The letter is a 6 page missive. It was 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.
He was a working class man from Ancoats, Manchester, then a very poor part of the city. I find it amazing that a man from his background could write such an impressive letter.
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.
A few years ago my niece researched the details of the letter as part of a history project for her degree. I have a copy of this work. It looks in depth at the background to the letter.
I have the original letter, which is very fragile, a photocopy of the original letter and a transcript of the letter.
My father, grandmother and aunts are now dead. My mother, James Dignan’s widow is still alive and is 98 years old.
