English: This year has marked the eightieth anniversaries of Dunkirk and the battle of Britain and 75 years since VE Day and VJ Day. It's also 60 years since the Malayan emergency ended; 38 years since the Falklands war; 30 years since our armed forces were deployed to the Gulf, following the invasion of Kuwait; and 25 years since the first phase of UK operations in support of peacekeeping missions in the former Yugoslavia ended. During the retreat to Dunkirk, both John Edwards and his cousin Llewellyn Lewis fought in the rearguard defence with the first Royal Welch Fusiliers - or RWF. John Edwards was born in Ruthin in 1911 and was an officer's groom. Llewellyn Lewis was born near Dolgellau in 1919 and was called up at the start of the war. He was 20 when he was captured. Edwards was 28. On 26 May 1940, Edwards and Lewis were far from the beaches of Dunkirk. They'd been ordered to stand and fight until the last round and the last man in an effort to slow the German advance, whilst others were evacuated. The first RWF fought at the small town of Saint-Venant and nearby villages, retaking bridges over important waterways. However, with the Germans still holding other bridges, the company was surrounded, suffered heavy casualties and the final men were captured in an attempted breakout that night. Edwards, Lewis and the other captured soldiers were marched towards Germany with little food and water, and were eventually taken to Toruń in Poland. Edwards spent the rest of the war in captivity, working as a prisoner of war farmer. He returned to Britain in 1945 skeletal and was unrecognisable to those who knew him. Lewis died in Stalag XX-A in 1941, aged 21. Eighty years after the battle of Britain, we remember the Welsh few, 67 men from all corners of Wales who served with distinction in the air and made a significant and gallant contribution to the battle of Britain. They were part of the 2,947 air crew from Britain, the Commonwealth and many other countries that fought in the battle. We remember, too, the vital part played by RAF bases in Wales in supplying pilots and aircraft in that desperate struggle during the long, hot summer of 1940. On 5 September 1940, Sergeant Glyn Griffiths from Llandudno, flying Hurricanes with 17 squadron, shot down a Heinkel He 111 bomber over Chatham. He'd attended John Bright School in Llandudno before joining the RAF as a pilot in 1938. He became a battle of Britain ace - a pilot with five confirmed victories - shooting down 10 enemy aircraft during the battle, for which he was awarded the distinguished flying medal. His medals and flying logbook are now on display in the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff. St Asaph pilot officer Denis Crowley-Milling, flying spitfires with 242 squadron, shot down a Messerschmitt 110 fighter bomber over east London. Later in the war, he shot down a number of enemy aircraft and was awarded the distinguished service order, the distinguished flying cross and bar. In August 1941, he was shot down over France, but he evaded capture and, with the help of the French underground, managed to escape back to Britain and rejoin his squadron. In the years after the war, Denis Crowley-Milling had a distinguished RAF career, rising to the rank of air marshal and also being knighted. For Polish Heritage Day on 9 May this year, I recorded a message for Wrexham's Polish integration centre, referring to the key role played by Polish fighter squadron 303, flying Hawker Hurricanes, which claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 allied fighter squadrons engaged in the battle of Britain. Thirty-one out of the 145 Polish pilots who took part in the battle of Britain died in action. The role played by the RAF in Wales in protecting the skies above Britain continues today. The crews of our Typhoon jets, which defend our skies 24/7, are all trained at RAF Valley on Anglesey, and St Athan performs a vital role in training engineering technicians for the RAF's front line. On 8 May, we commemorated the historic seventy-fifth anniversary of VE Day - Victory in Europe Day - the day on which allied forces formally announced the surrender of Germany, bringing the second world war to a close in Europe. However, many thousands of armed forces personnel were still involved in bitter fighting in the far east. On 15 August, we remembered the seventy-fifth anniversary of VJ Day, commemorating both the surrender of Japan and the end of the second world war.
Welsh: Eleni mae'n 80 mlynedd ers Dunkirk a brwydr Prydain a 75 mlynedd ers Diwrnod VE a Diwrnod VJ. Mae hefyd yn 60 mlynedd ers i argyfwng Malaya ddod i ben; 38 mlynedd ers rhyfel y Falklands; 30 mlynedd ers i'n lluoedd arfog gael eu hanfon i'r Gwlff yn dilyn yr ymosodiad ar Kuwait; a 25 mlynedd ers i gam cyntaf gweithrediadau'r DU i gynnal yr heddwch yn yr hen Iwgoslafia ddod i ben. Yn ystod y cilio i Dunkirk, ymladdodd John Edwards a'i gefnder Llewellyn Lewis yn yr amddiffyniad enciliol gyda'r Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig - neu'r RWF - cyntaf. Ganed John Edwards yn Rhuthun yn 1911 ac roedd yn was i swyddog. Ganed Llewellyn Lewis ger Dolgellau yn 1919 ac fe'i galwyd i wasanaethu ar ddechrau'r rhyfel. Roedd yn 20 pan gafodd ei ddal. Roedd Edwards yn 28. Ar 26 Mai 1940, roedd Edwards a Lewis ymhell o draethau Dunkirk. Roeddent wedi cael eu gorchymyn i sefyll ac ymladd i'r pen ac i'r dyn olaf mewn ymdrech i arafu cynnydd yr Almaen, tra bod eraill yn cael eu tynnu allan. Ymladdodd yr RWF cyntaf yn nhref fach Saint-Venant a phentrefi cyfagos, gan ail-gymryd pontydd dros ddyfrffyrdd pwysig. Fodd bynnag, gyda'r Almaenwyr yn parhau i ddal pontydd eraill, cafodd y cwmni ei amgylchynu, dioddefodd golledion gwael a chafodd y dynion olaf eu dal wrth iddynt ymdrechu i ddianc y noson honno. Gorymdeithiodd Edwards, Lewis a'r milwyr eraill a ddaliwyd tuag at yr Almaen heb fawr o fwyd a dŵr, ac aethpwyd â hwy yn y pen draw i Toruń yng Ngwlad Pwyl. Treuliodd Edwards weddill y rhyfel mewn caethiwed, gan weithio fel carcharor rhyfel ar fferm. Dychwelodd i Brydain yn 1945 yn edrych fel ysgerbwd ac yn ddieithr i'r sawl a'i hadwaenai. Bu farw Lewis yn Stalag XX-A yn 1941, yn 21 oed. Wyth mlynedd ar ôl brwydr Prydain, cofiwn yr ychydig o Gymru, 67 o ddynion o bob cwr o Gymru a wasanaethodd gyda rhagoriaeth yn yr awyr ac a wnaeth gyfraniad sylweddol a dewr i frwydr Prydain. Roeddent yn rhan o'r criw awyr o 2,947 o Brydain, y Gymanwlad a llawer o wledydd eraill a ymladdodd yn y frwydr. Cofiwn hefyd y rhan hanfodol a chwaraewyd gan ganolfannau'r Llu Awyr Brenhinol yng Nghymru yn darparu peilotiaid ac awyrennau yn y frwydr enbyd honno yn ystod haf hir a phoeth 1940. Ar 5 Medi 1940, saethodd Sarjant Glyn Griffiths o Landudno, a oedd yn hedfan awyrennau Hurricane gyda sgwadron 17, awyren fomio Heinkel He 111 i lawr dros Chatham. Roedd wedi mynychu Ysgol John Bright yn Llandudno cyn ymuno â'r Llu Awyr Brenhinol fel peilot yn 1938. Daeth yn un o 'aces' brwydr Prydain - peilot gyda phump o fuddugoliaethau a gadarnhawyd - a saethodd 10 o awyrennau'r gelyn i lawr yn ystod y frwydr, a dyfarnwyd y fedal hedfan nodedig iddo. Mae ei fedalau a'i lyfr log hedfan i'w gweld yn Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru yng Nghaerdydd erbyn hyn. Swyddog peilot o Lanelwy oedd Denis Crowley-Milling, a fu'n hedfan awyrennau spitfire gyda sgwadron 242, a saethodd awyren ryfel Messerschmitt 110 i lawr dros ddwyrain Llundain. Yn ddiweddarach yn y rhyfel, saethodd nifer o awyrennau'r gelyn i lawr a dyfarnwyd fedal hedfan nodedig y groes a'r bar iddo. Ym mis Awst 1941, cafodd ei saethu i lawr dros Ffrainc, ond llwyddodd i osgoi cael ei ddal a chyda chymorth gwrthryfelwyr tanddaearol Ffrainc, llwyddodd i ddianc yn ôl i Brydain ac ailymuno â'i sgwadron. Yn y blynyddoedd ar ôl y rhyfel, cafodd Denis Crowley-Milling yrfa nodedig gyda'r Awyrlu Brenhinol, gan godi i safle marsial yr awyrlu a chael ei urddo'n farchog hefyd. Ar gyfer Diwrnod Treftadaeth Gwlad Pwyl ar 9 Mai eleni, recordiais neges ar gyfer canolfan integreiddio Bwylaidd Wrecsam, gan gyfeirio at y rôl allweddol a chwaraewyd gan sgwadron ymladd Bwylaidd 303 a hedfanai awyrennau Hawker Hurricane, y saethwyd y nifer fwyaf o awyrennau i lawr o'r 66 sgwadron a gymerodd ran ym mrwydr Prydain. Bu farw 31 o'r 145 o beilotiaid Pwylaidd a gymerodd ran ym mrwydr Prydain tra'n gwasanaethu. Mae'r rôl a chwaraewyd gan yr RAF yng Nghymru yn diogelu'r awyr uwchben Prydain yn parhau hyd heddiw. Mae criwiau ein hawyrennau jet Typhoon, sy'n amddiffyn ein hawyr bob dydd o'r flwyddyn, i gyd wedi'u hyfforddi yn RAF y Fali ar Ynys Môn, ac mae Sain Tathan yn chwarae rhan hanfodol yn hyfforddi technegwyr peirianneg ar gyfer rheng flaen yr RAF. Ar 8 Mai, buom yn coffáu 75 mlynedd ers Diwrnod VE - Diwrnod Buddugoliaeth yn Ewrop - y diwrnod y cyhoeddodd lluoedd y cynghreiriaid yn ffurfiol fod yr Almaen wedi ildio, gan ddod â'r ail ryfel byd i ben yn Ewrop. Fodd bynnag, roedd miloedd lawer o bersonél y lluoedd arfog yn dal i ymladd brwydrau chwerw yn y dwyrain pell. Ar 15 Awst, roedd yn 75 mlynedd ers Diwrnod VJ, i goffáu'r diwrnod y bu i Japan ildio a diwedd yr ail ryfel byd.