‘Yr Ysgol Fomio yn Llyn’ 1936

Gwelir felly mai ail beth ac nid y peth pwysicaf yn y rhyfel nesaf fydd ymladd byddin arfog yn erbyn byddin arfog. Y byddinoedd awyr fydd bwysicaf yn y rhyfel hwnnw, a phennaf nod yr awyrblaniau bomio fydd dinistrio dinasoedd, eu Ilosgi a'u gwenwyno, troi gwareiddiad y canrffoedd yn ulw, gollwng i lawr, allan o ddiogelwch yr awyr, yr angau creulonaf ar wragedd a phlant a gwyr diarf a diamddiffyn, a sicrhau, os dianc rhai a'u bywydau ganddynt, na bydd nac annedd na bwyd i'w porthi nac aelwyd i'w cadw yn fyw. Bydd y byddinoedd awyrblaniau hyn mor niferus a nerthol fel na bydd y perygl i'r bomwyr eu hunain ond bychan. Hyfforddir hwynt o flaen llaw i anelu'n gywir at bob math o nod. Mewn gwaed oer hyfforddir hwynt; mewn byr amser dal gelfyddyd yn arferiad; a phan ddisgynnant ddaear wedi gorffen distryw gwareiddiad chyflawni'r anfadwaith pennaf yn hanes creadigaeth Duw, os gofyn un iddynt wedyn ‘Ymhle y'ch hyfforddwyd chwi?' yr ateb fydd, ‘Ym Mhorth Neigwl yn Llyn ac yng nghyffiniau Ynys Enlli a Ffordd y Pererinion a Saint Cymru.'

(free translation)

In the next war the battle of soldier against soldier will be only of secondary importance. The air force will be the most important; most important of all, bombers to destroy burn and poison cities, turning the inheritance of centuries to ashes, raining down death on defenseless men women and children, and ensuring that for any who remain alive there will be no food or shelter to keep them alive.
The aircraft will be so numerous and sopowerful that the fliers themselves will only be in slight danger. They will be trained in cold blood to aim at all sorts of targets. When they return to earth having finished the dirtiest work in the history of creation, if someone asks them ‘Where were you trained?’ The answer will be ‘In Porth Neigwl in Llyn and near Ynys Enlli and the road of the Welsh Saints and Pilgrims’

If it were possible to date the appearance of Welsh Nationalism as a political force rather than a tiny group of reactionary academics, that date would be the date of the 'terrorist' attack on the bombing school being set up on the Lleyn peninsula. Three members of Plaid Cymru the tiny Welsh nationalist party, Saunders Lewis, D.J.Williams and Lewis Valentine set fire to a toolshed on the site of the school, causing minor damage They then handed themselves in to the police.

They were first tried in Caernarfon but the jury refused to convict them so the trial was moved to the Old Bailey where they were found guilty and sentenced to nine months in Wormwood Scrubs. On returning to Wales they were hailed as heroes. They were certainly not socialists but inspired by a mix of anti-imperialism and pacifism.

However in the light of the litany of aerial massacres that have been sanctioned by US imperialism and their acolytes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza, the words of Saunders Lewis on his reasons for taking action are prophetic.