JONES, Charles MM

Charles Jones was born in Jersey but was living in Halesowen in 1914. He volunteered for the Staffordshire Territorials and joined the 1/5th Battalion. Their four years in the Great War included actions with great losses but they had a splendid finale. In 1915 they suffered very high casualties on the 13th October attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt at Loos. In 1916 there were equally high losses on the first day of the Somme at Gommecourt Wood. Their bravery, however, in the breaking of the Hindenburg Line on the 29th September 1918 was of epic proportions. The German forces were driven out of their defensive lines and forced to retreat. However, Private Charles Jones was killed in action on the 3rd October. His bravery, probably on the critical morning attack on the canal which reinforced the Line, led to a recommendation for the Military Medal and it was awarded posthumously on the 29th October. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois, Halesowen and Christ Church, Quinton, Memorials.