26 April 2007

The Anti - Investiture Struggle 1966 - 1967 - 1968 - 1969.

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1: 1966: A Plot is hatched? (picture opposite Patriotic Front member Mair Huws of Ynys Mon).
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The Propaganda War Begins, and over the years 1967-68-69 the FWA takes to the Hills in Military Training Camps whilst the Patriotic Front takes to the Streets in radical patriotic protest action. We are about to become ''Victims of the Sixties'' in our own ''Field of Dreams'', but who would regret these ''days of fire'', None! to have lived it and fought it was everything, despite the dieing of the dream in an age where idealism counts for nought? We were there and stood our ground!
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2: 1967: A ''Front'' is established as a United Anti - Investiture Campaign is required, and a succesful Anti - Investiture Campaign Coordinating Commitee Meeting is held in Machynlleth in September 1967. The meeting is followed by a march down Maesgwyn high Street led by Denis Coslett FWA Commandant and Gerlert, his white Alsatian. Film of this march can be seen via the National Library of Wales Web Site, see link below and follow through.

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The National Library of Wales - Full Catalogue
Gathering the Jewels also contains access to a number of film clips from the collection of National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales. ...
www.walesontheweb.org/cayw/guides/en/178/ - 37k - cached - related

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The March, in 2004 at the Glyndwr commemoration a women introduced herself to me, and said she was one of the children that had joined the march that day, she told me that it made a life long patriot of her.

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Later a meeting is held in Bridgend to establish a Cymdeithas Llywelyn to take over responsibility for organisation of a 'Broad front' annual Cilmeri Rally in December 1967.

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3: 1968. The Campaign Takes off big time, ''The Year of Revolution''.
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An Highly succesful Rally is held in Caernarfon to launch the campaign.
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Following the example of Quebec Separatists in pulling down statue of General Wolfe, it was planned to pull down the statue of Lloyd George, achitect of the 1911 Investiture (and later Black & Tan terror in Ireland) but the rope got mislayed, and so ''Bradwr George'' still stands in Caernarfon.
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The Cardiff Rally was not such a success, but the later one at Cilmeri was although later in the night fighting broke out with the police, Cayo got arrested and taken to Builth lock up. Patriots protested at door of Police station at which flaming torches were thrown, getting very militant! We mean business?........

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Perhaps it was my fault ''PF Commissar Gethin Goch'' for rabble rousing the ''Boys and Girls'' with radical speech at the rally earlier in the afternnoon, Cayo should not have listened to me so intently? Ah! The Good Ole Days? If I remember it was at the Cilmeri Rally during the evening Detectives grabbed Castro and I, whilst I was being held down over the bonnet of a car and threatened, Castro got thumped by the coppers.
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I am the only one now left alive of the four of us in the picture above, a recent slogan on a rock up on Penrallt in Machynlleth declares 'A Old Soldiers Never Die!' just fade away?
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When Prince Charles visits the Welsh Office there is a major Anti - Investiture protest, smoke bombs are thrown and three people are arrested, including myself. also, in Caerdydd a pro - Investiture meeting at the Temple of Peace (later called Temple of Pieces'') is devestated by a sabotuers bomb placed the night before. That really shakes things up, attack is described as a terrible outrage?

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Smoke Bombs smoking! actually they are meant to debug Green Houses, so perhaps appropriate for use that day in our attempt to get rid of an irritating big Sais bug? Holding poster in pic arguing with Carlo is Pencoed Patriot Murry Jenkins, long passed away but still missed.

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3: Campaign Conclusions: Judge for yourselves (remember newspaper quote at top of the page).
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4: Cilmeri Rally 1970: Beaten but not defeated, the struggle continues, I was in my Irish Exile by then but was working on below, as a pocket magazine while Toni organised the Cilmeri Rally. 40 years later, Cilmeri Rally still going but no longer the focus platform of resistence against the English Monarchy, kind of lost the plot, maybe the 40th anniversaries of 1967, 68 and 69 in 2007,8 & 9 will help Rali Cilmeri rediscover it's ''Rebel Roots'' and we will see an Adfywiad Rali Cilmeri?

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Check out http://adfywiad.blogspot.com and http://coffadcilmeri.blogspot.com For proposals regards 1968 - 2008 'YEAR OF REVOLUTION CILMERI COMMEMORATION. Cofiwch' 68! . Also see http://cofcenedl.blogspot.com

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Rough Draft of idea for a post '69 Magazine, Toni hoped to have produced for Rali Cilmeri 1970, did not get off the ground and by the end of the year, the Patriotic Front was disbanded. By then I was in exile in Ireland and getting ''Politically Re-educated'' towards the left but at same time being influenced by ideas that lead to establishment of Cofiwn when I returned to Cymru in 1972. see http://cofiwn.blogspot.com/ I am still here, at it as per usual some 40 plus years of Patriotic Struggle later, and it does not get any easier.
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See future Posting on Publication of 'Ffrynt' Journal of the Patriotic Front.
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Gethin 'Iestyn' ap Gruffydd.
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