Gethin ap Gruffydd

Gethin ap Gruffydd (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈɡɛθɪn ap ˈɡrɨfɨð]) is a Welsh political and cultural activist, born in Merthyr Tydfil

After leaving school Gruffydd found work at a textile wholesaler in Bath, and whilst there contacted and became a member of Plaid Cymru. In 1964 he relocated to Fishguard, waiting seven months in preparation for Plaid Cymru's summer conference. At Fishguard, Gruffydd's characteristic approach to political action drew notice for the first time when he tore down Union Jack bunting at a local féte.

At the Fishguard conference Gruffydd first met long term ally, Cwmbran bus conductor Tony Lewis. Together they formed the Anti-Sais Front.

I and a few others thought we must attempt something in South Wales to rally people towards nationalism, but obviously being English-speakers it couldn't be done through the Welsh language. [...] ...we formed an organization called the Anti-Sais Front, which wasn't anti-English as such, but anti-Anglicisation, and we took much of our inspiration for it from developments in the Flemish areas of Belgium, and from the French-Canadians of Quebec, where the militancy was just emerging strongly. We tried to make the Front patriotic but not in the Welsh language alone." --Gethin ap Gruffydd

There was some overlap in membership and activities between the Patriotic Front and the Free Wales Army, with Gethin ap Gruffydd and Tony Lewis members of both, and the latter having designed the FWA uniform. By July 1966 they had publicly dissociated themselves from the guerilla gestures of the Free Wales Army, seeking instead to create a political pressure group within Plaid Cymru. They formed the Patriotic Front, setting out to recruit from the Welsh majority English-speaking populace neglected by the likes of Plaid Cymru and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg. The Patriotic Front quickly gained support, with several branches set up in Aberdare, the Rhondda and Cwmbran where Tony Lewis opened a club, The Patriot's Rest, at Pontnewydd.

Gruffydd explained that the intended place for the Patriotic Front was for it to become "...incorporated into Plaid Cymru to cater for the more militant, or positive elements within the party." However, in July 1966 Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans was elected to Westminster as MP for Carmarthen and, following this first taste of mainstream political success, the party was in no mood to accommodate the exuberant strain of uniformed militancy emerging at its fringes. The Patriotic Front sent as many of its members as possible to Plaid Cymru's next conference in Maesteg, with the entire front row of the hall comprising a fully uniformed PF contingent (PF uniform consisted of green sidecap, khaki shirt and black trousers.) Despite a positive reaction from party leader Evans, others within Plaid Cymru took a negative view of the Patriotic Front and, following a dispute surrounding the use of funds generated by The Patriot's Rest, the PF was outlawed by Plaid at its 1966 Dolgellau conference.

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