May Owen 1901 – 1972

Er bod nifer o weithredoedd dewr ar y dydd, daeth gweithredoedd y stiward May Owen, o Wdig, i’r amlwg. Achubodd chwech o fenywod a merched. Roedd May Owen a’i chyd-stiward, Jane Hughes*, hefyd o Wdig, yn paratoi i ddeffro teithwyr pan ymosododd awyren yr Almaen yn sydyn. Er yn fach o gorff, roedd May Owen yn fawr o nerth a llawn penderfyniad yn yr eiliadau tyngedfenol hynny. Aeth at grŵp o fenywod ofnus ar y dec isaf. Roeddent yn ymddangos fel pe baent wedi derbyn eu tynged i fynd i lawr gyda’r llong. Ymladdodd May Owen ei ffordd atynt, heb ystyried diogelwch ei bywyd ei hun, a’u harwain at ddiogelwch. Gwrthododd May Owen eu gadael nes iddi weld ei holl deithwyr yn eu siacedi bywyd a thros ochr y llong. Roedd hi ar fin gadael ei hun pan glywodd gwaedd merch arall islaw’r dec. Er iddi sylweddoli mai dim ond munudau oedd gan y llong cyn suddo, aeth islaw eto, a daeth â merch arall i fyny ar y dec a neidio dros yr ochr gyda hi.

Disgrifiwyd suddo fferi Abergwaun i Rosslare gan fomiwr plymio o’r Almaen ar 13 Mehefin 1941 fel “y drasiedi fwyaf y bu’n rhaid i Abergwaun ac Wdig ei hwynebu o fewn cof”. Bu farw deunaw o’r criw – pymtheg o’r gefaill-drefi – ynghyd â 10 o deithwyr, pan ymosodwyd ar y Sant Padrig oddi ar Pen Strwmbwl ychydig cyn y wawr.
Bu May, a oedd yn un o dair merch y porthor harbwr, William T. Owen a’i wraig, Mary Ann, yn gweithio ar fwrdd y fferïau am y rhan fwyaf o’i bywyd gwaith. Priododd Victor Pearce, o Welsh Hook, ym 1960. Nid oedd gan y ddau blant a bu farw May yn eu cartref yn Feidr Dylan, Abergwaun, ym mis Chwefror 1972 yn 71 oed.

(*Roedd Mrs Hughes a meistr y llong, Capten John Faraday, ymhlith y rhai a laddwyd yn y ffrwydrad enfawr a dorrodd y llong yn ddwy.)

Although there were many brave actions on that dreadful day, those of stewardess May Owen, from Goodwick, stood above the rest. She rescued six women and girls. May Owen and her co-stewardess, Jane Hughes *, also from Goodwick, were preparing to wake passengers when a German plane suddenly attacked. Although slight of frame, May Owen was full of strength and determination in those crucial moments. She approached a group of frightened women on the lower deck. They seemed to have accepted their destiny to go down with the ship. May Owen fought her way to them, disregarding her own safety, and led them above. May Owen refused to leave them until she saw all her passengers in their life jackets and over the side of the ship. She was about to let herself down when she heard another woman’s cry from below deck. Although she knew the ship had only minutes left afloat, she descended again, and brought another girl up on deck before jumping overboard with her.

The sinking of the Fishguard to Rosslare ferry by a German dive bomber on 13 June 1941 was described as “the greatest tragedy that Fishguard and Goodwick had to face within memory”. Eighteen of the crew (fifteen from the twin towns of Fishguard & Goodwick) along with 10 passengers, died when St Patrick was attacked off Strumble Head just before dawn.
May, was a harbour porter’s  daughter. William T. Owen and his wife, Mary Ann, had three daughters. She worked aboard the ferries for most of her working life. She married Victor Pearce, of Welsh Hook, in 1960. They had no children and May died at their home in Feidr Dylan, Fishguard, in February 1972 at the age of 71.

(* Mrs Hughes and the ship’s master, Captain John Faraday, were among those killed in the massive explosion that broke the ship in two.)