Tap Jones

{{Short description|Royal Air Force air marshals}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Infobox military person |honorific_prefix = Air Marshal |name= Sir Edward Jones |honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|KCB|CBE|DSO|DFC}} |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |nickname= "Tap" |birth_date= {{birth date|1914|08|31|df=yes}} |birth_place= Widnes, Lancashire, England |death_date= {{death date and age|2007|02|20|1914|08|31|df=yes}} |death_place= |allegiance= United Kingdom |branch= Royal Air Force |service_years= 1935–1969 |rank= Air Marshal |unit= |commands= Near East Air Force (1966–69) British Forces Cyprus (1966–69) RAF Malta (1965–66) RAF Germany (1961–63) Central Reconnaissance Establishment (1959–60) RAF Wyton (1957–58) RAF Valley (c.1951–53) No. 121 Wing (1944–45) RAF Hawkinge (1942–43) No. 80 Squadron (1940–41) |battles= Second World War Suez Crisis |awards= Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath Commander of the Order of the British Empire Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Flying Cross Mentioned in Despatches Flying Cross (Greece) Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands) |relations= |other_work= }} Air Marshal '''Sir Edward Gordon "Tap" Jones''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|KCB|CBE|DSO|DFC}} (31 August 1914 – 20 February 2007) was an officer in the Royal Air Force for 34 years, from 1935 to 1969. He commanded a squadron of obsolescent biplane Gladiator fighters during the Greek Campaign in the Second World War, where he shot down five Italian Fiat CR.42 fighters. He served in mainly operational posts in Europe until he retired. Unusually, he never served a post in the Air Ministry or the UK Ministry of Defence.<ref name="surfcity.kund.dalnet.se">[http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/commonwealth_jones.htm Air Marshal Sir Edward 'Tap' Gordon Jones]</ref>

==Early life== Jones was born in Widnes, Lancashire (now Cheshire), the third of four sons of Lieutenant Colonel Albert Jones.<ref name=tele>[https://web.archive.org/web/20071119024059/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/02/27/db2701.xml Obituary], ''The Daily Telegraph'', 27 February 2006</ref> His father was the borough medical officer. Jones spent time in India as a child, where his brothers nicknamed him "Doolally Tap" (meaning "slightly mad"). He retained the nickname "Tap" for the rest of his life.<ref name=tele/>

After grammar school, he studied medicine at Liverpool University, where he met his future wife.<ref name=tele/> His three brothers all became doctors, like their father, but Jones soon switched to veterinary science.<ref name=tele/> He was a keen sportsman, representing the university and Lancashire at rugby union. He also enjoyed shooting and the outdoor life, but he showed little interest in his studies.<ref name=tele/>

==Royal Air Force== Edward joined the RAF in 1935.<ref name=air>[http://www.rafweb.org/Biographies/Gordon-Jones_EG.htm Air of Authority – A History of RAF Organisation – Air Marshal Sir Edward Gordon Jones]</ref> He trained as a pilot at Netheravon and joined "B" Flight of No. 17 Squadron<ref name=air/> in Kenley, flying Gauntlet fighters.<ref name=tele/> In March 1937 the flight was detached to form No. 80 Squadron<ref name=air/> which flew the Gladiator, the RAF's last biplane fighter.<ref name=tele/> As a pilot officer, he was its adjutant from May 1937.<ref name=air/> He also played rugby for the RAF.

Promoted to flying officer, his squadron deployed to Egypt in April 1938.<ref name=tele/> He became commander of "A" Flight of No. 80 Squadron in March 1940, while he was based in Amriya in Egypt.<ref name="surfcity.kund.dalnet.se"/>

===Second World War=== After Italy declared war on the United Kingdom and France on 10 June 1940, Jones took charge of a flight armed with modern Hurricane fighters. He took charge of a flight of Gladiator when it moved to Trikala in central Greece in November 1940. He was in action within days, engaging a formation of more modern Fiat CR.42 fighters, also biplanes, of the Italian Regia Aeronautica to the north of Ioannina. He shot down one on 27 November, then two more the next day over Delvinakion, but was injured in the dogfight and spent a month recovering from a bullet wound in his neck. He returned to duty on 21 December, and took command of No. 80 Squadron on 27 December, after its commander, Squadron Leader Bill Hickey, was killed in action.<ref name="surfcity.kund.dalnet.se"/>

Jones shot down two further Fiats on 28 February 1941, and was awarded an immediate Distinguished Flying Cross. He also received a Flying Cross from the Greek government.

After leave in Egypt, Jones returned to No. 80 Squadron. It had been re-equipped with modern Hurricane fighters shortly before Germany invaded Greece on 6 April 1941. His battered squadron withdrew to Crete, then back to Egypt. Finally, it moved to RAF Aqir in Palestine to regroup, where it fought against the Vichy French in Syria. He left No. 80 Squadron in 1942, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.<ref name=tele/>

He spent a year with the Rhodesian Air Training Group, then took command of the RAF Hawkinge in Kent.<ref name=air/> After qualifying at the Army Staff College<ref name="ReferenceA">''Isle of Man Daily Times.'' Monday, 9 February 1959; Page: 4</ref> he was promoted to Acting Group Captain in May 1943,<ref name=air/> and joined the staff preparing tactical fighter operations for D-Day.<ref name=tele/> His group, No. 83 Group,<ref name=air/> transferred to France shortly after D-Day, and moved eastwards with the front line. He stayed with the Group during the whole campaign in Northwest Europe as Group Captain Operations<ref name="ReferenceA"/> and being appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in December 1944, when he returned to operational duties, taking command of No. 121 Wing with its four squadrons of Typhoon fighters, based at Volkel in the Netherlands.<ref name=air/> He was appointed a Commander of the Dutch Order of Orange-Nassau in 1945.

==Post-war career== Jones had a succession of mainly operational appointments in Europe after the War. Unusually, he never served a post in the Air Ministry or the Ministry of Defence.<ref name=tele/>

He served at the School of Land/Air Warfare and commanded No. 2 Wing, No. 1 Initial Training School at RAF Jurby following which he commanded No. 202 Advanced Flying School at RAF Valley, Anglesey.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1956.<ref name=air/> He served at the Headquarters of the Second Tactical Air Force<ref name=tele/> and with the Air Task Force during the Suez Crisis. He took command of RAF Wyton in 1957, the home base of the RAF's strategic reconnaissance forces.<ref name=air/>

He was promoted to acting air commodore in January 1959,<ref name=air/> and took command of the Central Reconnaissance Establishment.<ref name=air/> He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1960.<ref name=air/> He commanded RAF forces in Germany from 1961 to 1963,<ref name=air/> then spent two years as Senior RAF Officer at the Imperial Defence College.<ref name=air/> He took command of air forces in Malta as Deputy Commander-in-Chief (Air) of Allied Forces in the Mediterranean in 1965.<ref name=air/>

He was promoted to air marshal in November 1966, and took up the position of Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Near East Air Force (including responsibility for British Forces Cyprus and Administration of the Sovereign Base Areas).<ref name=air/> He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1967,<ref name=air/> and retired from the RAF in August 1969.<ref name=air/>

He continued to enjoy sport in his retirement.<ref name=tele/>

==Family== He married Margery Thurston Hatfield in 1938. His wife died in 2002. He was survived by their two sons.<ref name=tele/>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311093704/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article1490149.ece Obituary], ''The Times'', 27 February 2007 *[http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/commonwealth_jones.htm Biography]

{{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before=Sir Thomas Prickett}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander-in-Chief Near East Air Force Commander British Forces Cyprus|years=1966–1969}} {{s-aft|after=Sir Denis Smallwood}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Tap}} Category:1914 births Category:2007 deaths Category:Royal Air Force air marshals Category:British World War II flying aces Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Category:Academics of the Royal College of Defence Studies Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Category:Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Category:People from Widnes Category:Military personnel from Cheshire Category:Lancashire County RFU players