A Nation on Trial

by Dafydd Jenkins

"On September 8th 1936, in what is recognised as one of the defining moments in modern Welsh history, a Baptist minister, a University lecturer and a school teacher set fire to the partly built RAF aerodrome at Penyberth then calmly reported their actions to the police at nearby Pwllheli, north Wales." "The "Fire" represented the final act in an unsuccessful eighteen month battle to prevent the building of an RAF bombing school in the Llyn Peninsular. There had been considerable opposition to the Ministry of Defence's plans on anti-militaristic, linguistic and environmental grounds. On the proposed site stood an old stone house that had been, in the Middle Ages, a resting place for pilgrims on their way to Ynys Enlli (Bardsey Island - The Isle of Saints). Penyberth was traditionally believed to be the burial ground of twenty thousand saints such as Padarn, Dyfrig and Beuno." "Following the jury's inability to reach a verdict at the initial trial in Caernarfon, the case was transferred