This astonishing ‘hidden history’ from the archives of Wales’ Temple of Peace shocks almost all who hear it – and yet offers a fascinating insight into the turbulent journey behind modern Wales.
- View ‘Cardiff Past’ feature “The Bombing of the Temple of Peace”
In the early hours of 17 November 1967, a terrorist bomb was detonated at Wales’ National Temple of Peace & Health, causing extensive damage to the reception area and facade and destroying many items that had been displayed since the opening 20 years earlier, in November 1938. The bomb was just 6 days before the Temple’s anniversary.
The Temple had been selected as a target by the then relatively unknown ‘underground’ group Mudiad Amddyffin Cymru (MAC), on the basis that the building was hosting a meeting of civil servants later that day who would be undertaking planning for the Investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales the following year at Caernarfon Castle.
The attack sparked outrage among many, not least the symbolism of having bombed the very building that symbolised the Welsh nation’s commitment to peace and the nation’s memorial to the fallen of WW1.
Among the Temple of Peace Archives, are included a ‘bomb box’ (archive cabinet 14D, Box UNA10) containing the papers from the public appeal to restore the damaged building over the months that followed.
Further archives & references
View ‘Cardiff Past’ feature “The Bombing of the Temple of Peace”
Wales History – BBC 1 News Archive Report on Bomb Damage to Wales’ Temple of Peace
Wikipedia – John Barnard Jenkins of Mudiad Amddyfin Cymru