First published 2021
Local historian Keith O'Brien documents the transformation of Trawsfynydd from Welsh farming community to military installation between 1903 and 1959. O'Brien chronicles how the British war machine displaced local farmers to create an artillery range, prisoner of war camp, and training facility. The book examines community resistance, including poet Hedd Wyn's reaction to hearing cannon fire from his home in Prysor Valley, and Plaid Cymru's protests in the early 1950s led by Gwynfor Evans using nonviolent resistance methods inspired by Gandhi. O'Brien combines previously unpublished historical and contemporary photographs with local testimonies to reveal the full impact of military occupation on this culturally rich Welsh region. The compact, illustrated volume brings to light stories of displacement, resistance, and cultural preservation that have remained hidden for decades.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, military-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: displacement, resistance
Setting: Trawsfynydd, Prysor Valley, Wales
Period: 1903-1959
Paperback · Llygad Gwalch Cyf