View source for David Jones (VC)

{{short description|English recipient of the Victoria Cross}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=David Jones
|honorific_suffix=
|birth_date={{birth date|df=y|1892|1|10}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=y|1916|10|7|1892|1|10}}{{KIA}}
|birth_place= [[Liverpool]], [[Lancashire]], [[England]]
|death_place=[[Bancourt]], France
|placeofburial=[[Bancourt British Cemetery]]
|image=VCDavidJones.jpg
|image_size=175    
|caption=David Jones as depicted on a [[cigarette card]] 
|nickname=
|allegiance={{flag|United Kingdom}}
|serviceyears= 
|rank=Sergeant
|branch={{army|United Kingdom}}
|commands= 
|unit=[[King's Regiment (Liverpool)|The King's (Liverpool) Regiment]]
|battles= [[World War I]] 
*[[Battle of Loos]]
*[[Battle of the Somme]]
**[[Battle of Guillemont]] 
**[[Battle of Le Transloy]] {{KIA}}
|awards= [[Victoria Cross]]
|laterwork=
}}
'''David Jones''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (10 January 1892 – 7 October 1916) was an [[England|English]] recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces. A soldier with The [[King's Regiment (Liverpool)|King's (Liverpool) Regiment]] during the [[First World War]], he was awarded the VC for his actions in September 1916, during the [[Battle of the Somme]]. He was killed in action several days later.

==Early life==
David Jones was born in [[Liverpool]] on 10 January 1892 to David Jones, a trained ironworker but working as a porter at the time, and Jessie Jones {{nee|Ginochio}}. The youngest of six siblings, Jones went to Heyworth Street School in [[Everton, Liverpool|Everton]]. When he finished his schooling, he was apprenticed to Blake's Motor Company to train as a mechanic. In 1909, he volunteered for the [[Territorial Force]] and served in the 9th King's (Liverpool) Regiment for four years.{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=166–167}}

==First World War==
On the outbreak of the First World War, Jones enlisted in the [[British Army]], and was posted to the 12th Battalion, The [[King's Regiment (Liverpool)|King's (Liverpool) Regiment]]. After a period of training, he, along with the battalion as part of the [[20th (Light) Division]], was sent to the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]] in France in June 1915. Before his departure, he married Elizabeth {{nee|Doyle}}. The marital home was in Everton.{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=166–167}}

Jones was involved in the [[Battle of Loos]] in September–October 1915{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=166–167}} and later served in the [[Ypres Salient]] in Belgium the following year. The 20th Division was among those tasked for the [[Battle of the Somme]], and from 22 August 1916 it served in the [[Somme (department)|Somme sector]] in France. On 3 September 1916, it was tasked with the [[Battle of Guillemont|capture of the village of Guillemont]], which was strongly garrisoned by German forces. Jones was by now a [[sergeant]]. His platoon was part of a company ordered forward to strengthen the flank but it became cut off. Its commanding officer killed, for two days, under Jones's command, the trapped platoon resisted German attempts to capture their position. Even when relieved by units of the [[16th (Irish) Division]], he remained in the line for several hours before withdrawing. For his actions, he was awarded the VC.{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=164–165}} The VC, instituted in 1856, was the highest award for valour that could be bestowed on a soldier of the [[British Empire]].{{sfn|Ashcroft|2007|pp=8–10}} The citation for his VC read as follows:

{{quote|For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty, and the ability displayed in the handling of his platoon. The platoon to which he belonged was ordered to a forward position and during the advance came under heavy machine-gun fire, the officer being killed and the platoon suffering heavy losses. Serjeant Jones led forward the remainder, occupied the position, and held it for two days and two nights, without food or water, until relieved. On the second day he drove back three counter-attacks, inflicting heavy losses. His coolness was most praiseworthy. It was due entirely to his resource and example that his men retained confidence and their post.|''[[The London Gazette]]'', 26 October 1916<ref>{{London Gazette|issue= 29802|date=26 October 1916|page=10395|supp=y}}</ref>}}

After some days' rest, the 20th Division was then involved in the next phase of fighting on the Somme, the [[Battle of Le Transloy]]. On the opening day of the battle, 7 October 1916, Jones was [[killed in action]]. His battalion had just reached and entered some German trenches.{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=164–165}} He is buried in [[Bancourt British Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jones, David |url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/205984 |publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commission |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>

==Medals and legacy==
King [[George V]] presented Jones's VC to his widow on 31 March 1917, in a ceremony at [[Buckingham Palace]].{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=164–165}} It was owned for several years by his former employer, Blake's Motor Company, which had been gifted it by Jones's widow. It was loaned to the King's Regimental Museum before it was donated in 2009 to the [[Museum of Liverpool]],{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=166–167}} where it is displayed at its premises in Pierhead, Liverpool.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/|title=Museum of Liverpool, Liverpool museums|website=Liverpoolmuseums.org.uk|access-date=16 December 2017}}</ref>

The year after his death, two separate plaques in his memory were constructed at his former school, Heyworth Street School. One was later moved to Everton Catholic Primary School while the other is in storage. Other memorials exist at St Nathaniel's in Liverpool and Guillemont Church.{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=166–167}} The latter also commemorates [[John Vincent Holland|John Holland]] and [[Thomas Hughes (VC)|Thomas Hughes]], two other VC recipients from the Battle of Guillemont.{{sfn|Gliddon|2011|pp=159, 163, 167}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last=Ashcroft|first=Michael|title=Victoria Cross Heroes|year=2007|orig-year=2006|publisher=Headline Review|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=978-0-7553-1633-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Gliddon|first=Gerald|series=[[VCs of the First World War]]|title=Somme 1916|year=2011|orig-year=1991|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom|isbn=978-0-7524-6303-2}}
*{{cite book|last=Murphy|first=James|title=Liverpool VCs|year=2008|publisher=[[Pen and Sword Books]]|isbn=978-1844157808}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040416180334/http://www.northwest.co.uk/kingsreg.htm The King's Regiment] ''(regiment history)''
*{{Find a Grave|9686826}}

{{Duke of Lancaster's Regiment}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, David}}
[[Category:1892 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:British Battle of the Somme recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:King's Regiment (Liverpool) soldiers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Liverpool]]
[[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:Burials at Bancourt British Cemetery]]
[[Category:Territorial Force soldiers]]