid. He was part of the 1934 Canadian Arctic Expedition and later served on Whitehead and Pembroke. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 1937 and served on Londonderry and Fiji. He then joined the trawler HMS Haslemere on 7th November 1940.
AM CITATION:
On 5th January, 1941, Lieutenant-Commander Fletcher took his ship to the rescue of Miss Amy Johnson, who was piloting an aircraft which had fallen into the sea. Snow was falling and it was bitterly cold. The seas were heavy and a strong tide was running, but he dived in fully clothed. This brave and selfless action, which cost him his life, was typical of the fine spirit which Lieutenant-Commander Fletcher showed at sea and under fire while serving with the Channel Mobile Balloon Barrage.
BURIAL LOCATION: WOODLANDS CEMETERY, GILLINGHAM, KENT.
Naval Reservation. Grave 1379.
LOCATION OF MEDAL: PRIVATELY HELD.
