This is part of a letter, a 6 page missive, written over a period of several weeks in 1943. My father writes very descriptively about his journey from England through the Atlantic around the Cape of Good Hope through the Indian Ocean to Aden and then on through the Red Sea to his final destination which we believe was Cairo. He describes the conditions on board and the ports where they moored. He writes about shore leave and his interactions with local people and comments on apartheid. He appreciated the scenery, buildings and fresh air in South Africa. All very different from industrial Manchester.
Roedd yn ddyn dosbarth gweithiol o Ancoats, Manceinion, a oedd ar y pryd yn rhan dlawd iawn o'r ddinas. Rwy'n ei chael hi'n anhygoel bod dyn o'i gefndir yn gallu ysgrifennu llythyr mor drawiadol.
He sent the letter to his mother and sister and when his mother died in 1953, the letter was given to his elder sister Agnes Fagan, my aunt. Many years later I was researching the family through genealogy and she passed on the letter to me.
Ychydig flynyddoedd yn ôl bu fy nith yn ymchwilio i fanylion y llythyr fel rhan o brosiect hanes ar gyfer ei gradd. Mae gennyf gopi o'r gwaith hwn. Mae'n edrych yn fanwl ar gefndir y llythyr.
Mae gennyf y llythyr gwreiddiol, sy’n fregus iawn, llungopi o’r llythyr gwreiddiol a thrawsgrifiad o’r llythyr.
Mae fy nhad, mam-gu a modrybedd bellach wedi marw. Mae fy mam, gweddw James Dignan yn dal yn fyw ac yn 98 oed.
