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A Postcard from Hitler, Stalin and Mr Jones |
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In October 2010 Chief Caravaneer Phil Colley
returned to Inner Mongolia, this time in search of places associated with the
death of his Great Uncle Gareth Jones. Jones was an intrepid Welsh journalist
who had been in the employ of David Lloyd George and who was at the time on a
tour of the Far East investigating the intentions of an increasingly assertive
Japan. He had earlier risked his life, and his career, to bring Stalin's
man-made famine in the Ukraine to the world's attention. As a result of his
reporting Jones was vilified by the British establishment, effectively for
telling the truth about the Soviet Union. Whilst in in Inner Mongolia he was
kidnapped by bandits and later murdered, in as yet unexplained circumstances, on the
eve of his 30th birthday. Phil was accompanied by amateur film-maker George
Carey and footage of their journey was used in the Storyville documentary
'Hitler, Stalin and Mr Jones'. Despite in its conclusions its maker allowing
himself to be seduced by the agenda of America's rabid, ultra-nationalist
Ukraine lobby, the film remains a valiant attempt to tell the story behind the young journalist's untimely demise.
Chief Caravaneer Phil's detective skills
lead to the location of Gareth's kidnap being identified for the first time as well
as identifying the correct location of his place of execution. The documentary
was aired on BBC4 in July 2012. |
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Phil sings the traditional Welsh Folk Song
'Dafydd y Garreg Wen' (David
of the White Rock) . Linguist Jones did not sadly have Mandarin as
one of his languages and was reduced to singing Gregorian chants in
a desperate attempt to ingratiate himself |
Elderly resident of Guan Ma Gou, the village where Gareth Jones was ambushed |
At the time of Gareth's capture the village of Guan Ma Gou was known
as Hou Jia Da Huo Fang
(Wade-Giles - Ho-chia Ta-huo-fang), many villages having been renamed at the time of Mao's
'Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution'. Though today very much a
backwater in those days it lay on one of the few routes between Dolonor
and Paochang. |
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Phil with a villager from Meng Jia Ying,
scene of Jones' execution. The man in the photo was able to recall
village elders discussing the incident as a child. |
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George with his trusty handy-cam |
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Another resident of Guan Ma Gou |
Phil at the site of Kublai Khan's
Xanadu
(pinyin - ShangDu). The site is mentioned in Gareth's account
of his journey to Dolonor (pinyin - DuoLun). |
Cowhand at Guan Ma Gou |
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The continuing destruction of Beijing's hutongs. The architectural soul has been ripped out of the city in recent years, some say as punishments for its residents stance against the Party in 1989. |
Plaque showing the former site of the Japanese consulate in Beijing | The former Japanese consulate in the Dongjiaominxiang Hutong, former Beijing Legation Area |
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| Original section of the Beijing Hotel
where Gareth spent time before his journey to meet Prince De Wang (Teh
Wang) in Inner Mongolia. |
Hutong gate with Tibetan influences in Beijing | After 25 years Phil meets up again with Yin Laoshi, his Mandarin teacher during his time at Beijing Normal University. |
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Ginko leaves with Qianmen gate and TianAnMen Square in the background |
Former site of the German Legation, now home to the Century Hotel. | Searching for the site of Gareth's execution in the backwaters of Inner Mongolia |
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Modern day BaoChang (Wade- Giles - Paochang). It was here that Gareth's body was first brought before its journey back to Beijing and finally, upon cremation, aboard HMS Rawalpindi to Barry South Wales. My mother used to speak of carrying the urn upon her lap on the train journey back from Southampton docks. |
The old route through GuanMaGou. It is likely that Gareth spent his last moments as a free man driving along this section of road before his ambush on exiting the village. | The actual site of the ambush? |
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Village House in GuanMaGou. Most residents are Han settlers who gradually pushed out the nomadic Mongolians as Inner Mongolia was colonised during the latter years of the Qing dynasty. |
Much of Dolonor (DuoLun) remains as it must have been at the time of Gareth's short, ill fated visit in July 1935. It was here he stumbled upon the Japanese Kwantung army and was subsequently arrested. | The Lama Temple in Dolonor visited by Gareth and Dr Mueller shortly before their detention by the Japanese. |
| That's all for now!
With best wishes, from Phil and all aboard |
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| Chief Caravaneer rests on some temple steps in the company of a Mongolia monk in Dolonor. |
