Ninety years after his tragic death, a campaign is underway to honour legendary Welsh journalist Gareth Jones, a true son of Barry, by naming a public square in his hometown after him.
Philip Colley, Gareth Jones’s great-nephew and a leading authority on his life, is spearheading the call to dedicate a Waterfront square to the fearless journalist. The proposal will be officially announced at a commemorative event, “The Amazing Gareth Jones: A Life in Pursuit of Truth,” taking place on Wednesday, August 13th, at 7 pm at the Barry War Museum & Heritage Centre, Barry Island.
“We hope Gareth’s memory and true story can finally be celebrated in his beloved hometown,” said Mr. Colley. “Barry is the place to which he returned after each of his foreign travels and of which he always spoke with such affection in his writings.”
Gareth Jones rose to prominence for his courageous exposure of the horrific 1930s Soviet famine, boldly revealing the culpability of Stalin and his regime in the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, Kazakhs, and Russians. Despite concerted efforts by the Bolsheviks to suppress the truth, Jones’s unwavering resolve and courage ensured the world learned of the tragedy. His remarkable story was later brought to a wider audience through the fictionalised film, Mr. Jones.
While plaques at Aberystwyth University and Merthyr Dyfan cemetery, and an exhibition of his diaries at Cambridge University, already acknowledge his legacy, and five streets in Ukraine bear his name, his hometown of Barry has yet to honour him in a similar fashion.
Jones’s reports initially sparked international controversy, with the New York Times, influenced by a correspondent’s collusion with the Soviet regime, initially denying his claims. Undeterred and even blackballed by parts of the British Establishment, Jones stood by his work, ultimately ensuring the truth prevailed. His extraordinary life saw him cross paths with historical figures such as Adolf Hitler, Lenin’s widow Krupskaya, Frank Lloyd Wright, President Herbert Hoover, and Irish Taoiseach Eamon de Valera.
In 1935, while reporting on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Jones was tragically captured by Chinese troops who had turned to banditry. After two weeks in captivity, and with police in pursuit, he was killed by three bullet wounds, reportedly after refusing to mount his horse. While a Foreign Office investigation at the time hinted at Japanese involvement, the exact circumstances of his death remain shrouded in mystery. His ashes were later interred at Merthyr Dyfan cemetery in Barry.
David Lloyd George, for whom Jones had served as Foreign Affairs Adviser, lamented his death, stating, “He had a passion for finding out what was happening in foreign lands wherever there was trouble, and in pursuit of his investigations he shrank from no risk. Nothing escaped his observation, and he allowed no obstacle to turn from his course when he thought that there was some fact, which he could obtain. He had the almost unfailing knack of getting at things that matter.”
Gareth Jones’s fame waned over time but was significantly revitalised thanks to his niece, Dr. Margaret Siriol Colley, Philip’s mother. Her definitive 2005 biography, More Than a Grain of Truth, ignited renewed interest in the investigative journalist, leading to a BBC Storyville documentary and the aforementioned film, Mr. Jones.
Born in Barry in 1905, Gareth attended Barry County School, where his father, Major Edgar Jones, was the headmaster. His mother, Annie Gwen Jones, had previously worked in Russia as a tutor to the children of Arthur Hughes, son of Welsh steel industrialist John Hughes, who founded the town of Hughesovka (modern-day Donetsk) in Ukraine.
Campaigners believe an unnamed public space in the Waterfront area, adjacent to the quayside of the former docks – a place frequently visited by the young Gareth – would be an ideal location to celebrate and acknowledge his inspiring life.
Welcoming the initiative to celebrate one of the town’s most distinguished sons, John Buxton, Chair of the Barry War Museum & Heritage Centre, remarked, “In an increasingly uncertain world, it is now more important than ever we uphold the memory and inspiration of people who gave their lives in the pursuit of truth.”
Further details about Gareth Jones can be found at the official website produced by Philip’s late brother Nigel: www.garethjones.org.
Admission is free to Philip Colley’s illustrated talk, “The Amazing Gareth Jones: A Life in Pursuit of Truth,” at 7 pm on Wednesday, August 13th, at the Barry War Museum & Heritage Centre, Barry Island, marking the 90th anniversary of Jones’s death.
Correction: A previous version of this article referred to Gareth Jones as a “war correspondent”. Mr Jones was in fact a committed pacifist and did not report on war specifically
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