GARETH JONES. A Manchikuo Incident: The Manchukuo Incident [Paperback]

A marvelous read which shows how much time and effort went into its research and writing.

Gareth Jones is undoubtedly one of the great untold stories of Welsh history.

It is a compelling story, and grips the reader from page one.

The whole tale reads compulsively onwards to its tragic end - the overriding impression is of admiration for what Gareth achieved.

Gareth Jones was killed in Inner Mongolia on the eve of his 30th birthday in 1935. The last words he wrote, before he was captured by bandits were: “There are two roads to Kalgan to where we go back; over one 200 Japanese lorries have travelled; the other is infested by bad bandits.” A ransom of £8,000 was demanded by the bandits. The story commences in Japan where he interviewed a number of Japanese politicians of worldwide influence. He was a journalist on a ‘Fact Finding Tour of the World’. That he had been David Lloyd George’s Foreign Affairs Adviser gave him entrée into the presence of these famous men. Leaving Tokyo he visited a number of Far Eastern countries and in each he made exhaustive enquiries into local political opinion for it was his ambition to write a book on the intentions of the Japanese in the Far East. He travelled through China and his eventual destination was to be Manchukuo, from where he never returned alive. His death at such a young age, in my opinion, was not an act of local Chinese banditry, but should be seen in the light of the global events of the nineteen-thirties. To quote Mr R. Barrett of The Critic of Hong Kong in a letter of condolence to Gareth’s father:

There is no doubt that Gareth was in deep waters, for the swirl of Far Eastern politics is more ruthless and treacherous than anything conceivable in the West, more a mixture of petty interests of money and ‘face’ with the enormous clash of national interests. They knew what he had discovered in Russia and they knew what he had found out in the East.

Eryl, Porth y Castell, Barry, was until burgled some 10 years ago, the Jones’ family home. Miss Gwyneth Vaughan Jones, Gareth Jones’ sister, then in her nineties had hoped to end her days there, but due to the burglary this was not to be the case. The house, which once echoed with the sounds of happy, lively conversation and was full of life and laughter had taken on a lonely, melancholic air. Clearing the house was of great sadness to her relations as its contents spanned a hundred years of family history. Old photos of relatives long since gone, many unnamed, kept as memories of the past by my grandparents along with many other items of our family heritage were uncovered in every room. At the bottom of the second flight of stairs leading to the attic with paper peeling off the walls with age and plaster crumbling, amidst old domestic equipment, I found a brown leather suitcase monogrammed with ‘G.R.V.J.’. On opening it to my surprise I discovered that Gareth’s diaries had been lovingly kept by my grandmother. Under the bed in what was my grandmother’s room, thick with dust which nearly choked me, was a black tin box with many of Gareth’s letters and other documents relevant to his death. Nothing had been thrown away.

Since then I have found many other items connected with his death and I am still doing so. Recently, I discovered Gareth’s copy of Hitler’s Mein Kampf. In addition within a book in German entitled Kreig in China [War in China], a letter from Baron von Plessen (who will be referred to later in the story), fell out which has possibly never been read until now. He had returned the book that belonged to my uncle and referred to him as ‘poor Gareth Jones’.

In the Introduction, the reader will discover a brief history of his short but eventful life. Then the story begins with a copy of his last letter home. As a result of my investigations into his death, I realised that Gareth’s tale of political intrigue commenced in Japan so my story then covers his experiences from that country until his eventual capture by bandits in Manchukuo. I have incorporated this into a ‘travelogue’ incorporating his many letters and diaries. Though it may appear to be a separate story, it is none the less, a colourful description of the Far East in the mid-thirties and portrays the adventurous and inquisitive nature of a young journalist. His diaries were written as an aide-mémoire, intended for the book that Gareth eventually planned to write on his return. This will become apparent on reading some of the chapters, particularly those on the Philippines. His letters home are affectionate, showing great love for his family, and his diaries often contain rather serious interviews with some of the most outstanding politicians of the time. A scrapbook of worldwide newspaper reports on his capture, subsequent murder by bandits was given by a journalist to his family, and extracts taken from these reports as well as many others appear in chapters 14 and 15. In the final part of the book I have tried to piece together whatever evidence there was and from this to investigate the reason for his premature death. With this in mind I have researched many books, the Public Record Office documents applicable and also letters sent to my grandparents by David Lloyd George’s secretary Mr A.J. Sylvester. The latter gave my grandparents so much support in their grief. Ultimately, this is a story constructed faithfully from Gareth’s papers.

Gareth appeared to have been very influenced by a best-selling travelogue by Peter Fleming entitled One’s Company, published in 1934. From this book describing the author’s adventures in the Far East, Gareth planned his own journey through China en route to Manchukuo.

Every photograph, card and newspaper cutting (except the maps) that I have used in the book have come from those kept and treasured by my grandmother showing the depth of loss that she felt from the death of her beloved son on the eve of his 30th birthday. The quality reproduced may not be excellent, but they are worthy of reproducing and this book is a dedication to my uncle’s short life and a personal labour of love.

Siriol Colley was evacuated in 1940 to Canada where she commenced her medical education. For 35 years she was a General Practitioner in Nottingham. She has four sons and eight grandchildren. After the death of her husband in 1973 she took up scuba diving and has dived with sharks in the South China Seas, with sea lions off the Galapagos Islands and has seen many spectacular fishes in the oceans throughout the world. She has dived on the wrecks of the German battleships scuttled in 1919 in Scapa Flow in the Orkneys and she has assisted in the underwater survey of the East Indiaman, the Earl of Abergavenny. The ship was en route to India and China and sank off Weymouth in 1805 with great loss of life. John Wordsworth (William’s brother) was the captain.

The murder of Gareth Jones has intrigued her family and almost 15 years ago she commenced researching the story hoping to find a reason for his premature death