James Richard Abe Bailey, (23 October 1919 – 29 February 2000) was an Anglo-South African

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

fighter pilot, writer, poet and publisher. He was the founder of ''

Drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

'', the most widely read magazine in Africa.

Biography

Born in London on 23 October 1919, Bailey was the son of Sir Abe Bailey and pioneer aviator Dame Mary Bailey, and was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. At the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was called up from the

Oxford University Air Squadron The Oxford University Air Squadron, abbreviated Oxford UAS, or OUAS, formed in 1925, is the training unit of the Royal Air Force at the University of Oxford and forms part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. OUAS is one of fifteen Univers ...

Anthony Smith
"Jim Bailey, A good man in Africa"
(obituary), ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 3 March 2000. and joined the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

as a pilot in September 1939. He served with 264,

600 __NOTOC__ 600 ( DC) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 600 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the ...

and 85 Squadrons, flying Defiants,

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

s and

Beaufighter The Bristol Type 156 Beaufighter (often called the Beau) is a British multi-role aircraft developed during the Second World War by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. It was originally conceived as a heavy fighter variant of the Bristol Beaufort ...

''Drum'' and ''Golden City Post''

In 1951 he provided financial backing to

Bob Crisp Robert James Crisp (28 May 1911 – 3 March 1994) was a South African cricketer who played in nine Test matches between 1935 and 1936. He appeared for Rhodesia, Western Province, Worcestershire and South Africa. Though his Test bowling avera ...

to start a magazine called ''African Drum'' based in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, and aimed at a Black readership, but as readership dropped, Bailey took full control. The monthly magazine was renamed to simply ''

'' and the head office moved to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

Anthony Sampson Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson (3 August 1926 – 18 December 2004) was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was ''Anatomy of Britain'', which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", upda ...

was appointed editor. Bailey also founded in 1955 the ''Golden City Post'', the country's first black Sunday tabloid.

''The God-Kings and Titans''

Bailey's book ''The God-Kings and the Titans: The New World Ascendancy in Ancient Times'' (1973) was a controversial work on

pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Pre-Columbian transoceanic contact theories are speculative theories which propose that possible visits to the Americas, possible interactions with the indigenous peoples of the Americas, or both, were made by people from Africa, Asia, Europe, ...

, which claimed that thousands of years before Columbus

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

sea voyagers among other peoples from the Old World landed on both the Atlantic and Pacific shores of America.Dore Ashton (1993). ''Noguchi East and West''. University of California Press, p. 17. The book has been referenced by many

pseudohistoric Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseudohist ...

writers.

Death

Bailey died in 2000, aged 80, from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

. He was survived by his second wife, Barbara (''née'' Epstein, whom he married in 1962), and by four children.

Writing

* ''As In Flight'' (1961) * ''National Ambitions'' (1958) * ''Eskimo Nel'' (1964)"Wistful memories of war"
(review of ''The Sky Suspended: A Fighter Pilot's Story''), ''The Guardian'', 29 January 2005. * ''The God-Kings and Titans'' (1973) * ''The Sky Suspended'' (1990) * ''The Poetry of a Fighter Pilot'' (1993) * ''Sailing to Paradise'' (1993)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, James R. A. 1919 births 2000 deaths British emigrants to South Africa White South African people Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Air Force pilots of World War II South African male poets South African publishers (people) Place of birth missing Pseudohistorians Deaths from colorectal cancer Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) South African World War II flying aces Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact Younger sons of baronets 20th-century South African historians 20th-century South African poets