Richard William Jones
Personal
Name: Richard William (Will) JONES
Born: 29 July 1893, Brighton, Sussex, England
Parents: John & Louisa Jones
Migrated to: Perth, Western Australia, 1912
Occupation: Shop Assistant, Clerk
Died: 21 October 1917, Belgium, aged 24
Buried: Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, West Flanders, Belgium
Grave Reference: I. H. 86.
Military Record
Enlisted: 25 Nov 1915
Training: Blackboy Hill, Western Australia
First Appointment: 15th Reinforcements, 4th Field Ambulance (11 Feb 1916)
Final Unit: 13th Field Ambulance
Regiment: Australian Army Medical Corps., Australian Imperial Force
Rank: Private
Service Number: 9447
Links
Cemetery Location on Google Maps
Ypres WW1 Battlefield (Photos of cemetery)
In Memoriam
Richard William Jones (Will) was one of my granduncles who died in the First World War. This page is not to glorify war but simply to honour a man whose life was too short.
His personal war dossier shows that he had previously been rejected from military service on the grounds of “chest measurement” but was accepted when he applied to enlist in late 1915 aged 22y 3mo. It is believed he was engaged to be married.
He received basic training at the Blackboy Hill [link 1, link 2] army camp, Western Australia before being deployed to the 15th Reinforcements, 4th Field Ambulance* of the Australian Army Medical Corps., departing 1 August 1916.
During 1916-1917 he was transferred to Egypt, England and France.
His elder brother, John Henry Jones (my grandfather), also in the army but serving in Ireland, both were able to arrange leave at the same time for the marriage of John to Hilda Hedger in Brighton, England. Will was best man.
On 15 August 1917 he was transferred to the 13th Field Ambulance.
Colour Patch of both the 4th and 13th Field Ambulances, AIF.
On 21 October 1917 he was “killed in action”.
He was buried in the Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, Ieper (was Ypres), West Flanders (West Vlaanderen), Belgium.
Medals Awarded:
*A Field Ambulance was a (mostly) horse-drawn army medical unit. The men of the unit would assist a wounded man after first aid at an Aid Post, with further treatment and/or carry him back to the casualty clearing station.
His name listed on the State War Memorial, King’s Park, Perth, Western Australia.
