# Francis James > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Francis_James > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Francis_James.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_James > Source revision: 1345049785 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Australian publisher}} {{Other people}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}} thumb|right|Francis James '''Alfred Francis James''' (21 April 1918{{spaced ndash}}24 August 1992) was an Australian publisher known for being imprisoned in China as a spy. ==Early life== James was born in [Queenstown](/source/Queenstown%2C_Tasmania), [Tasmania](/source/Tasmania), the son of an [Anglican](/source/Anglican) priest. His early life was unsettled as his father moved between parishes. He attended [Fort Street High School](/source/Fort_Street_High_School) in 1932 and then later attended [Canberra Grammar School](/source/Canberra_Grammar_School) in 1934, meeting his lifelong friend [Gough Whitlam](/source/Gough_Whitlam) (who later became [Prime Minister of Australia](/source/Prime_Minister_of_Australia)).{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article137175486 |title=Obituary: (Alfred) Francis James Unaffected, charming eccentric 'enriched' the people he met |newspaper=[The Canberra Times](/source/The_Canberra_Times) |volume=66 |issue=20,953 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=25 August 1992 |accessdate=9 November 2024 |page=2 |via=[National Library of Australia](/source/National_Library_of_Australia)}} He was expelled the next year after a theological dispute with the headmaster. He completed his [Leaving Certificate](/source/Higher_School_Certificate_(New_South_Wales)) in 1936. Between 1937 and 1939 James served with the [Royal Australian Air Force](/source/Royal_Australian_Air_Force) (RAAF). At the outbreak of [World War II](/source/World_War_II), James travelled to Britain and joined the [Royal Air Force](/source/Royal_Air_Force), enlisting on the last day of the [Battle of Britain](/source/Battle_of_Britain). After pilot training and operations, he was shot down over France on [Anzac Day](/source/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](/source/The_Sydney_Morning_Herald)'' 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](/source/The_Anglican_(newspaper))'', a publication of the Church of England in Australia, as the [Anglican Church of Australia](/source/Anglican_Church_of_Australia) was then called. In 1957 James established the Anglican Press Ltd to print ''The Anglican'' and other publications.{{Cite AuDB|id2=james-alfred-francis-16270|title=James, Alfred Francis (1918–1992)|access-date=2 October 2021|year=2021|volume=19|first=Tony|last=Stephens}} The Anglican Press went into receivership in 1960, and was subject to a takeover bid by [Frank Packer](/source/Frank_Packer)'s [Australian Consolidated Press](/source/Australian_Consolidated_Press) (ACP). This coincided with competition between Sir [Frank Packer](/source/Frank_Packer) and [Rupert Murdoch](/source/Rupert_Murdoch) for the share of the suburban newspaper market.{{Cite web|website=[Inside Story](/source/Inside_Story_(magazine))|first=Rodney|last=Tiffen|author-link=Rodney Tiffen|url=https://insidestory.org.au/nine-tenths-of-the-law/|title=Nine-tenths of the law|date=3 June 2010|archive-date=4 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304015929/https://insidestory.org.au/nine-tenths-of-the-law/|url-status=live|access-date=2 October 2021}} In turn that led to a notorious brawl at the Anglican Press between [Clyde](/source/Clyde_Packer) and [Kerry Packer](/source/Kerry_Packer), on the one hand, and James and the journalist and former boxer [Frank Browne](/source/Frank_Browne_(journalist)), 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](/source/Oz_(magazine))'' magazine. During the 1960s he used ''The Anglican'' to campaign against the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War) and in 1966 stood as a candidate for the [Liberal Reform Group](/source/Liberal_Reform_Group) in the [federal election](/source/1966_Australian_federal_election). He visited [North Vietnam](/source/North_Vietnam) 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](/source/Uyghurs) of enormous influence in [Sinkiang](/source/Sinkiang)". After touring China's nuclear facilities, he published an exposé in ''[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)'' and elsewhere entitled "The first Western look at the secret H-bomb centre in China".{{cite news|title=The first Western look at the secret H-bomb centre in China|last=Francis|first=James|journal=[The Toronto Star](/source/The_Toronto_Star)|date=August 9, 1969|page=10}}{{cite news|title=The first Western look at the secret H-bomb centre in China|journal=[The Sunday Times](/source/The_Sunday_Times)|date=June 15, 1969|author=Francis James}} He identified four personnel in China's nuclear programme, listed accurately the details of [China's early nuclear tests](/source/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests_of_China) from October 1964 onwards, and wrote of [China's ambitious settlement policy](/source/Migration_to_Xinjiang) to outnumber the Uyghurs in the northwest. The exposé "brought denials from the Chinese and criticism from a number of professional China watchers."{{cite web|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,903768,00.html|title=The Press: China Frees an Enigma|date=January 29, 1973|publisher=[Time](/source/Time_(magazine))|url-status=live|access-date=9 November 2024|archive-date=1 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201142542/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,903768,00.html}} James went on to the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) and (in October 1969) [Hong Kong](/source/Hong_Kong) followed by [Guangdong](/source/Guangdong), 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 [Gough Whitlam](/source/Gough_Whitlam), who was then Prime Minister. ==Death== Francis James died in 1992, aged 74. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-francis-james-1542938.html Obituary by Ken Inglis, ''Independent'' (UK), 28 August 1992] * [http://gregoryclark.net/jfrancis.html "The Real Francis James Story" by Gregory Clark, ''Independent Monthly'' (Aust), October 1992] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150814154606/http://gregoryclark.net/jfrancis.html |date=14 August 2015 }} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Francis}} Category:1918 births Category:1992 deaths Category:20th-century Australian publishers (people) Category:People educated at Canberra Grammar School Category:People from Queenstown, Tasmania Category:Australian people imprisoned abroad Category:Foreign nationals imprisoned in China Category:Journalists imprisoned in China Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Category:Shot-down aviators Category:20th-century Australian journalists Category:The Sydney Morning Herald people Category:People educated at Fort Street High School Category:Liberal Reform Group politicians --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Francis James](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_James) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_James?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.