Air Marshal Sir George Jones KBE, CB, DFC (18 October 1896 – 24 August 1992) was a senior commander in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He rose from being a private soldier in World War I to Air Marshal in 1948. He served as Chief of the Air Staff from 1942 to 1952, the longest continuous tenure of any RAAF chief. Jones was born near Rushworth, a rural community in Victoria. The date that appears on his birth certificate is 22 November 1896; however this was the date of registration and not of the birth itself, which occurred on 18 October. His father, a miner, had died three months earlier. Jones was brought up in a strict Methodist household and for the rest of his life rarely touched alcohol. He attended Rushworth State School, leaving at the age of 14 with a Certificate of Merit. Following his schooling, Jones took an apprenticeship as a carpenter before moving to Melbourne, where he became a motor mechanic. He undertook three years part-time military service prior to World War I, firstly in cadets and later in a Militia mounted infantry unit, the 29th Light Horse Regiment (also known as the Port Phillip Horse) In May 1915 Jones joined the Australian Imperial Force, embarking for Egypt in August with the 9th Light Horse Regiment. He landed at Gallipoli the following month and served there until the end of the campaign in December. His experiences at Gallipoli, especially witnessing the death by enemy fire of one of friends, affected him deeply and he suffered from headaches and nightmares for years afterwards. After briefly transferring to the Imperial Camel Corps, Jones applied to join the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) in 1916, taking a drop in rank from corporal to private to do so Jones became an air mechanic in No. 1 Squadron AFC, before being accepted for flying training in England. He gained his wings on 22 November 1917 and was posted to No. 4 Squadron AFC (numbered 71 Squadron Royal Flying Corps by the British) as a Second Lieutenant in January the following year. Flying Sopwith Camels and Snipes on the Western Front, Jones finished the war a Captain and an ace, with seven victories from 150 patrols, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was badly injured by a bullet wound and petrol burns in combat with a German fighter in March 1918, and did not return to his squadron for three months. On 29 October 1918 he achieved two kills in one engagement, at Tournai, in what is frequently described as "one of the greatest air battles of the war" Amid a confrontation involving over 75 Allied and German fighters, Jones led his patrol of three Snipes in a dive on ten Fokkers, destroying a brace of enemy aircraft in the attack
If you can find one I highly recommend his autobiography "From Private to Air Marshal" Regards, Andrew
