{{short description|Recipient of the Victoria Cross}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox military person |name= Robert Jones |honorific_suffix= |birth_date= {{birth date|df=y|1857|8|19}} |death_date= {{death date and age|df=y|1898|9|6|1857|8|19}} |birth_place= Penrhos, [[Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire]], Wales |death_place= [[Peterchurch]], [[Herefordshire]], England |burial_place= St Peter's parish churchyard, Peterchurch |burial_coordinates= {{coord|52|2|29|N|2|57|22.5|W|region:GB|display=inline}} |image= VCRobertJones.jpg |image_size= 175 |caption= |nickname= |allegiance= {{flag|United Kingdom}} |service_years= |rank=Private |branch= {{army|United Kingdom}} |commands= |unit= 2nd Battalion, [[24th Regiment of Foot]] |battles= {{plainlist| *[[Anglo-Zulu War]] *:[[Rorke's Drift]] }} |awards= [[Victoria Cross]]<br> [[South Africa Medal (1880)|South Africa Medal]]<ref name=Fold3zulu77>{{cite web |url=https://www.fold3.com/record/741194756/jones-robert-uk-the-south-africa-medal-roll-1877 |url-access=subscription |title=The South Africa Medal Roll, 1877 |via=Fold3 |quote=transcriptions of 26,472 campaign veterans, including those of the 24th Foot, from WO 100/46 and other ledgers |access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref> |other_work= }}
'''Robert Jones''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (19 August 1857 – 6 September 1898) was a Welsh recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]] for his actions at the [[Battle of Rorke's Drift]] in January 1879, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.
Jones was born at [[Penrhos, Monmouthshire|Penrhos]], a hamlet to the north of [[Raglan, Monmouthshire|Raglan]] in [[Monmouthshire]], Wales.
==Military achievements== Jones, aged 21, was serving as a [[Private (rank)|private]] in the 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot (later [[The South Wales Borderers]]) of the [[British Army]] during the [[Anglo-Zulu War]]. At the Battle of Rorke's Drift, he and Private 593 [[William Jones (VC)|William Jones]] were stationed in a hospital room facing the hill.
Despite overwhelming odds, the two maintained a steady rate of fire. While one soldier worked to cut a hole through the partition into the adjoining room, the other continued to fire at advancing Zulu warriors through the loopholed walls, alternating between his own and his comrade’s rifle as the barrels became too hot from continuous use.
By their combined efforts, the two men carried six patients to safety through the broken partition. A seventh, Sgt. Maxfield was delirious and refused to be helped. When Robert Jones returned to take Maxfield to safety by force, he found him in his bed being stabbed by Zulus.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=24717 |page=3178 |date=2 May 1879}}</ref> Robert Jones suffered four [[assegai]] spear wounds, was struck by a bullet, and had minor burns.
After the battle, General Sir [[Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley|Garnet Wolseley]] awarded Robert and William Jones the VC at [[Utrecht, South Africa|Utrecht, Transvaal]].
==Later life== [[File:Grave of Private Robert Jones VC, hero of Rorke's Drift in the Zulu Wars, Peterchurch churchyard - geograph.org.uk - 947019.jpg|thumb|upright|Jones' headstone at [[Peterchurch]], Herefordshire]] After leaving the army, Jones settled in [[Herefordshire]] where he became a farm labourer. He married Elizabeth Hopkins. They had five children: Robert Jones, jr, Edith Emily East (née Jones), Alice Smith (née Jones) Lily Rose Griffiths (née Jones) and Ellen Kelly (née Jones) called Nellie by the family.
In 1898 Jones died in [[Peterchurch]], Herefordshire, from gunshot wounds to the head at the age of 41. He had borrowed his employer's shotgun to go crow-shooting. His death certificate records a verdict of [[suicide]] whilst being insane. The coroner heard that he was plagued by recurring nightmares arising from his desperate hand-to-hand combat with [[Zulu Kingdom|Zulus]]. Jones was buried at St Peter's Church. Instead of being carried through the church gates into the graveyard, his coffin was taken over the wall due to the stigma of the time in regards to suicide. Jones' headstone faces in the opposite direction (north) to the others of the time (which face south).
Jones' widow, Elizabeth, gave damning{{clarification needed|reason=Damning whom?|date=April 2018}} evidence at his inquest. She later married a William Tilbury, by whom she had two further children.
==Victoria Cross== Jones' Victoria Cross passed out of the family. In 1996 [[Michael Ashcroft|Lord Ashcroft]] bought it at auction for £80,000. It is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the [[Imperial War Museum]], London.
Ashcroft outbid both the South Wales Borderers' regimental museum and members of Jones' family. Members of the family had approached the regimental museum but had been told the museum were not in a position to bid but the museum did bid for the medal, and without realising it, family members who wanted to buy the Victoria Cross and donate it to the regimental museum unwittingly ended up bidding against the museum.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}
==Film== In the 1964 film ''[[Zulu (1964 film)|Zulu]]'', actor [[Denys Graham]] played Jones.
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite book |last=Brazier |first=Kevin |title=Victoria Crosses of the Zulu and Boer Wars |publisher=Pen & Sword Military |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-39-909913-4}}
==External links== * {{cite web |url= http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/vc/jones.htm |title=Pte. Robert Jones (716, B Coy. 24th. Regiment). |work=rorkesdriftvc.com}}
{{Royal Welsh}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Robert}} [[Category:1857 births]] [[Category:1898 deaths]] [[Category:Anglo-Zulu War recipients of the Victoria Cross]] [[Category:British Army personnel of the Anglo-Zulu War]] [[Category:British Army recipients of the Victoria Cross]] [[Category:British military personnel who died by suicide]] [[Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross]] [[Category:People from Abergavenny]] [[Category:South Wales Borderers soldiers]] [[Category:Suicides by firearm in England]] [[Category:Welsh recipients of the Victoria Cross]] [[Category:Military personnel from Monmouthshire]] [[Category:Burials in Herefordshire]]