The youngest child of James and Matilda McGaffin, nicknamed Conkie, born 29th August 1861 in Ireland; it is not exactly known but at some point he moved to England where, according to 1891 census, he lived at 134 Western College in Harrogate as an assistant tutor. On 8th December 1894, in Warwickshire, he married Ada Margaret Cope. Ada already had a six year old son – I suspect out of wedlock – by the name of Kenneth MacIvor Cope. Despite this Peter seemed happy to bring Kenneth up as if he were his own son. Peter and Ada went on to have six children of their own:
1. Lt. Robert Clanrye McGaffin b. 18th March 1895 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire and d. 5th July 1916 at the Somme – you can read about him in the post ‘Fighting at the Somme’
2. Maud Doreen McGaffin b. 21st September 1897 in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, m. Wilfred Hops and d. 20th May 1975 in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa. They had one son Timothy John Hops b. 1934 in Nairobi, Kenya and d. 18th March 2002 in Port Elizabeth
3. Ralph Charles McGaffin b. 17th January 1900 in Mossel Bay, Western Cape, South Africa, m. Shelagh Kavanack and d. 29th September 1985 in in Lakewood, Ocean, New Jersey. They had three children:
• Margaret McGaffin b. 28th October 1927 in South Africa and d. 30th July 2000 in USA
• Robert McGaffin b. about 1931 in New York
• Shelagh McGaffin b. about 1934 in New Jersey
4. Lt. Trevor Ferris McGaffin b. 8th August 1903 in Norfolk, m. Vera Enges Thiel and d. 1988 in South Africa. They had one son Peter Nile McGaffin b. 8th February 1935 in South Africa and d. 1st November 2005 in South Africa
5. Mary Gwyneth McGaffin b. 6th October 1906 in Mossel Bay, m. Henry Glendhill on 19th December 1930 in Nairobi and d. 22nd February 1995 in Perth, Western Australia
Peter did make South Africa his permanent home but he did travel to Belfast and New York. What made it easier knowing that I had the correct name was due to the fact that his full name was written on the passenger list. The passenger manifests make me believe that he did get married again because on one of his trips he is travelling with a Helen McGaffin who is listed as his wife.
I want to move away from Peter for a moment and talk about his son Trevor Ferris McGaffin. When World War II broke out Trevor enlisted in the 2nd Field Regiment S.A.A and was assigned the number 87768. On 13th June 1942 Trevor was captured at Rigel Ridge and transferred to Camp 47. Some of the Italian guards decided to desert when the Germans arrived and Trevor, along with nine other prisoners, decided to do the same only to be fired upon whilst doing so. He did manage to make it to the coast but was captured at Viareggio on 6th October 1943. The prisoners were being transferred to Germany in a cattle truck and Trevor decided to jump out of the truck but was captured immediately. Upon his arrival at Spittal Trevor exchanged identities with a British officer and managed to make his way to Wolfsberg during he was captured after making another escape attempt in November 1943. Trevor was transferred to a disciplinary camp in Adbach but that didn’t stop him from making an escape attempt in May 1944 during which he made it to the Yugo-Slav border before being betrayed and was sent back to Wolfsberg.
During this time Trevor exchanged identities with a British soldier but the camp in which he found himself did not have favourable conditions for making an escape attempt. As a result he and two other prisoners refused to work which meant they were sent to Furtsenfeld for detention. In June 1944 the three men bent the bars of their cell and escaped but were arrested at the Hungarian border the next day. Four months later in October 1944, Trevor escaped from Unterthal disciplinary camp via a tunnel and did manage to cover 60 miles before being caught. His final, and sixth, escape attempt came on the 20th October 1944 when he jumped from the cattle truck taking him back to Wolfsberg and managed to cross the Yugo-Slav border with the help of a Frenchman.
Trevor was recommended for the military cross upon his return but the sad thing was that his father had died nine months before his final escape attempt on the 24th January 1944 in South Africa.
