Taliesin Mordecai 1891-1963

Ei bywyd yn fyr

His life in brief

Ganwyd Taliesin (John) Mordecai ar 13eg o Fawrth, 1891, yn Bryn Glas Cottage, Heol Merthyr, Pontypridd, Sir Forgannwg, mab hynaf Daniel Mordecai a'i gwraig Rachel (Thomas gynt, ganwyd ym Mhorthyrhyd, Sir Gaerfyrddin). Bu bywyd 'diddorol', amrywiol ganddo.

Gweithiodd am sawl blynedd yn Siop y Gwalia, Bro Ogwr (sydd bellach yn Amgueddfa Werin Sain Ffagan), ond yn 1915, ymunodd o'i wirfodd â'r Royal Flying Corps. Fe gafodd ei hyffordiant yn Brooklands, cyn gwasanaethu fel peilot a hyfforddwr, gan hedfan yr RE8. Wedi iddo cael comiswn ym mis Awst 1917, sefydlwyd yn Winchester, Denham a 5 Training Depot Station, Easton-on-the-Hill, ger Stamford, Swydd Lincoln. Ym mis Chwefror 1918, priododd â Winifred ('Dolly') Goodwin. Gweithiodd Doris, un o chwiorydd Dolly, yn y Gwalia hefyd. Ymddiswyddodd o'r RAF ym mis Mawrth 1919.

Tally yn ei wisg hedfan / Tally in his flying kit

Taliesin (John) Mordecai was born on 13th March 1891 in Bryn Glas Cottage, Merthyr Road, Pontypridd, Glamorgan, the eldest son of Daniel Mordecai and his wife Rachel (formerly Thomas, born in Porthyrhyd, Carmarthenshire). He had an 'interesting' and varied life.

He worked for several years in the Gwalia Stores in Ogmore Vale (which is now in the Museum of Welsh Life at St. Fagans) but in 1915 volunteered for the Royal Flying Corps. He trained at Brooklands, before service as a pilot and instructor, flying RE8s. Following his commissioning in August 1917 he was based at Winchester, Denham and 5 Training Depot Station at Easton on the Hill, near Stamford, Lincs. In February 1918, while at Easton, he married Winifred ('Dolly') Goodwin, one of whose sisters (Doris) had also worked at the Gwalia. He left the RAF in March 1919.

Wedi'r rhyfel, bu nifer o swyddi ganddo, gan cynnwys peiriannydd, siopwr ac, am sbel yn ystod y 1930au, ymglymodd mewn gais i ailagor un o'r mwyngloddiau plwm Gogledd Sir Aberteifi, sef y Loveden Mine, Penrhyngerwin. Pan ddechreuodd yr Ail Ryfel ail-ymunodd â'r RAF a gwasanaethu tan Ragfyr 1944, yn bennaf yn 4 Technical Training School yn Sain Tathan, Sir Forgannwg. Roedd y teulu yn byw mewn sawl lefydd yng Nghaerdydd ar y pryd, a chafodd un tŷ ei bomio.

Wedi'r ail ryfel, symudodd i Solingen yn y Ruhr yn yr Almaen fel rhan o'r Allied Control Commission a oedd yn gyfrifol am dadfilwroli'r Almaen. Bu farw Dolly yn 1949. Ailbriododd Taliesin nes ymlaen ac ymgartrefu yn Finchley, Gogledd Llundain, lle y bu farw yn 1963.

After the war he had a variety of jobs, as an engineer, a shop-keeper and, for a while in the late 1930s, was involved in an attempt to re-open one of the lead mines in North Cardiganshire, the Loveden mine at Penrhyngerwin. On the outbreak of war he rejoined the RAF and served until December 1944, based mainly at No. 4 School of Technical Training at St Athan, Glamorgan. The family lived in several places in and around Cardiff during this time, and one house was bombed.

After the second war he moved to Solingen in the Ruhr as part of the Allied Control Commission, which was responsible for the de-militarisation of Germany. Dolly died in 1949. Taliesin later re-married and settled in Finchley, where he died in 1963.

Sawl llun ohono Some pictures of him

Taliesin with the other aircrew.	Taliesin with the groundcrew.
In a racing car at Brooklands.	Another good landing.
With colleagues in flying kit.

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