Alfred Francis James (21 April 191824 August 1992) was an Australian publisher known for being imprisoned in China as a spy.

Early life

James was born in Queenstown,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, the son of an Anglican priest. His early life was unsettled as his father moved between parishes. In 1934 he started at Canberra Grammar School, meeting his lifelong friend

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

(who later became Prime Minister of Australia). He was expelled the next year after a theological dispute with the headmaster and later attended Fort Street High School. He completed his Leaving Certificate in 1936. Between 1937 and 1939 James served with the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

(RAAF). At the outbreak of

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 opposing ...

, James travelled to Britain 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) an ...

, enlisting on the last day of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

. After pilot training and operations, he was shot down over France on Anzac Day, 25 April 1942, receiving severe burns to his face and eyes. He was captured, caused a great deal of trouble in German military hospitals and POW camps, and was then repatriated, through Cairo Red Cross, because of his injuries. He was formally invalided out of the Royal Air Force in April 1945 and received a Totally and Permanently Incapacitated pension from the British Government for the rest of his life. In the same month he married Joyce Staff in London.

Publishing career

After returning to Australia, James was employed as a journalist with ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' in 1950. He was a distinctive figure, habitually wearing a black broad-brimmed hat and a cloak. In 1952, James took over management of '' The Anglican'', a publication of the Church of England in Australia, as the

Anglican Church of Australia The Anglican Church of Australia, formerly known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania, is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous church of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia after the ...

was then called. In 1957 James established the Anglican Press Ltd to print ''The Anglican'' and other publications. The Anglican Press went into receivership in 1960, and was subject to a takeover bid by Frank Packer's

Australian Consolidated Press Are Media is an Australian media company that was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press during the 201 ...

(ACP). This coincided with competition between Sir Frank Packer and

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

for the share of the suburban newspaper market. In turn that led to a notorious brawl at the Anglican Press between

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

and Kerry Packer, on the one hand, and James and the journalist and former boxer Frank Browne, on the other. James and Browne were the victors. Controversy continued when in 1964, James was fined £50 for the offensive publication of the '' Oz'' magazine. During the 1960s he used ''The Anglican'' to campaign against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...

and in 1966 stood as a candidate for the

Liberal Reform Group The Liberal Reform Group, later known as the Australian Reform Movement, was a minor Australian political party and predecessor to the Australia Party, which in turn was a predecessor to the Australian Democrats. It was founded by Gordon Barton, ...

in the federal election. He visited

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...

twice.

Imprisonment in China

In spring 1969, James travelled to China with the support of an Australian senator, and while there he "ran into a man I had met before, a Uighur of enormous influence in

Sinkiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

". After touring China's nuclear facilities, he published an exposé in ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' and elsewhere entitled "The first Western look at the secret H-bomb centre in China". He identified four personnel in China's nuclear programme, listed accurately the details of China's early nuclear tests from October 1964 onwards, and wrote of China's ambitious settlement policy to outnumber the Uyghurs in the northwest. The exposé "brought denials from the Chinese and criticism from a number of professional China watchers." James went on to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and (in October 1969)

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

followed by

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

, China where he was arrested on November 4 for alleged spying. After over three years' imprisonment, described as "constant interrogation and solitary confinement", he was released and expelled in 1973 after lobbying by his old friend

, who was then Prime Minister.

Death

Francis James died in 1992, aged 74.

References

External links

Obituary by Ken Inglis, ''Independent'' (UK), 28 August 1992

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Francis 1918 births 1992 deaths Australian publishers (people) Australian spies People educated at Canberra Grammar School People from Tasmania Australian people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Imprisoned journalists Royal Australian Air Force personnel Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Shot-down aviators 20th-century Australian journalists The Sydney Morning Herald people