The Alcantara, Royal Mail Line

My cousin, Ray Jarvis, worked on this ship in the 1930s. He was at sea for many years. On one occasion he brought me a canary from South Africa. This was just before WW2. I was never able to have my canary because the war started and it was not pssible to visit the Hampshire coast where the Jarvises lived for a long time. As happened with many cage birds during that time my canary died due to the impossibility of getting the proper food for them. I was very sad about this.