Titanic hero's last letter up for sale

London, Apr 8 (ANI): A letter written by Titanic's heroic bandleader Wallace Hartley is set to go up for auction later this month.

Hartley and his band had famously played on while the vessel was sinking and they all drowned.

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

"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," he had written on headed Titanic paper.

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.

Many survivors said the band continued to play until the end. They reported seeing Hartley and the players swept into the ocean. His last words were said to have been, "Gentleman, I bid you farewell."

Hartley's body was later found and 1,000 people attended his funeral in Colne with 40,000 lining the funeral procession. His bravery was recognised with a statue in Colne.

The letter will be sold with other Titanic items at RR Auction in New Hampshire, US, on April 19. (ANI)