Sad news out of England as the niece of Gareth Jones who was the first journalist to publicize the Holodomor in 1933 and later murdered through orders by the Soviet Union, passed away at the age of 86 last Sunday November 20th 2011. Dr. Margaret Colley published two books about her uncle, ‘More than a grain of truth’ a biography and ‘A Manchukuo Incident’ regarding his murder.
Her son Nigel Colley continues on to tell the story of his great uncle, most recently this week at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Other notable talks have been given for the United Nations as well as the BBC, which is currently producing a documentary on Gareth.
On 2 May 2006, a trilingual (Welsh/English/Ukrainian) plaque was unveiled in Gareth Jones’ memory in the Old College at Aberystwyth University, in the presence of his niece Margaret Siriol Colley, and the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, Ihor Kharchenko, who described him as an "unsung hero of Ukraine". The idea for a plaque and funding were provided by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (www.uccla.ca), working in conjunction with the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain. Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, UCCLA’s director of research, spoke at the unveiling ceremony.
In November 2008, Jones and fellow Holodomor journalist Malcolm Muggeridge were posthumously awarded the Ukrainian Order of Freedom at a ceremony in Westminster Central Hall, by Ambassador of Ukraine to the UK, Dr Ihor Kharchenko, on behalf of the President of Ukraine in reward for their exceptional services to the country and its people.