Private Alfred Jones

Alfred 'Alf' Jones, also widely known as 'Ginger' on account of his shock of auburn hair. Was born at Rochdale, Lancashire on the 7 of May 1922 and was educated at Castlemere Secondary School, Rochdale.

Upon leaving school he worked for manufacturer of filter cloth, in the meantime serving in the Territorial Army  which he had joined at the age of 15, on the 7 November, 1937, giving his age as one year older. He was posted into the 6th (TA) Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers.

At the outbreak of war his Battalion was mobilised for active service and Alf was transferred into the 2/6th Battalion which was shortly organised into a tank unit and mobilised for service in Africa. His age resulted in his being transferred once again into the 70th Battalion The King's Liverpool Regiment, being promoted to Corporal at the age of 18. Later he was again transferred, this time to 1st Battalion of the South Lancashire Regiment, where he volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and subsequently found himself with the 21st Independent Parachute Company, which joined in early 1944 at Bassingham, Lincolnshire. Alf successfully passed parachute jump instruction at RAF Ringway on Course 94 and 95. This course ran between 6 and 20 December 1943. He served with The Company, as a member of 1 Pln, at Arnhem and in Norway and Palestine.

At Arnhem on the 22 September, 1944 Alf was dug into a slit trench in the garden of the house called 'Quatre Bras' at Oosterbeek crossroads.

He recalls a German motorcycle and sidecar appearing on the main road from Arnhem, the passenger firing several bursts from a 'Schmeisser' in the general direction of the house. He returned the fire but does not know whether he recorded any hits, as the driver did a sharp 'U'-turn and sped off in the direction from whence he had come.

On the following day, another German motorcyclist, an SS officer, pulled up at the side of the house, dismounted and called out to Private Jones, who covered him and told him to 'Hende Hoch'. The officer went to draw his gun and was promptly shot.

It appeared he was a Paymaster as he was carrying a bag containing a large amount of paper money. There is no record as to the fate of the latter!

Later that same afternoon, a self-propelled gun (SPG) approached The crossroads, stopping a respectable distance away and firing one shot, which hit the corner of a steel box, probably controlling street lighting, on the pavement alongside Alfs slit trench. The explosion knocked down part of the garden wall covering him in pink brick-dust and leaving him slightly concussed, but otherwise unhurt. No infantry materialised and the SPG backed off.

Alf was demobbed from Latrun in Palestine on 3 May, 1946. Throughout his service with the Company he held the rank of Private with No.1 Platoon. In addition to his war medals, he is entitled to wear the Territorial Medal Efficiency Medal (TA).

Back in civil life, Alf joined the Lancashire Constabulary, as Police Constable, later Police Sergeant.

In this latter rank he volunteered and served with the Cyprus police during the emergency of 1958. He has personal letter from the the Chief Constable of Cyprus in recognition of the apprehension of a notorious terrorist.

When he left the police, Alf took a post in security with Trans World Airlines (TWA) in Germany and when the Company folded, stayed in Germany as a Schloss Hous Meister at Schloss Bad Waldsee.

This was the home of a German nobleman Seine Durchlaucht-Furst Franz von Wolfegg, Waldsee und Waldburg. Alf described this period of his life as hilarious and enjoyed it thoroughly; in his own words: "especially meeting the nobility (?) of Germany including Graf Lansdorf, the Krupp heir Arn von Bohemberg (I never was sure what sex he was) and others, including a real live princess who was a direct descendant of Good King Wenceslas and was clearly round the bend!"

Alf left the Army 13 July 1946

Alf stayed in Germany with his wife, Margarethe, until her death, when he returned to England and now resides in Rawtenstall, Lancashire. He has one son, one daughter and one grandchild.