Operation Pegasus: Go! Go! Go!

"We were awakened this morning by the roar of helicopter rotors as flight after flight of Wessex helicopters landed in the abandoned Pen-y-Pound Cricket Ground here in Abergavenny to pick up waiting lines of Paratroopers before heading towards the Welsh lines in the hills to the west. Other helicopters, Pumas and Chinooks flew overhead, after picking up their cargoes from marshaling areas in Bailey Park in the centre of the town. What we are witnessing is a major operation unfolding. Bob Langley for the, BBC."

"From advanced Government positions we can hear the far off crackle of small arms fire. During the last two nights we have seen tracers in the Hills. Unconfirmed reports suggest these were members of the Special Air Service attacking Free Welsh outposts and potential helicopter ambush positions".

"Lieutenant-Colonel Angus Mackenzie gave a short briefing outside the cricket pavilion to assembled officers...

"Gentlemen and members of the press. Today we are launching the largest operation of this war to date. We are confident of a successful outcome. I expect my officers and men to treat our fellow countrymen  who have taken up arms against the Government with respect. You have your orders. Dismiss."

"With that Colonel Mackenzie strode to a waiting Gazelle helicopter from the Army Air Corps which took off and headed west towards the Black Mountains. Brian Hanrahan, BBC News, Abergavenny". 


Cheers
Mark

NEWSFLASH... WALES INVADED

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A spokesman for the Emergency Government has announced that military operations have begun aimed at restoring legitimate government in Wales.

Abergavenny in South Wales is effectively under a state of siege and the sound of artillery can be heard by Abergavenny Hospital Radio.

More on News At Ten.

Operation Idris

"Good evening. On Panorama tonight we bring you a special report on the full story of the last few days' tumultuous events along the Welsh border.

Jeremy Paxman reports from Shrewsbury.

"Shropshire is a county in shock. Last Sunday, a column of Landrovers led by an armoured car appeared in Montgomery, just over the border. A group of heavily armed Welshmen in military uniform declared a Welsh Free State on the steps of the town hall. 

To many, it seemed a joke at the time but yesterday those same Landrovers, armed with heavy machine guns and brimming with armed militia, tore through South Shropshire, from Shrewsbury as far as Leominster, leaving a trail of blown bridges, culverts and apparently mined roads. They did, however, take a few minutes out to sing a hymn at a wedding reception in Craven Arms before blowing the railway bridge. As Government forces closed in, they made a quick dash back into Wales via Leintwardine and dispersed there along Forestry Commission tracks. 

There are reports, unconfirmed, that the radar dish at RAF Clee Hill was destroyed by an anti-tank missile. An unidentified army source commented, "the RAF are really narked; there's not a working bridge in sight and we are clearing those mines very carefully. If we did want to go for Wales, we aren't doing it from Shropshire".

In the studio tonight we look at events in London. Rumours abound that the Colonels from a number of Welsh regiments had told the MOD and Army Council that they would not order their men to fire on fellow Welshmen.  These officers were summoned to the MOD to "clarify issues". They have not been heard from since and the belief has developed that they had been summarily court martialled. The Welsh Guards were not involved but a message is known to have reached the regiments concerned via an officer of the Welsh Guards. A copy of the message reads "Cut and run; get the boys home".

Late last night a large military convoy left the Home Counties along the M4. When challenged by Police, an officer in the lead vehicle replied "Dont worry boys, we're off to sort those Taffs out we are". As the column crossed over the M5, they were cheered by a convoy of Royal Marines heading north. The truth emerged when they then crossed the Severn at Tewkesbury and were last seen driving out of Ledbury for Mid Wales. Military Police had, by now found the entire barracks, married quarters, motor pool and armouries empty, apart from a few English soldiers who were totally drunk. "All the vehicles that left the barracks, crossed Offa's Dyke" said a local reporter who hitched a ride with the last convoy, "I counted them out and I counted them back in"

It is now quite clear that the so-called Free Wales Army diversion in Shopshire was planned to cover the wholesale exodus of what appears to be possibly two battalions of professional soldiers. Meanwhile the Welsh Guards, who remained at their post, have now withdrawn to barracks and posted troops in full battle dress on guard. They are reported to be under a stage of siege as the Provisional Government seeks to disarm them. Welsh Battalions in Germany have reported to the Bundeswehr Command as ready to serve under NATO.

Tonight Radio Free Wales was heard to broadcast "Wales is no longer in the UK but is very much part of Europe. We stand with NATO and hope NATO will respond in the same way". We now go over to..." SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

"We apologise for the interruption to this programme"

Radio Free Wales

Teulu Cymru HQ

" Radio Free Wales 271.4mhz, is pleased to announce the liberation of Montgomery by forces of the Teulu Cymru (Welsh Cadre), 2nd Brigade, Free Wales Army. Across Cymru, forces of freedom are regaining the land of our forefathers". 

"Radio Free Wales. Join us. Freedom is ours!"

How Green Was My Drop Zone

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Or The Winter of 79 in Wales

Historically the result of the 1979 Devolution referendum was a blow to the cause of any kind of devolved governance in Wales but shadowy activists such as Meibion Glyndwr showed that some people were taking up part of the mantle of Free Wales Army and MAC.

So much for reality.

In Winter of '79 terms, the realisation of the policies and agenda of the Conservative Government meant that Tories disapeared from the political landscape; MPs retreated to London, councillors resigned out of shame, fear and in some cases were strong armed off in local council coups. Cardiff and Newport went Labour but declared themselves open cities while the mining communities of the Valleys joined with the Neath-Port Talbot-Swansea-Llanelli areas in a loose hard left alliance. A combination of militancy, terrain, acess to mining explosives, armed local TA members and presence of a number of Spanish Civil War veterans as radical leaders rapidly turned the Rhonddas into No Go Areas for Govt Forces.

In the hilly, wooded, sometimes misty, frustratingly named and twisty roaded, countryside, the Liberals and the Nationalists shared influence with many farmers and landowners forming local patrols to keep outsiders out.

The Army is already pulling troops east into England and the remaining forces are ordered to adopt "Ulster Rules" and bemused locals see armoured watch towers appear as the Army forts up in it's bases. With the M4 zone effectively closed at Swansea, the MSR runs from Hereford to Dering Lines at Brecon and then along the A40 to SENTA; from there it runs only as far as land rover based patrols can escort lorries down towards Carmarthen. Penally and Castlemartin are supplied by the Navy or helicopter lifts. The Army, dug into bases has no real idea as to the mood of the locals and refer to the country in general as "Indian Country" and the rumoured armed Nationalists as the "Viet Taff".

Does an armed Nationalist movement exist? Is there a threat of weapons and ASU's filtering in from Ireland through the now porous and long Anglo-Welsh border? Many senior officers in London now realise why Edward I made sure of Wales before moving on Scotland. There are reports of helicopters flying into Mid Wales from Hereford and lost sheep are blamed on long haired men with fearsome moustaches and carrying
M16s spotted at dusk or dawn. But are they the SAS or Yr Rhyfelwyr, The 1st March Brigade or any one of many alleged armed groups?

As an anomymous 2 Para Officer said to Max Hastings at a rainsoaked LZ in the Mynydd Eppynt, "Out there, Max, is the entire 2nd Welsh Nationalist Division. We only have to find him."

The next day the entire TA stock of kit at Carmathen was reported as "Lost on manouvres" along with most of the TA troop.

Cheers

Maff
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