The Kingswear childhood of Col. H Jones VC.

His father, also named Herbert, was a wealthy American while his mother, Olwen, came from North Wales of a more modest background. H was born in London on the 14th May 1940, two weeks before the family moved into The Grange in Kingswear. Herbert the elder was too old for military service (he was 52 in 1940) and was anyway still an American citizen, so he was not called up. However Herbert senior became a member of the local Home Guard. He owned two 2.2 rifles, which he obtained from America, and which were used by them for practice. As he was the only one to have a car he used this to transport the Home Guard around the area for which he would have been granted as extra allocation of wartime petrol coupons. Mrs Jones was a member of the Kingswear Women’s Institute, joining in October 1941, and regularly attended the village church, St. Thomas of Canterbury. One of her friends was Norah Wiggins in Foxhole in Beacon Road.

H had two brothers: Tim (born 11 February 1942) and Bill (born 16 February 1945). The photograph above shows Mr and Mrs Herbert Jones with Bill, Tim, their dog Jimmy and H (kneeling). Because their father was not in the Armed Forces, the family enjoyed his presence throughout the war when many other fathers were away.

Some of the older residents maintain that there was quite a class divide between those with large houses facing southwest, the river and benefiting from the afternoon sun and those in smaller houses of more modest means who lived round the corner facing north and Waterhead Creek. H’s father Herbert Jones was a great anglophile and was granted British nationality in June 1947. He wanted the very best for his children and so his went to a private school, Tower House School, across the river at Townstal Pathfields in Dartmouth. Herbert’s open top Austin 8 tourer (the same one as had been roped in for Home Guard use) took the two older Jones boys across on the ferry to the school. Sometimes the car was driven by Herbert himself and some times by his chauffer Colin Armstrong. Transport was provided for other local children going to the same school.

It is not surprising that some locals would have seen the Jones family as distant, particularly as the elder Herbert was somewhat retiring by nature. However in their quiet way they did quite a lot for the village. When the roadway at Inverdart fell away in about 1950 and no local firm was prepared to rebuild it, it was Herbert Jones the elder who led and coordinated the arrangements to get a national firm, Costains, to do the work.

From an early age H was determined and strong willed. He was keen to do well and to succeed, at first as a result of a lack of experience, this energy was sometimes misdirected and this could and did lead him into trouble on occasions.H reached the age of 17 in 1957 and his interest then spread to cars. As a result of the possibility of petrol rationing consequent upon the closure of the Suez Canal in 1956, learner drivers were allowed to drive unsupervised, including in a red American Jeep that his father had acquired. H’s driving in the early stage was remarkable more for his enthusiasm than his skill and this led to a number of accidents, fortunately none of which were very serious.

The fact that his father was very ill at the time and his mother was concentrating on looking after him meant that he probably didn’t get the level of parental control that was required of a lively teenager. H took great pleasure in driving a 1930s Bentley that he had inherited from his father. On another occasion, H was involved in an incident where the Bentley came into contact with a bus from Hillhead to Kingswear and the Bentley came off worst.

After Sandhurst, H served in Cyprus, Plymouth, British Guiana, Aldershot, Northern Ireland, Germany and other places around the world. He married Sara in 1964 and they had two children David and Rupert. The family moved around the country and the world as H’s postings changed. But for H and for his family The Grange, where his mother had continued to live, was always their long term home. They came back there on many of his leaves and that was where the focus was. He even brought his Platoon and later his Company down to Kingswear to train. His intention was always that The Grange should be his permanent home on retirement from the Army.

The 1972 census shows H Jones staying with his mother Olwin Jones at The Grange presumably on leave from army. Unfortunately his long term ambitions were never realised because he was killed on the 28th May 1982 at Goose Green in the Falkland Islands and was awarded th