1939-1945: WORLD WAR II

Once again, the people of Britain focused on their shared identity in the face of a foe that threatened their survival as a nation. Plaid Cymru conceded that the defeat of Germany and its allies overrode any other concern. The pacifism of Saunders Lewis was viewed by many as traitorous, though his willingness to suffer on behalf of Wales became significant after the war when feelings of nationalism again began to surface. As in 1914-18, Welshmen and women were enthusiastic in marching off to defeat the enemy and to save Britain and its Empire (the author's own Welsh father, captured by Japanese troops along with thousands of his fellows at Singapore, often wondered what he had been doing out there in the first place).

1945: LABOUR GOVERNMENT ELECTED

In 1945 the Labour government, headed by Clement Attlee, determined that there should never be a repeat of the unemployment levels that were so common a feature of the pre-war years. The Distribution of Industry Act sanctioned the use of existing factory space in Wales and new industrial estates were established, mainly in the heavily populated south, aided by grants and low-interest loans. A flood of new, light industries came to replace the old reliance on coal.

1946: NATIONAL INSURANCE ACT

It was Lloyd George who had introduced much of the revolutionary welfare legislation during the years 1908-11, and it was two other Welshmen who completed the far-reaching reforms of the Labour Party's policies after WW II. James Griffiths and Aneurin Bevan both worked hard to produce the National Insurance Act of 1946 that compelled all workers to insure themselves against ill-health or unemployment. Two years later, local welfare schemes long practiced in the South Wales coalfield also helped bring about the national Industrial Injuries Act.

1947: WALES GAS BOARD ESTABLISHED

The nationalization of industry began in 1947, the central boards taking over administration of all industry in Wales, yet only the Wales Gas Board was recognized as a national identity. The old encyclopedia entry "Wales: see England," still applied as far as the government was concerned.

1947: WELSH SCHOOL ESTABLISHED AT LLANELLI

To counter the threat to the continuance of the Welsh language caused by massive immigration from England, a private Welsh-medium school was established at Aberystwyth during World War II by Ifan ab Owen Edwards. It wasn't until the Llanelli Welsh School opened in 1947, however, that the startlingly radical idea that Welsh-speaking children could be taught through the medium of their own language began to take hold and even then, only begrudgingly in many areas.

1948: THE COUNCIL OF WALES ESTABLISHED

Despite the objections of Aneurin Bevan, ever anxious to keep Wales closely involved in the mainstream of British politics, intensive lobbying efforts of more-nationalistic-minded James Griffiths helped bring about the Council of Wales in 1948 as a purely advisory body. In 1951, the office of Minster for Welsh Affairs was created to make occasional, ever-so-slight gestures toward the forces that favored devolution. Yet It was a beginning: at long last it was begrudgingly recognized in Parliament that there were such things as Welsh Affairs.

1953: HOWELL ELVET LEWIS DIES

Lewis (Elfed) as a minister, hymn-writer and poet was an important figure in the literary history of his country. One of his hymns, "Cofia'n Gwlad", has been called the second national anthem of Wales. Another popular hymn, written in English, is "The Light of the Morning is Breaking."

1953: DYLAN THOMAS DIES

One bleak November day in 1953, the author was sitting in an English class at Swansea University, less than a mile from Dylan Thomas's childhood home at Cwmdonkin Drive, when the instructor was handed a note. Her brief "Dylan is dead; class dismissed," announced to us that one of the greatest of this century's lyric poets had died in New York City, alone and penniless, and very drunk. The Welsh poet, whose reputation as one of the most important and challenging writers of modern literature in English is assured, is buried in the little sea-side town of Laugharne, Carmarthenshire, where the little shed in which he crafted his art is now a place of pilgrimage.

1954: W.J. CRUFFYDD DIES

W.J. Gruffydd, a quarryman's son from Gwynedd who made many important contributions to Welsh scholarship, wrote poetry praising the hard-working, simple countryfolk (the gwerin) and numerous works dealing with "The Mabinogion."

1955: CARDIFF SELECTED AT NATION'S CAPITAL

A grudging nod towards Welsh aspirations came from Westminster when Cardiff was chosen as a capital city for Wales (beating out other more historic and "more Welsh" candidates such as Aberystwyth, Caernarfon, and Machynlleth). Wales could now think of herself as a real nation with its own capital city, on equal footing with other small nations throughout Europe.

1956: YSGOL GLAN CLWYD LEADS THE WAY

In heavily anglicized Flintshire, Dr Hadyn Williams was mainly responsible for setting up Wales's first secondary school that would teach through the medium of the Welsh language. First located in Rhyl, a seaside resort, and then moved inland to St. Asaph (Llanwelwy), Ysgol Glan Clwyd was followed by similar schools in Flintshire, (Ysgol Maes Garmon in Mold) in 1961, and in Glamorganshire (Ysgol Rhydyfelen) in 1962. A great beginning had been made, and despite much resistance (even in Welsh-speaking areas such as Preseli), there were fourteen such schools by the mid-1980's. Throughout Wales, sensible parents are beginning to see the advantages of a bilingual education for their offspring and no longer accept the argument that their English would suffer.

1957: THE DROWNING OF TRYWERIN

In the 1950's with the increased wealth and leisure time of the British population and the improved roads leading into Wales, ancient language strongholds were crumbling fast under the invasions of the hordes from Merseyside and the English Midlands (it didn't really matter in much of South Wales, where the predominant language had long been English). To add insult to injury, the Liverpool Corporation got the go-ahead from Parliament (despite the objections of all the Welsh M P's) to drown the Trywerin Valley to satisfy its thirsty multitudes (many of whom were immigrants from Ireland).

No matter that Trywerin housed a strong and vibrant Welsh-speaking community, the plan went ahead. The whole village had to be rehoused elsewhere (how about a nice, council flat in lovely bucolic Liverpool?). The powerlessness of Wales, its people, and even its representatives in Parliament was startlingly demonstrated by the drowning of the valley. It was apparent that something had to be done and be done soon, or the nation of Wales would be gone forever.

1958: HUW T. EDWARDS DEFECTS

Trywerin had its positive results after all. As a young man living in Flintshire at the time, I remember the immense popularity enjoyed by Huw T as the secretary of the all-powerful Transport and General Workers Union in the North and the shock caused by his defection from the Labour party to Plaid Cymru in 1958. Edwards resigned his chairmanship of the Council of Wales because of its ineptitude and lack of clout. By attracting such well-known and respected personalities, Plaid could no longer be regarded a "bunch of fanatic nationalists."

1962: A NEW "CYMDEITHAS YR IAITH GYMRAEG" FOUNDED

Saunders Lewis, perhaps the most respected literary figure in Wales, certainly its finest dramatist, had been one of "the Penyberth Three" that stirred the conscience of the Welsh people in their general apathy towards the continuing loss of their language and culture. In 1962, following Trywern, Lewis's concern that the Wales he knew would soon disappear unless drastic action was taken, was expressed in his radio lecture of 13 February, "Tynged yr Iaith". Its effect was revolutionary, starting a chain of events that transformed the attitudes of so many in Wales and leading to the formation of a new Cymdeithias Yr Iaith Gymraeg. (the Welsh Language Society).

Beginning with a sit-down to block traffic at Trefechan Bridge, Aberystwyth on 23 February, 1963, the Society went on a long campaign of civil disobedience to force the Government to recognize the Welsh language. Its activities bore fruit with the report The Legal Status of the Welsh Language (1965) recommending that Welsh be given equal validity with English in law. Its other campaigns led to the provision of adequate television facilities in Welsh and the Government's acceding to the demand for road signs and traffic directions in Welsh as well as English.

1964: SECRETARY OF STATE FOR WALES CREATED

The Labour Government under pressure, reluctantly created a Secretary of State for Wales with popular James Griffiths the first to occupy the position. The subsequent filling of the position by party hacks with no interest in Wales, merely using the post as a rung on the ladder to advancement, has not diminished the acknowledgement that Wales needed its own Secretary of State to address its own particular concerns.

1966: GWYNFOR EVANS ELECTED (14 July)

At Carmarthen, in the election caused by the death of Lady Megan Lloyd George, the popular Gwynfor Evans of Plaid gained a majority over the Labour candidate that put him in Parliament. Westminster now had its first MP from a party born in and centered in Wales that put the interests of the Welsh people first.

1966: THE ABERFAN DISASTER (21 October)

At Aberfan, near Merthyr Tydfil, 144 children and their teachers at the Pant-Glas Junior School were buried under a pile of slag (piled-up waste from the collieries) that, softened by heavy rain, slipped unnoticed down the mountain side. The tragedy, shocking the whole of Britain out of its complacency, hastened the ever-so-slow clean up of the industrial wastes in the South Wales valleys after the departure of the old industries.

1967: THE WELSH LANGUAGE ACT

The Hughes-Parry Report of 1965, The Legal Status of the Welsh Language recommended that "anything done in Welsh should have the same legal force as it would in English." This principle, somewhat diluted, was incorporated into the Welsh Language Act. Though the Act granted the right to testify in Welsh in Court, and the right to have official, government forms translated from English, in effect, it was hopelessly inadequate. Its inadequacies, however, whetted Welsh appetites for more and stirred up the activities of Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Gymraeg.

1967: THE GITTINS REPORT

Professor Gittins, who supervised the author's teacher-training at Swansea University in the mid-1950's, headed the committee that produced the report Primary Education in Wales. It recommended that "every child should be given sufficient opportunity to reasonably bilingual by the end of the primary stage" As most Welsh children were monoglot English speakers, the implementation of the report in the more enlightened areas created a new generation of those who could speak Welsh by the time they were ready for entry into Secondary education. Some education authorities, such as West Glamorgan, were notoriously adverse to the idea. Their blinkered vision reflected more than 100 years of Anglicization.

1969: THE INVESTITURE OF CHARLES AT CAERNARFON

Ever since Edward I made his son Prince of Wales and Count of Chester at Caernarfon Castle in 1300, the title Prince of Wales has been automatically confirmed upon the first-born son of the sovereign. In 191l, the spectacle came to the attention of the world when movie newsreels and radio broadcasts showed the ceremonies that invested the future Edward VIII at Caernarfon under the shrewd orchestration of Lloyd George. Even more hoopla attended the 1969 investiture of Charles, also at Caernarfon, which was televised to the world and in which the young prince was satirized in a popular song by Dafydd Iwan as "Carlo." Fair play for Charles, he did go to Wales to learn some of the language, an idea that had been suggested to the tutors of the future Charles II, and the future Edward VII (nothing came of the earlier suggestions).

1969: DEATH OF JIMMY WILDE, "THE MIGHTY ATOM" (March)

Jimmy Wilde, whose nicknames include "the Mighty Atom," "the Tylorstown Terror," and The Ghost with a Hammer in his Hand," was the smallest and lightest world champion ever. Born at Tylorstown, Rhondda, on 15 May 1892, he fought at 98 lbs, having to give away a great deal of weight to his opponents in the ring, some of whom were almost twice his weight. It is claimed that Wilde fought 864 opponents, starting in the boxing booths at the Valleys fairgrounds. The only boxer from Britain to be accepted in the USA as the finest in his division (fly weight), he was rated by four top American sportswriters as the greatest boxer ever. During his career, Jimmy averaged one bout every eight days. He had begun fighting as a coal miner. He once stated that the hardest fight in his life was that with his wife Elizabeth after he had lost a huge amount of money gambling with fellow Welsh boxer Jim Driscoll.

In today's terms, though he won only two world titles, he would have won five versions of the world championships "in a week if he'd wanted to" according to famed English boxing reporter Reg Gutteridge.