James Jones

Corporal James Jones (service number 628449) served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War and was stationed at RAF Luqa on the island of Malta, where he worked in bomb disposal — one of the most dangerous trades in the wartime RAF. On 2 May 1942, he distinguished himself by examining a large delayed-action bomb that had fallen close to a Wellington aircraft and discovering two unmarked, ticking fuses that indicated the likely presence of an anti-withdrawal device; undeterred by the grave risk, he worked to neutralise the device with complete disregard for his own safety, an act of gallantry recognised by the award of the British Empire Medal, gazetted on 7 July 1942. He was also Mentioned in Despatches. Corporal Jones was killed on 26 June 1942 while handling an unexploded canister bomb at Luqa — the same station he had served so bravely. He is buried in Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery, in plot P, collective grave 15, and is also commemorated on the Hapton War Memorial.