The prized bravery medal of a naval officer who died trying to save trailblazing pilot Amy Johnson has emerged for sale.
Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher dived into the freezing water fully clothed after Johnson’s aircraft ditched in the Thames Estuary in a snowstorm in January 1941.
Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, was never seen again.
The mysterious cause of her crash and death fuelled speculation that continues today. Some experts believe she was killed by the boat sent to rescue her.
Lieutenant Commander Fletcher, who had leapt into the sea from an armed trawler in a desperate bid to rescue her, was pulled unconscious out of the water suffering from exhaustion and hypothermia.
He died in hospital days later and was awarded a posthumous Albert Medal for gallantry which was presented to his grieving family at Buckingham Palace.
His emotive story can be told with the upcoming sale of his medal at auctioneers Dominic Winter, of Cirencester, Gloucestershire, for an estimated £10,000 to £15,000.
His medal had remained in the family for over 80 years but spent the last few decades gathering dust in a cupboard in a south of England home before its recent re-emergence.
Johnson completed her epic 11,000-mile flight from Croydon Airfield to Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory in a second-hand de Havilland DH60 Gipsy Moth in 19 days in May 1930.
The prized bravery medal of the naval officer who died trying to save pioneering pilot Amy Johnson after her plane ditched in the Thames Estuary in 1941 has emerged for sale. Above: The posthumous Albert Medal
Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia, died in 1941 when her aircraft ditched in the Thames Estuary during a snowstorm
Her exploits made her into an overnight sensation and one of the most instantly recognisable personalities of the day.
She is said to have inspired Katharine Hepburn’s character in the 1933 film Christopher Strong and received the CBE for her ‘flying achievement’.
At the beginning of the Second World War the patriotic Johnson joined the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).
She was among women who delivered aircraft to RAF bases.
On January 5, 1941, she left Blackpool, Lancashire, in an Airspeed Oxford for delivery to RAF Kidlington, near Oxford.
It is thought that she must have become so disoriented by the fog that the 37-year-old flyer’s aircraft came down miles off course in the Thames Estuary.
Historian Dr Alec Gill claimed Johnson was sucked into the propeller of the rescue vessel and then the circumstances surrounding her death were covered up.
His theory was backed up by the son of a naval reservist aboard the ship, HMS Haslemere, who claimed his father saw Johnson get ‘dragged under the boat’.
Dr Gill said in 2016: ‘The Royal Navy did not want to admit to the Royal Air Force – or indeed a nation at war – that they had killed Britain’s favourite female pilot.’
There was no inquest into Johnson’s death because her body was never recovered.
Lieutenant Commander Fletcher’s valiant attempt to save her, documented in his Albert Medal citation, reads: ‘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, 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.’
Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher dived into the freezing water fully clothed after Johnson’s aircraft ditched in the Thames Estuary in a snowstorm in January 1941
The front of the medal awarded to Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher
The Daily Mail’s front page report of Amy Johnson’s death
Lieutenant Commander Fletcher was born at Kibworth Rectory, Leicestershire, in 1908 and after finishing school joined the Merchant Navy School Ship, HMS Conway.
He passed out as a midshipman in 1924 and served on HMS Royal Sovereign, Dauntless and Nelson across the Mediterranean and in the Atlantic.
He was a navigator on the James Wordie Arctic expedition in 1934 and in September 1940 he joined HMD Haslemere, part of the Mobile Balloon Barrage Flotilla in the English Channel and Thames Estuary.
Lieutenant Commander Fletcher’s medal is being sold by auctioneers Dominic Winter, of Cirencester, Gloucs, with a £10,000 to £15,000 estimate.
The poignant Rolex watch he was wearing during the fateful rescue attempt is also offered for sale for an estimated £3,000.
Henry Meadows, militaria specialist, said: ‘The Albert Medal, in its various forms for Land & Sea, in gold and bronze, is far, far rarer than the Victoria Cross.
‘Amy Johnson was and still is iconic. Her mysterious disappearance is still speculated to this very day.
‘She rose to fame, almost overnight, after she became the first female pilot to fly solo from Croydon Airfield to Darwin, Australia, a distance of 11,000 miles, which she did in only 19 days.
‘It is a huge privilege to be able to offer this medal, along with the Rolex wristwatch worn by Lieutenant Commander Walter Fletcher on that fateful day.
‘I hope the estimate is an attractive starting point, but I expect strong competition from collectors, museums and institutions as this is a unique opportunity and has never been on the market before.’
The sale takes place on October 9.
