| HMS FIJI (May 22, 1941)
British cruiser of 8,000 tons (Captain P.William- Powlett) sunk by bombs from German and Italian aircraft during the Battle of Crete. She sank forty nautical miles south-west of Crete near the island of Antikithera. In September, 1940, the Fiji was torpedoed off the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, while escorting troop transports heading for the port of Dakar (Operation Menace). After repairs which lasted almost six months, she returned to duties in the Mediterranean. The Fiji had survived about twenty bomb attacks during the four hour engagement off Crete but later another three direct hits proved fatal. Casualties were 17 officers and 224 ratings killed. A total of 523 survivors were picked up by the destroyers Kingston and Kandahar which had earlier rescued survivors from the sunk destroyer Greyhound. The Fiji's place was taken by the Australian cruiser HMAS Australia.
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On weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar
Of fighter planes; yet none were near
And all around the sky was clear
Borne on the wind a whisper came
'Though men grow old, they stay the same'
And then I knew, unseen to eye
The ageless Few were sweeping by
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