Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CANADIAN MEMORIAL CROSS "W.A. JONES"

Date

1944

Materials

SILVER, SILK, PAPER

No. Pieces

6

Height

2.5

Length

9.3

Width

7.2

Description

A. MEMORIAL CROSS “GVIR” CYPHER WITH UNTIED PURPLE RIBBON. EMBOSSED ON BACK OF CROSS, “G.C W.A. JONES C 135.” CROWN ON TOP POINT, WITH A MAPLE LEAF ON OTHER THREE POINTS OF CROSS. METAL OF CROSS IS DISCOLOURED DARKER AROUND DESIGNS, AND AROUND EDGES OF BACKSIDE, RIBBON IS CRUMBLED WITH EDGES FRAYING. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 1.3CM HGT X 29.3CM LTH X 3.2CM WTH B. BLACK LEATHER CASE WITH GOLD CROWN DESIGN ON TOP OF CASE AND REMOVABLE INSERT. CROWN DESIGN IS OXIDIZED GREEN, WHITE STAINING ON BOTTOM OF CASE. LEATHER IN BOTTOM OF CASE IS DRIED AND CRACKING, RIBBON COVERING HINGE IS FRAYING AND COMING LOOSE. OVERALL GOOD - VERY GOOD CONDITION. 1.8CM HGT X 8.4CM LTH X 6.6CM WTH C. REMOVABLE FELT INSERT WITH RIBBON PULL-TAB AT TOP. BOTTOM IS LINED WITH BLACK FAUX LEATHER. TOP OF INSERT HAS SLIGHT STAINING AND DISCOLOURATION, LEATHER BACKING IS STARTING TO PEEL ON CORNERS. OVERALL VERY GOOD CONDITION. 03.CM HGT X 7.3CM LTH X 6.2CM WTH D. CREAM COLOURED PAPER WITH THE COAT OF ARMS OF CANADA READS, “THIS MEMORIAL CROSS IS FORWARDED TO YOU BY THE MINISTER OF NATIONAL DEFENCE FOR AIR, ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, IN MEMORY OF ONE WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY.” CORNERS OF PAPER CARD ARE BENT, YELLOW-GREEN STAINING ALONG BACK OF CARD. OVERALL EXCELLENT CONDITION. 8.3CM LTH X 6.8CM WTH E. CARDBOARD BOX COVER. OIL STAINING ON TOP AND SIDES OF CARDBOARD BOX COVER, RED STAINING ON INSIDE OF CARDBOARD BOX COVER ON ONE SIDE. OVERALL VERY GOOD - EXCELLENT CONDITION. 2.5CM HGT X 9.3CM LTH X 7.2CM WTH F. CARDBOARD BOX BOTTOM. SLIGHT OIL STAINING ON BOTTOM OF BOX, DUST PRESENT IN CORNERS ON INSIDE OF BOX BOTTOM. OVERALL VERY GOOD - EXCELLENT CONDITION. 2.5CM HGT X 8.3CM LTH X 6.2CM WTH

Subjects

PERSONAL SYMBOL

Historical Association

COMMEMORATIVE

MILITARY

History

THE FOLLOWING BRIEF HISTORY OF GROUP CAPTAIN W. A. JONES INVOLVEMENT IN THE NUMBER 8 BOMBING AND GUNNERY SCHOOL IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA, IS EXCERPTED FROM MAJOR CHRISTOPHER R. KILFORD'S BOOK 'LETHBRIDGE AT WAR: THE MILITARY HISTORY OF LETHBRIDGE FROM 1990 TO 1996' (BATTERY BOOKS & PUBLISHING, 1996): ON PAGE 106, MAJOR KILFORD WROTE: “…ON 8 NOVEMBER 1941, NUMBER 8 BOMBING AND GUNNERY SCHOOL (NUMBER 8 B&GS) WAS OFFICIALLY OPENED… THE FIRST COMMANDING OFFICER WAS GROUP CAPTAIN W. A. JONES. IT WOULD BE HIS RESPONSIBILITY TO PROVIDE TRAINING FOR AIR GUNNERS AND AIR OBSERVERS…” MAJOR KILFORD, ON PAGE 106-107, WROTE: “…ABOUT 100 SQUARE MILES OF THE BLOOD INDIAN RESERVATION WERE ALSO LEASED AND THEN SUB-DIVIDED INTO DIFFERENT RANGES FOR BOMBING AND GUNNERY PRACTICE…” ACCORDING TO THE STATION DIARY EXCERPT INCLUDED IN THE DONATION, ON JULY 21, 1942, “A UNIQUE GOOD WILL INSPECTION VISIT TO THE STATION [AT NUMBER 8 B&GS] WAS HELD THIS AFTERNOON WHEN CHIEFS OF THE BLOOD INDIAN TRIBE WERE GUESTS FOR A FEW HOURS… [HEAD] CHIEF SHOT-IN-BOTH-SIDES, [MINOR] CHIEF CROSS-CHILD AND [MINOR] CHIEF OWNS-DIFFERENT-HORSES, WERE FLOWN OVER THE AIR FIRING AND BOMBING RANGES AND OVER THEIR OWN RESERVES BY GROUP CAPTAIN JONES. OTHER CHIEFS WHO VISITED THE STATION WERE: [MINOR CHIEF] FRED TAILFEATHERS, [MINOR CHIEF JOHN COTTON, MINOR CHIEF CECIL TALLOW,] HONORARY ‘CHIEF MOUNTAIN’ REV. CANON S.H. MIDDLETON, THE PRINCIPLE OF ST. PAUL’S INDIAN SCHOOL, AND HONORARY ‘CHIEF BRAVE ROCK’ A. MCMILLAN, INDIAN AGENT FROM CARDSTON… IN A VERY SURPRISE FEATURE, GROUP CAPTAIN JONES WAS HONORED BY THE VISITING CHIEFS WITH FEATHERED HEADDRESS AND FULL REGALIA, IN A BEFITTING CEREMONY THEY NAMED THIS SCHOOL’S COMMANDING OFFICER TO BE KNOWN AS [HONORARY] ‘CHIEF HEAVY SHIELDS.’ CHIEF SHOT-IN-BOTH-SIDES PRESIDED AT THE CEREMONY, WITH [MINOR] CHIEF PERCY CREIGHTON ACTING AS INTERPRETER. THE HONOURARY TITLE GIVEN TO GROUP CAPTAIN JONES IS PARTICULARLY FITTING AS THE ORIGINAL CHIEF HEAVY SHIELDS, WHO DIED SEVERAL YEARS AGO, WAS A GREAT WARRIOR IN THE EARLY DAYS AND TOOK PART IN MANY RAIDS. HE WAS AN OUTSTANDING MEDICINE MAN OF AUTHORITY, AND WAS THE OWNER OF SEVERAL RITUALISTIC CHARMS WHICH HAVE BEEN HANDED DOWN FROM THE PAST. HE WAS A KINDLY CHIEF OF GOOD JUDGEMENT, AND WAS THE LAST OF THE SURVIVING CHIEF TO SIGN THE ORIGINAL INDIAN TREATY. THE CHIEF WAS A GREAT FRIEND OF ST. PAUL’S SCHOOL AND OF THE WHITE MAN…” ON SEPTEMBER 12, 2024, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN, AND GALT INTERN, TESS MCNAUGHTON, INTERVIEWED STUART JONES, TONY JONES, AND KEVIN JONES, ABOUT THE DONATION OF A KAINAI HEADDRESS, FLYING GAUNTLETS, BLACKFOOT BEADED GLOVES, RCAF OFFICER’S SWORD WITH SCABBARD, CANADIAN MEMORIAL CROSS, AND SECOND WORLD WAR MEDAL GROUPING. THESE ITEMS ALL BELONGED TO GROUP CAPTAIN WILFRED ALEXANDER JONES; THE DONOR’S, DR. KEVIN E. JONES, GRANDFATHER, AND STUART JONES AND TONY JONES FATHER. ON HOW W. A. JONES CAME TO BE IN LETHBRIDGE, STU EXPLAINED: “…[DAD] BUILT MOSSBANK, IN SASKATCHEWAN, AND THEN WAS TRANSFERRED TO [THE NUMBER 8 BOMBING AND GUNNERY SCHOOL] HERE [IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA]…” TONY ELABORATED ON HOW W. A. JONES BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE KAINAI BLOOD RESERVE: “…HERE [IN CANADA], THE GOVERNMENT WAS TAKING OVER THIS LAND, AND IT WAS JUST RUNNING ROUGH-SHOD OVER THE NATIVE PEOPLE. AND SO, DAD… HE BEFRIENDED THEM, AND GOT THEIR FRIENDSHIP… SOME OF THEM HAD NEVER SEEN AN AIRPLANE BEFORE; NEVER BEEN UP CLOSE TO ONE; HE TOOK THEM UP FLYING…” STU CONTINUED ON AN IDEA THAT W. A. JONES HAD INVOLVING WORKING WITH THE KAINAI RESERVE: “…THE FAIREY BATTLE WAS THE AIRCRAFT THAT THEY USED FOR PULLING A DROGUE… AND [IN TRAINING] THEY’D [TARGET] SHOOT ON THAT [DROUGE]. [RECRUITS] HAD DIFFERENT COLORED BLANKS, OR SHOTS (BLACK OR RED), TO TELL WHO HAD DONE THE JOB, AND WHO HADN’T; WHO WAS CLOSEST TO THE BULLSEYE… SO, WHEN IT CAME TIME TO DROP ONE OF THESE CHUTES, WHERE DO YOU DROP IT? YOU CAN’T DROP [A DROGUE-CHUTE WITHIN] AN AIRDROME, BECAUSE THERE’S ANOTHER PLANE FLYING OFF, AND IT MIGHT NOT SEE THE CABLE… SO, IT HAD TO BE DROPPED [SOMEWHERE SAFE]… DAD CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF WORKING WITH THE BLOODS. HE HAD TO GET PERMISSION FROM OTTAWA, (WHICH HE GOT)… [MEMBERS OF THE KAINAI RESERVE] KNEW THE PLANES WERE FLYING OVER AND BEING SHOT AT THE DROGUES. (THEY’D PROBABLY STAY OUT OF THE WAY BECAUSE BULLETS FALL). [THEN] THEY WENT AND PICKED UP THESE DROGUES, WRAPPED THEM UP UNDER THEIR ARMS AND KEPT THEM LONG ENOUGH TO BRING A SUPPLY OF THEM TO THE STATION, FOR WHICH THEY GOT REIMBURSED…” ON IF THEY, AS W. A. JONES’ FAMILY, WERE TOLD OF ANYTHING RELATED TO W. A. JONES STARTING THE NUMBER 8 B&GS, TONY SHARED: “…[THE RCAF] WERE SO INTENT ON TRAINING AND GETTING PEOPLE THROUGH, MOST OF THE COURSES WERE ABOUT 6 WEEKS LONG…” TONY REITERATED: “LETHBRIDGE WAS VERY, VERY PROMINENT. [NUMBER 8 B&GS] TRAINED A LOT OF PEOPLE.” STU ADDED TO THE QUESTION: “WHAT ACTUALLY TRANSPIRED IS THAT HAVING BEEN THERE [AT NUMBER 8 B&GS] A YEAR AS COMMANDING OFFICER, THE AIR FORCE STATION WAS BUILT, BUT IT WASN’T FINISHED. THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF… DIFFERENT ITEMS THAT NEEDED TO BE SEEN-TO. AND THEN THEY HAD AN OPENING DAY, WHICH WAS TO BRING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE TO THAT OPENING… HE REALLY WASN’T HOME MUCH BECAUSE HE WAS BUSY. HE HAD A LOT ON HIS PLATE!...” WHEN ASKED WHAT SUITED THEIR FATHER FOR HIS ROLE AT THE NUMBER 8 B&GS, STU REFLECTED: “HE DID SUCH A [GOOD] TEACHING JOB, BECAUSE HE WAS A BORN-TEACHER, RIGHT FROM COLLEGE. THAT WAS FLYING TRAINING. SO, IT WAS A NATURAL FOR HIM TO CARRY ON WITH THAT ABILITY…” STU ELABORATED ON WHAT THEIR FATHER DID AFTER LEAVING LETHBRIDGE: “…DAD LEFT FOR ENGLAND IN NOVEMBER OF ’43, AND WAS COMMANDING OFFICER OF THUNDERBIRD, AND GOOSE SQUADRONS…” ON LOSING THEIR FATHER MAY 4, 1944, STU RECALLED: “ONE OF THE THINGS THAT REALLY MIGHT HAVE HIT US, MOM SHARED WITH ME THAT, IN THE TEN YEARS THAT THEY WERE MARRIED, ‘MAYBE I HAD A HUSBAND ONE OF THEM.’ THAT’S HOW IT WAS. HE WOULD HAVE LIVED AT THIS AERODROME.” TONY ADDED: “…WE GREW UP WITH AIR FORCE FRIENDS, AND HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT OUR DAD THROUGH FRIENDS…” STU ELABORATED ON HEARING ABOUT THEIR FATHER THROUGH AIR FORCE FRIENDS: “…WHEN DAD DIED… THEY HAD A WONDERFUL CEREMONY WITH A SENIOR OFFICER WALKING WITH THE GUN CARRIAGE, AND IT TOOK A LOT OF THE FELLOW PILOTS, AIRCREW, THE PEOPLE THAT WORKED AT THE STATION. DAD HAD TRAINED THEM HERE!... THEY LOVED OUR DAD. HE WAS A FANTASTIC LEADER… THEY REALLY FELT THEY HAD LOST SOMETHING WHEN THEY HAD TO PUT HIM TO REST…” TONY STATED WHAT W. A. JONES SERVICE NUMBER WAS: “…DAD WAS C135. THAT WAS HIS NUMBER” ON WHERE THE DONATED ITEMS LIVED BEFORE COMING INTO THEIR POSSESSIONS, TONY RECALLED: “THEY WERE PUT ASIDE, PUT AWAY SOMEWHERE. I WASN’T AWARE OF THEM UNTIL I WAS IN MY TEENS… MOM HAD STEAMER TRUNKS WITH CUNARD STICKERS ON THEM, AND I THINK A LOT OF THE THINGS WERE STUFFED IN THEM…” WHEN ASKED WHAT HAS BEEN THE ORDER OF POSSESSION FOR THE DONATED ITEMS, TONY STATED: “BOTH OF OURS [STU AND I]” STU ADDED: “I DIDN’T WANT TO HOG THEM AND WE SHARED [THE ITEMS] BACK-AND-FORTH…” ON A SERENDIPITOUS MOMENT THAT HAPPENED WHILE VISITING HARROGATE (STONEFALL) CEMETERY, IN YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, TONY EXPRESSED: “… (GLORIA, KEVIN, AND MYSELF), WENT TO HARROGATE IN 2000, AND WE’RE TOURING THE CEMETERY, AND FOUND OUR DAD’S HEADSTONE, AND PLACE OF REST. LATER ON, WE WENT TO TOUR YORK MINSTER, WHERE THERE IS A HUGE MEMORIAL TO THE AIRMEN THAT SERVED, MAINLY ALL THE COMMONWEALTH FORCES TRAINED, OR WORKED [IN EUROPE]… KEVIN WAS WANDERING AROUND YORK MINSTER, AND SUDDENLY CALLS TO MYSELF, AND GLORIA. [WE] WALK OVER TO THIS HUGE MEMORIAL, AND THERE’S A BOOK OPEN, AND IT WAS OPEN TO THE PAGE OF OUR FATHER.” ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, VETERANS AFFAIRS CANADA WEBSITE ON THE ‘MEMORIAL CROSS OVERVIEW’ PAGE; THIS MEDAL “…WAS AWARDED TO MOTHERS AND WIDOWS (NEXT OF KIN) OF CANADIAN SOLDIERS WHO DIED ON ACTIVE DUTY OR WHOSE DEATH WAS CONSEQUENTLY ATTRIBUTED TO SUCH DUTY… THE REVERSE OF THE CROSS IS ENGRAVED WITH THE NAME AND SERVICE NUMBER OF THE INDIVIDUAL COMMEMORATED.” WILFRED ALEXANDER JONES WAS BORN DECEMBER 27, 1904, IN THE TOWNSHIP OF TINY IN SIMCOE COUNTY, ONTARIO, CANADA. W.A. JONES JOINED THE ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE (RCAF) IN 1930, MOVING THROUGH THE RANKS AND BECOMING A GROUP CAPTAIN; SERVICE NUMBER C.135. W. A. JONES BECAME THE FIRST COMANDING OFFICER OF NUMBER 8 BOMBING & GUNNERY SCHOOL IN LETHBRIDGE, ALBERTA; HE HELD THIS POSITION FROM OCTOBER 15, 1941 – JAN 28, 1943. W. A. JONES DIED MAY 4, 1944, IN ENGLAND, DUE TO A ‘NATURAL DEATH.’ HIS DEATH WIDOWED HIS WIFE, KATHLEEN ST. CLAIR JONES NEE ORR; MARRIED DECEMBER 29, 1934. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON W. A. JONES MEMORIAL CROSS, INCLUDING SERVICE RECORDS, LETHBRIDGE HERALD RESEARCH, INFORMATION AND PHOTOS OF W. A. JONES HONOURARY CHIEFTAINSHIP [CHIEF HEAVEY SHIELDS, 1942], HONOURARY CHIEFTAINSHIP CEREMONY, EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE, OR TO SEE THE FULL TRANSCRIPTION INTERVIEW, PLEASE SEE THE DONATION’S PERMANENT FILE. SEE OBJECT P20240013001-GA FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE HONOURARY CHIEFTAINSHIP CERAMONY.

Catalogue Number

P20240013005

Acquisition Date

2024-09

Collection

Museum

Less detail