Harold John Timperley

Harold John Timperley

Harold John Timperley (1898-1954) was an Australian journalist, known for his reporting from China in the 1930s, and the book "What War Means" (1938) based on it.

He started his newspaperman career in China in 1921 and reported for the "Manchester Guardian" from 1928, based in Peiping (1921-1936), Shanghai (1936-April?, 1937, Sept. 1937-April, 1938) and Nanjing (May?-Sept. 1937). He became an advisory editor of ASIA magazine in 1934 (see ASIA of November, 1938). He married Elizabeth Chambers at Nanjing in August 1937.

[
Nanking Massacre, intercepted and decoded by the Americans on January 17th, 1938] After the Japanese invasion, his accounts for the "Guardian" were some of the first-hand information most easily available in the West. His cables from Shanghai, although at times censored, formed the basis for some early writing on the Nanjing massacre from 1937-8.

Timperley left Shanghai for London early April, 1938. There, he published the book "What War Means", edited by him, which contains direct testimony as well as official documents. It received great attention, being published in the USA under the title "The Japanese Terror in China". Its content has been contested by Japanese historians, including Kitamura Minoru.Fact|date=May 2008

Timperley became involved in an attempt to stir the United Kingdom to act on behalf of China. He was close to the Nationalists and Chiang Kai-shek; it is a matter of some dispute to what extent he was supported by them, or was engaged in propaganda work on their behalf. It is not contested that he took a strongly anti-war line, and on a personal level was friendly with Japanese including the Shanghai Domei News Agency chief Matsumoto Shigeharu. Some of the statistics Timperley used have been mis-employed by subsequent writers taking "What War Means" as a source.Fact|date=May 2008

In 1939, he gave up journalism and served for the Chinese Ministry of Information, as an advisor.Fact|date=May 2008He continued to write on topics connected with Japan, including the nationalist thinker Yoshida Shoin, until the end of the Pacific War. From 1943, he worked for the Information Office of United Nations (Allied Powers) .

From 1946, he worked for UNRRA at its Shanghai office. In 1947, the United Nations Security Council established the Good Offices Committee for Indonesia to sponsor negotiations between the country and Netherlands, and Timperley was assigned to a Deputy Principal Secretary (later to an Acting Principal Secretary ) of the committee (from May 1948?) until October 20, 1948. After he finished his duty of the committee, he worked for UNESCO in Paris.

Leaving UNESCO in 1950, Timperley went to Indonesia as a technical adviser to the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However a tropical disease forced him to leave Jakarta for London in 1951.

Not long after his arrival in London, he came into touch with the Religious Society of Friends and was admitted to the membership in 1952. From January 1954, he threw himself into supporting the War on Want campaign and acted as full-time voluntary office worker. He organized the first War on Want Conference in May 1954.

On November 25, 1954, he was found on a bed in a state of unconsciousness and taken to hospital at Cuckfield by ambulance, but died on the following day (Nov. 26, 1954).

Works

* "What War Means: The Japanese Terror in China", London, Victor Gollancz Ltd,1938. (There are two editions, Left Book Club and non LBC editions.)
* "The Japanese Terror in China", New York, Modern Age Books, 1938.
*"Japan: A World Problem", New York, The John Day Company, 1942.
*"Australia and the Australians", New York, Oxford University Press, 1942
*"Some Contrast Between China and Japan in The Light of History" /10 page leaflet, London, The China Society, publication date unknown.
*"The War on Want" /5 page leaflet, London, Gledhill & Ballinger Ltd., 1953

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/japan/story/0,7369,804391,00.html Guardian story from 2002]
* [http://countrystudies.us/indonesia/16.htm Country Studies: Indonesia: The National Revolution, 1945-50]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nanking Massacre denial — Nanking Massacrev · d · e Battl …   Wikipedia

  • Nanking Massacre — Rape of Nanking redirects here. For Iris Chang s book, see The Rape of Nanking (book). Nankin Jiken redirects here. For the 1927 Nankin Jiken, see Nanjing Incident. Nanking Massacre Massacre victims on the shore of Yangtze River with a Japanese… …   Wikipedia

  • Massacre de Nankin — Le massacre de Nankin Victimes du massacre sur les rives de la rivière Yangzi Jiang avec un soldat japonais debout à côté. Nom chinois Chinois traditionnel …   Wikipédia en Français

  • War on Want — is an anti poverty charity based in London, England, which highlights the needs of poverty stricken areas around the world, lobbying governments and international agencies to tackle problems, as well as raising public awareness of the concerns of …   Wikipedia

  • Nanjing War Crimes Tribunal — Nanking Massacrev · d · e Battle …   Wikipedia

  • Xiang Zhejun — (向哲浚, 1892 1987), native of Ningxiang county in Hunan province. Chinese jurist and prosecutor at International Military Tribunal for the Far East.Education and Early CareerAfter graduating from Tsinghua in 1917, Xiang went to the United States… …   Wikipedia

  • Irish Open (Badminton) — Die Irish Open oder Internationalen Meisterschaften von Irland sind eines der ältesten internationalen Badmintonturniere der Welt. Sie fanden erstmals 1902 statt, wurden jedoch durch die beiden Weltkriege unterbrochen. Nationale Titelkämpfe gibt… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Irish International — Die Irish Open oder Internationalen Meisterschaften von Irland sind eines der dienstältesten internationalen Badminton Turniere der Welt. Sie fanden erstmals 1902 statt, wurden jedoch durch die beiden Weltkriege unterbrochen. Nationale… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Masacre de Nankín — Este artículo o sección necesita referencias que aparezcan en una publicación acreditada, como revistas especializadas, monografías, prensa diaria o páginas de Internet fidedignas. Puedes añadirlas así o avisar …   Wikipedia Español

  • Liste Des Membres Albertains De L'Ordre Du Canada — Article principal : Ordre du Canada. David Adams Jack N. Agrios Andrew Charles Anderson Anne Anderson Charles Anderson Margaret Weir Andrekson Anthony G. Anselmo Violet B. Archer Neil Mackenzie Armstrong Islay M. Arnold Steven K.H. Aung… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”