A RARE letter by Titanic bandsman Wallace Hartley is to go under the hammer 100 years after the legendary ship sunk.

Hartley, a member of Huddersfield Philharmonic, led the band which played on as the liner sank into the Atlantic Ocean.

Now a letter written by the Dewsbury man on board the RMS Titanic will be featured in a Titanic auction from New Hampshire-based RR Auction later this month.

The two-page letter written on Titanic letterhead by Hartley is dated April 10, 1912.

It is thought to be Hartley’s only letter home and in it the hopeful bandleader writes to his parents during his first day on the ill-fated ship.

In part, he writes: “We have a fine band and the boys seem very nice – I shall probably arrive home on the Sunday morning.”

But that was never to be.

Among the accounts of selflessness on board Titanic, Hartley and his bandmates played on as the great liner slowly slipped beneath the waves on April 15, 1912.

Legend has it that Hartley and his seven bandsmen played the hymn Nearer My God To Thee as the ship sank.

The men continued their orchestral vigil until the Titanic succumbed to the overwhelming force of the Atlantic, watching and playing as more than 700 men, women and children passed by them to safety.

Witnesses in lifeboats reported seeing Hartley and his band mates swept into the ocean and his last words to his band are reputed to have been “Gentlemen, I bid you farewell.”

Hartley’s body was recovered several weeks later and more than 1,000 people attended his funeral with a further 40,000 lining the cortege route.

Bobby Livingston, of RR Auctioneers, said: “Hartley and his orchestra’s role during the Titanic’s final moments is widely considered to be among the noblest acts of heroism at sea.

“After the Titanic struck the iceberg the band began to play music to calm the passengers – a valiant effort to prevent the passengers from becoming panic stricken.”

A plaque in honour of Hartley remains on the house in West Park Street, Dewsbury, where he lived as an adult. His family moved there from Colne, where he was born.

Among the other Titanic items to go under the hammer is the only known letter in private hands written by William Murdoch, the officer in charge at the bridge when Titanic collided with an iceberg.

There’s also an 18-carat gold collar stud recovered from the body of first class passenger, Austin Partner, and returned to his family, as well as a nostalgic locket recovered from the body of George Dunton Widener’s valet, Edward Herbert Keeping, within weeks of the tragedy which has been displayed in Swedish museum.

A rare pay slip from a surviving crewman for his service aboard the Titanic – with the rate of wages listed as £5.68 for six days work – is also listed.

On its maiden voyage, leaving on Wednesday, April 10, 1912, the Titanic was the largest passenger ship ever assembled. It set sail from Southampton to New York.

The Titanic auction will be available for bidding starting April 19-26 and a preview is currently available at www.rrauction.com