The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

245762 Flt.Sgt. Albert Norman "Taffy" Jones DFM Royal Air Force from:New Purchase Farm, Highmoor Hill, Caerwent, Monmouthshire Story of my father Albert Jones, left the family farm after a young girl was killed by a German plane by the Severn Tunnel Junction. He was at first sent back home but some weeks later recalled and told he would have to fly. He trained as a flight engineer ground crew at first but then the Sergeant had to let him go and join a crew which he had been reluctant to do as Dad was a good fitter. He was known as Taffy throughout the war. Promoted to a Flight Sergeant he flew with a number of pilots at first including a Polish Pilot known as Joe, then with a Canadian called Mitchell but known as Mitch. (In fact Mitch only liked flying with my Dad). They both joined the Pathfinder Force and took part in many raids including Berlin and Nurembourg. Dad flew 38 operational sorties and 15 with the Pathfinder Force, total hours 229.40. On one occasion they took a senior officer who wanted to see what these men underwent on a trip. Mitch insisted my Dad stay in the seat next to him and the Officer sat behind, well when the Rear Gunner shouted Enemy they performed the Corkscrew and the senior officer ended up in the roof of the Lancaster and stated afterwards, This is a crew that will survive. Dad, himself, also suffered with air sickness at times. His record for the award of DFM states "Throughout his tour he has proved himself to be an able and efficient Flight Engineer who has shown the greatest keenness to operate under enemy fire with coolness and courage of an high order and on many occasions good work as a Bomb Aimer. His conscientious devotion to duty and courage are worthy of high praise". In 1945 he was posted to India and Burma to work with Gliders where he was Commissioned and caught Dengue Fever. Carole Lloyd Add to this record.  Related Content: Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.