page_title: History of Plaid Cymru
section_title: Bards under the bed 1939–1945
hierarchical_section_title: History of Plaid Cymru / The Lewis Doctrine 1926–1939 / Bards under the bed 1939–1945
caption_attribution_description: South Wales Borderers cap badge, showing the Sphinx
context_page_description: Plaid Cymru; The Party of Wales originated in 1925 after a meeting held at that year's National Eisteddfod in Pwllheli, Caernarfonshire. Representatives from two Welsh nationalist groups founded the previous year, Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru and Y Mudiad Cymreig, agreed to meet and discuss the need for a "Welsh party". The party was founded as Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru, the National Party of Wales, and attracted members from the left, right and centre of the political spectrum, including both monarchists and republicans. Its principal aims include the promotion of the Welsh language and the political independence of the Welsh nation.
  Although Saunders Lewis is regarded as the founder of Plaid Cymru, the historian John Davies argues that the ideas of the left-wing activist D. J. Davies, which were adopted by the party's president Gwynfor Evans after the Second World War, were more influential in shaping its ideology in the long term. According to the historian John Davies, D. J. Davies was an "equally significant figure" as was Lewis in the history of Welsh nationalism, but it was Lewis's "brilliance and charismatic appeal" which was firmly associated with Plaid in the 1930s.
context_section_description: During the Second World War the UK government felt it prudent to "avoid action which might foster the growth of an extreme Welsh nationalist movement". Clement Attlee, UK Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs 1942–43, voiced concern over Welsh nationalists after a deputation of Welsh Labour UK parliamentarians met with him about ignoring Welsh issues during the conflict.
  Attlee characterised Welsh nationalists as "mischievous [who] tend to be against the war effort". To root-out Welsh nationalist sympathies within army units, the UK Ministry of Labour and National Service reported that Welsh-speaking men were posted to predominantly Welsh-speaking units to report on anti-war sympathies.
  Additional plans were developed to counter growing Plaid Cymru influence and included "rolling out" a member of the U.K. Royal Family to "smooth things over", according to then constitutional expert Edward Iwi. In a report he gave to Home Secretary Herbert Morrison, Iwi proposed to make the then Princess Elizabeth Constable of Caernarfon Castle (a post held by David Lloyd George until his death in January 1945), and patroness of Urdd Gobaith Cymru, and for her to tour Wales as Urdd's patroness.
  Appointing the princess as constable of Caernarfon Castle was rejected by the Home Secretary, as potentially creating conflict between north and south Wales, and King George VI refused to let the teenage princess tour Wales, to avoid undue pressure on her; the plan to make the princess patroness of Urdd Gobaith Cymru  was dropped, it being thought unsuitable to link the princess, enlisted in the ATS, to an organisation two of whose leading members were conscientious objectors.
  Bards under the bed was one term coined by UK officials referring to Welsh nationalists and nationalism during the war years.
  If ignoring the largely pacifist traditions of Welsh nationalism, some articles in the Welsh-language press could be seen to give credence to Attlee's fears that Welsh nationalists would be used to spearhead an insurgency. However, this characterisation misrepresented Welsh nationalist sentiments, as "[Welsh nationalists] did far more to bring victory than hasten defeat".
  Ambrose Bebb, a founding member of the party, was one of the most outspoken party members in support of the war. Bebb considered Nazi Germany's total defeat in the war as essential. Additionally, many members of Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru served in Britain's armed forces. Lewis maintained a strict neutrality in his writings through his column Cwrs y Byd in Y Faner. It was his attempt at an unbiased interpretation of the causes and events of the war.
  Irrespective of the party's initial position on the war, party members were free to choose their own level of support for the war effort. Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru was officially neutral regarding involvement the Second World War, which party leaders considered a continuation of the First World War. Central to the neutrality policy was the idea that Wales, as a nation, had the right to decide independently on its attitude towards war, and the denial of any right of another nation to force Welshmen to serve in its armed forces. With this challenging and revolutionary policy Lewis hoped a significant number of Welshmen would refuse enlistment in the British Army.
  Lewis, who served in the South Wales Borderers during the First World War, was not anti-military. Rather, Lewis and other party members were attempting to strengthen loyalty to the Welsh nation "over the loyalty to the British State". Lewis argued, "The only proof that the Welsh nation exists is that there are some who act as if it did exist".
  However, most party members who claimed conscientious objector status did so in the context of their moral and religious beliefs, rather than based on political conviction. Of these, almost all were exempted from military service. About 24 party members made politics their sole ground for exemption, of whom twelve received prison sentences (for refusing to attend a medical examination, as an essential preliminary to call-up, after their claim o
caption: So. Wales Borderers Cap Badge. Plaid members served in the armed forces during the war
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