Free Wales Army

The Free Wales Army (FWA; Welsh: Byddin Rhyddid Cymru) was a Welsh nationalist paramilitary organisation formed in Lampeter in Ceredigion (formerly Cardiganshire) by Julian Cayo-Evans in 1963. Its objective was to establish an independent Welsh republic.

The FWA first appeared in public at a 1965 protest against the construction of the Llyn Celyn reservoir. In 1966, the organisation participated in Irish celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the Easter Rising, marching in Dublin. A 1967 late-night television interview with David Frost brought the group to the attention of a wider audience. The group courted publicity, and its leaders attracted a great deal of media attention with extravagant claims of financial support from millionaires, links with the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Basque separatists, and dogs trained to carry explosives. Members wore home-made uniforms and marched in historic sites like Machynlleth, as well as carrying out manoeuvres with small arms and explosives in the Welsh countryside. The organisation claimed responsibility for the bombing campaign of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC), diverting the attention of the authorities and contributing to the arrest of its leadership and the group’s dissolution in 1969.