JONES, Henry

Henry was born on the 30th December 1915 & the husband of Eleanor LOWEN of 95 Trafalgar Road, Newport. They were married in 1940 at Newport Registry Office.

Henry, Corporal Arthur KEEFE, & LAC John GALLAGHER were on duty at RAF Hampstead Norris at 1910 on the 18th of November 1941, when a Wellington bomber aircraft crashed on take-off & caught fire. KEEFE jumped into a Bedford truck driven by Henry & raced to the aircraft, along with GALLAGHER, driving a fire tender. They entered the burning aircraft to try to extricate a crew man who was trapped under the Bomb beam, despite the burning fuel tanks & exploding oxygen bottles.

They rescued the trapped Airman but in the darkness & confusion, Henry failed to notice the slowly ticking over engine & was struck & killed by the propeller. He was brought back to the Island & buried at St Mildred’s Church Whippingham with full military honours.

Henry is also remembered on the Whippingham War Memorial.