The National Patriotic Front emerged from the Anti-Sais Front (literally the "Anti-English Front") in 1964, a Welsh nationalist organisation founded by Gethin ap Gruffydd to appeal to the predominantly English-speaking working-class communities of south Wales.[1] Gruffydd believed that established Welsh nationalist organisations such as Plaid Cymru and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg were too focused on Welsh-speaking communities while neglecting English speakers.[2] As was the case for many in Wales during the 1960s, Tony Lewis and Gruffydd became radicalised by the events surrounding the flooding of Tryweryn by Liverpool Corporation.[3] Despite the name of the NPF’s parent organisation, Gruffydd maintained that it was not anti-English in terms of hostility toward the English people, but rather opposed to the perceived anglicisation of Wales.[1]
Similar to the Free Wales Army (FWA), which was developing around the same time, the Patriotic Front adopted paramilitary uniforms for its members, distinguished by their khaki appearance.[4] The organisation’s flag consisted of a horizontal Welsh republican tricolour, adjoined on the left by a black bar bearing an Awen — a symbol rooted in Druidism and attributed to Iolo Morgannwg.[5][6] Another symbol commonly associated with the group was Harri Webb’s “White Eagle of Snowdonia,” known in Welsh as Yr Eryr Wen (literally “the White Eagle”).[7] Adopted by the FWA, variations of the symbol also appeared on the flags and uniforms of the Patriotic Front, and Tony Lewis was responsible for adapting it into metal insignia worn on the caps of members of the paramilitary.[8] Lewis also helped the Patriotic Front establish its own headquarters and social club in the Pontnewydd area of Cwmbran, named “The Patriot’s Rest,” which led to the creation of the organisation’s youth wing, the Young Patriots’ League (YPL).[9][10][11] Other branches of the organisation were formed across the valleys of south Wales, notably in Aberdare and the Rhondda.[5] The group began publishing its own magazine, Y Ffrynt (literally “The Front”), copies of which were later uploaded to Gethin ap Gruffydd’s blog in 2007.[12]
There was a significant degree of cross-membership between the Patriotic Front and the FWA, with Tony Lewis and Gethin ap Gruffydd belonging to both organisations following their first meeting with Julian Cayo-Evans at the Llyn Celyn opening protest in 1965.[10] Over time, tensions emerged between Gruffydd and Cayo-Evans over political strategy, as Gruffydd favoured operating as a pressure group on the fringes of Plaid Cymru rather than engaging in the more militant displays of the FWA.[4] In particular, Gruffydd grew increasingly frustrated by Dennis Coslett’s extravagant claims to the media and his insistence on wearing his uniform in public, which risked arrest under the Public Order Act 1936.[13] Another point of contention was that members of the Patriotic Front were generally left-wing in their political orientation, in contrast to the more right-wing politics of Cayo-Evans and Coslett.[14] However, Lyn Ebenezer claimed that, excluding Cayo-Evans and Coslett, the bulk of the FWA’s membership was left-wing and that members generally got along well despite their ideological differences, noting that Cayo-Evans’ anti-communism stemmed from his experience fighting with the MNLA in Malaya.[15][16] Disagreements over strategy culminated in the Patriotic Front publicly disassociating itself from the FWA in 1966, although the groups continued to cooperate with each other.[4] Both Gruffydd and Lewis were later drawn back into the FWA as active members, which ultimately resulted in their arrest and prosecution during the 1969 trial.[17] During a search of Cayo-Evans’ Glandenys estate in Silian, police uncovered lettered correspondence between the leaders of the two organisations, in which Gruffydd’s frustrations were made clear, writing:
The trouble is Cayo, you out in the west are totally out of touch with things, not only in the south but outside nationalist circles. I have nothing against Coslett as a nationalist or a man but when it comes to FWA affairs it is a different matter. He is making the Army look stupid, Cayo; wake up to the fact. Without the uniforms and Press and TV dancing around him, would Coslett still be in this game? Probably, yes, he's that much of a patriot but that does not get us away from the fact he is still fucking things up... We must remember, the FWA is living on a legend of news-paper cuttings.[13]
Despite the Patriotic Front’s efforts to publicly distance itself from the antics of the FWA, its members - along with others associated with militant activity, such as Owain Williams - were banned from Plaid Cymru at the party’s August 1966 conference in Dolgellau.[18] While the party’s president, Gwynfor Evans, was reportedly impressed by the large contingent of uniformed NPF members who attended an earlier conference in Maesteg, other senior figures in the party were less receptive. After Plaid Cymru’s breakthrough victory in the 1966 Carmarthen by-election in July of that year, sentiment within the party turned against the more radical elements on its fringes. The party’s decision to blacklist the Patriotic Front was further influenced by a series of disputes over the group’s use of funds generated by The Patriot’s Rest in Cwmbran, which at one point even prompted police involvement following complaints from Plaid Cymru officials. In the months following the Dolgellau conference, a skirmish unfolded in the media between representatives of Plaid Cymru and more radical nationalist groups, with Barrie Cox of the Cwmbran party branch decrying the FWA and NPF for involvement in "knife-carrying" and “psychedelic activities” involving LSD. Responding to the accusations in the media, Julian Cayo-Evans responded "We have never condemned Plaid Cymru as such. All we have condemned is their incapacity of doing anything other than passing resolutions which get them nowhere."[19]
Following the May 1967 announcement that Prince Charles would be invested as Prince of Wales in an official ceremony in Caernarfon on 1 July 1969, the Patriotic Front launched the first organised anti-investiture campaign. Cymdeithas Llywelyn (Welsh for “Llywelyn Society”) was formed in September 1967 by the NPF to oppose the investiture. The group held its first protest in Cilmeri on 11 December that year, marking the anniversary of the death of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd at the hands of English forces in 1282. Attendees marched to the memorial stone near the village, which is said to mark the site where Llywelyn was ambushed and killed during the conquest of Wales, earning him the epithetLlywelyn ein Llyw Olaf (literally “Llywelyn our Last Leader”).[20] The protest became an annual commemoration of Llywelyn that continues to the present day, with the FWA becoming a regular participant; this culminated in a clash between police and members of both the FWA and NPF in December 1968.[21][22] In the lead-up to the investiture, the Patriotic Front actively protested against events associated with the ceremony’s preparations and sought to organise a unified opposition with other nationalist organisations, including Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg. In November 1967, the two organisations protested the arrival of Lord Snowdon and the investiture preparation committee at the Temple of Peace in Cardiff, which had been targeted by a Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC) bombing the previous evening.[23] Gethin ap Gruffydd was dragged away and arrested by police during the protest after being caught throwing eggs at members of the committee.[24]
The organisation was effectively dissolved in 1969 after its leaders were arrested and charged for their involvement with the FWA, although Tony Lewis avoided a prison sentence.[25]
Thomas, Wyn (2022). Hands Off Wales: Nationhood and Militancy. Y Lolfa. ISBN978-1-80099-229-0.
Vittle, Arwel (2023). Charles and the Welsh Revolt. Y Lolfa. ISBN978-1912631384.
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