Titanic hero's letter to be auctioned

London, April 8 (IANS) The last letter written by the heroic bandleader on the Titanic is to be auctioned this month. He along with his band played on while the vessel was sinking. They all finally drowned.

The two-page letter to his parents in Colne, Lancashire, is believed to be the only one Wallace Hartley wrote during his time on board the liner. It is dated just "Wednesday", the day April 10, 1912, that the liner left Southampton for New York on its maiden voyage and five days before it hit an iceberg, the Daily Express reported.

While the ship sank beneath the Atlantic, the 33-year-old violinist led the eight-member band in melodies to calm the hundreds of men, women and children who passed by them to the lifeboats.

He wrote on headed Titanic paper: "Just a line to say we have got away all right. It's been a bit of a rush but I am just getting a little settled. This is a fine ship and there ought to be plenty of money on her."

The letter will be sold with other Titanic items at RR Auction in New Hampshire April 19.

His selfless sacrifice on the night of the disaster made Hartley one of the best-known heroes to emerge from the tragic event that claimed 1,512 lives.