'H'. Jones

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'H' Jones
Image:Pararegbadge.jpg
Place of birth Putney, England
Place of death Falkland Islands
Allegiance United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1958 - 1982
Rank Lt-Col
Unit 2 PARA
Battles/wars Falklands War
Awards Victoria Cross (Posthumous)
Order of the British Empire

Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert Jones VC OBE, (14 May 1940 – 28 May 1982), better known as 'H'. Jones, was a British army officer and posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Jones was born in Putney to a wealthy family, and attended St Peter's Preparatory School in Seaford, Sussex and Eton College. He joined the British Army on leaving school and on graduation from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst on 23 July 1960, was commissioned into the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment as a second lieutenant.[1] He was promoted to lieutenant on 23 January 1962,[2] captain on 23 July 1966,[3] and major on 31 December 1972,[4] On 13 December 1977 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his services in Northern Ireland that year.[5] On 30 June 1979 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel,[6] on 1 December 1979, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment.[7] In the 1981 New Year Honours he was promoted to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).[8] During the Falklands War he was in command of 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment (2 PARA) when the deed described below took place for which he was awarded the VC.

Command of 2 PARA passed to Major Chris Keeble, and Jones was buried at Ajax Bay on 30 May near where he fell. After the war his body was exhumed and buried at the Blue Beach War Cemetery in Port San Carlos on 25 October.

[edit] Citation

“ On 28th May 1982 Lieutenant Colonel Jones was commanding 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment on operations on the Falkland Islands. The Battalion was ordered to attack enemy positions in and around the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green.

During the attack against an enemy who was well dug in with mutually supporting positions sited in depth, the Battalion was held up just South of Darwin by a particularly well-prepared and resilient enemy position of at least eleven trenches on an important ridge. A number of casualties were received. In order to read the battle fully and to ensure that the momentum of his attack was not lost, Colonel Jones took forward his reconnaissance party to the foot of a re-entrant which a section of his Battalion had just secured. Despite persistent, heavy and accurate fire the reconnaissance party gained the top of the re-entrant, at approximately the same height as the enemy positions. From here Colonel Jones encouraged the direction of his Battalion mortar fire, in an effort to neutralise the enemy positions. However, these had been well prepared and continued to pour effective fire onto the Battalion advance, which, by now held up for over an hour and under increasingly heavy artillery fire, was in danger of faltering.

In his effort to gain a good viewpoint, Colonel Jones was now at the very front of his Battalion. It was clear to him that desperate measures were needed in order to overcome the enemy position and rekindle the attack, and that unless these measures were taken promptly the Battalion would sustain increasing casualties and the attack perhaps even fail. It was time for personal leadership and action. Colonel Jones immediately seized a sub-machine gun, and, calling on those around him and with total disregard for his own safety, charged the nearest enemy position. This action exposed him to fire from a number of trenches. As he charged up a short slope at the enemy position he was seen to fall and roll backward downhill. He immediately picked himself up, and again charged the enemy trench, firing his sub-machine gun and seemingly oblivious to the intense fire directed at him. He was hit by fire from another trench which he outflanked, and fell dying only a few feet from the enemy he had assaulted. A short time later a company of the Battalion attacked the enemy, who quickly surrendered. The display of courage by Colonel Jones had completely undermined their will to fight further.

Thereafter the momentum of the attack was rapidly regained, Darwin and Goose Green were liberated, and the Battalion released the local inhabitants unharmed and forced the surrender of some 1,200 of the enemy.

The achievements of 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment at Darwin and Goose Green set the tone for the subsequent land victory on the Falklands. The British achieved such a moral superiority over the enemy in this first battle that, despite the advantages of numbers and selection of battle-ground, the Argentinian troops never thereafter doubted neither the superior fighting qualities of the British troops, nor their own inevitable defeat.

This was an action of the utmost gallantry by a Commanding Officer whose dashing leadership and courage throughout the battle were an inspiration to all about him.

 ”
London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 49134, page 12831, 8 October 1982. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.

[edit] Controversy

The award of the posthumous VC to Jones was controversial at the time with Green Party media coordinator and military theorist Spencer Fitz-Gibbon saying that despite his undoubted courage he failed as a leader, losing sight of the overall battle picture and failing to allow his sub-unit commanders to exercise Mission Command, before his fatal attempt to lead "A" Company forward from the position where they had become bogged down (Not Mentioned in Dispatches ISBN 0-7188-3016-4). .

Papers disclosed in 2005 have been represented by some as proof of an ongoing internal argument at the time the award of a medal was being considered. The commander of 3 Commando Brigade, Brigadier Julian Thompson, had "very strongly recommended" the award of the VC, but the overall Task Force commander, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, gave it "only" a recommendation.

[edit] The medal

His Victoria Cross is displayed at the National Army Museum (Chelsea, London, England).

[edit] Memorials

Jones has a headstone in the Blue Beach War Cemetery which is topped by the Parachute Regiment's insignia and also features an image of the Victoria Cross. The headstone includes the quotation "He is not the beginning but the continuing of the same unto the end." A memorial stone to all those killed at the scene of the battle, near Darwin, also bears his name. His name is also on the South Atlantic Task Force Memorial in St Paul's Cathedral, London, and the Parachute Regiment Memorial at their headquarters in Aldershot; he also has a memorial in the cloisters of Eton College and a plaque on a footpath at Kingswear, Devon. The memorial board from St Peter's School, carved with the name of Jones can be seen in Seaford Museum. In addition the 'Colonel H' Public house in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk is named in his honour.

[edit] Family

Both of Jones's sons, Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Jones MBE and David served as infantry officers in the Devon and Dorsets (now merged into The Rifles).[9][10][11] Rupert was appointed MBE in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours.[12] His widow, Sara, was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for charity work (she is involved with a number of charities related to the armed forces)[11][13][14] and since 2003 has been a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire.[15]

[edit] References

  1. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42157, pages 6695–6696, 30 September 1960. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  2. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 42576, page 588, 19 January 1962. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  3. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 44060, page 8266, 21 July 1966. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  4. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 45867, pages 91–92, 1 January 1973. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  5. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47405, page 15575, 12 December 1977. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  6. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 47911, page 9350, 23 July 1979. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  7. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48031, page 15939, 17 December 1979. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  8. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 48467, page 6, 30 December 1980. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  9. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 51080, page 12388, 5 October 1987. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  10. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58381, pages 9549–9550, 3 July 2007. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  11. ^ a b This page is dedicated to the memory of: Lieutenant Colonel H. JONES, VC OBE. South Atlantic Medal Association. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  12. ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 56237, pages 5–6, 16 June 2001. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  13. ^ Westminster Abbey address by Mrs Sara Jones (pdf). Army Benevolent Fund. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.
  14. ^ "Falklands fallen remembered 25 years on", RAF news release, Royal Air Force, 14 June 2007. |accessdate=2008-03-11
  15. ^ London Gazette: no. 57113, page 14106, 14 November 2003. Retrieved on 2008-03-11.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27H%27._Jones"
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