Spoke to this fine gent from Wolverhampton along with his good wife at the Ride to the Wall at the National Memorial, Arboretum, Alrewas 5 October 2019 -
Lance Bombardier 14722403 William (k/a Arthur) JONES. Essex Yeomanry 8th Armoured Division. D Day Veteran. At the age of 17 years he was part of the D-Day landings with the Essex Yeomanry as a tank driver, few days later he was 18 years. Spoke to this fine gent from Wolverhampton along with his good wife at the Ride to the Wall at the National Memorial, Arboretum, Alrewas 5 October 2019.
Arthur's medals, Left to Right 1939-1945 Star, Defence Medal. The Victory Medal. 1939-1945 War Medals. Légion d’honneur.
Following extract credited to.
https://www.expressandstar.com/news...-report-time-to-remember-lads-we-left-behind/
Arthur Jones, now 88, (2014) was sent to the front in his tank as part of the Forward Delivery Squadron, replacing an unfortunate soldier who had lost his life and delivering the much-needed tank. Much of the fighting had moved from Gold Beach to Caen Canal by the time he arrived, so he was thankful he did not see much of the bloodshed on that first day. Mr Jones said: "When we got there, they had part of the harbour up, so I didn't get my feet wet because we landed on the Mulberry harbour. "They had taken Gold Beach and were trying to sort Caen out. Thank God I missed the fighting, I was lucky." Mr Jones, from Solent Close in Pendeford, Wolverhampton, then spent the next 18 months until the end of the war driving the tank from France to Germany with the 147 Essex Yeomanry, Eighth Armoured – including a three-week period when he and a friend became stranded in France and were looked after by a family of Belgian refugees. He added: "This weekend is important to me to remember those lads who didn't come home. A lot of people were still 18 or 19, young men and women who were killed in war and are lying in their graves."
