THE death of one of the Tryweryn bombers is “a great loss to Wales” according to a heartfelt tribute from one of his co-conspirators.

John Albert Jones, one of three men who blew up a transformer at the dam in bid to stop the village of Tryweryn and surrounding valley being flooded by Liverpool Corporation, passed away last week at the age of 75.

Cllr Owain Williams, another of the bombers and leader of Llais Gwynedd, described John as one of his best friends who was a “very straight, very reliable, immaculate man with a great sense of humour”.

John Albert Jones is renowned for changing the history of public protest in Wales in the early 1960s.

A former military policeman in the Royal Air Force who eventually became a father of 10, Mr Jones was joined by Emyr Llywelyn, a university student from Ceredigion and Owain Williams, a farmer’s son, both of whom were jailed for the bombing.

All three ended up in prison but Mr Jones was allowed conditional bail after six weeks in remand.

Cllr Williams said: “John’s death is a huge loss for Wales.

“It is a loss for his family and for me personally, but also for our whole country - it has been a great shock.

“I met him when I was in my twenties and he was a teenager. Even then he was smartly dressed, he stood out from the crowd.”

Cllr Williams had recently received a postcard from Mr Jones as he visited South Africa, one of his favourite countries, and had intended to speak to his friend just days before he passed away but the phone line was too bad for them to hear one another properly.

“He was a very good friend, he had great integrity,” he said.

“His sense of humour was wonderful too. Even though he was younger, he really kept me going through the first few weeks in prison, he made us see the funny side.

“There’s not many like him now. We will all miss him greatly.”