H. Jones

He charged enemy trenches under heavy fire near Goose Green.

Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones VC OBE, known as "H", commanded the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, during the Falklands War. Born in Putney, London, he grew up as the eldest of three sons, with an American artist father and a Welsh mother who was a nurse. He attended Eton before training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

Commissioned into the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in July 1960, Jones built his career through regimental and staff appointments. His service in Northern Ireland brought appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1977. Promoted to lieutenant-colonel in June 1979, he transferred to the Parachute Regiment that December and advanced to Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1981.

On 28 May 1982, his battalion attacked Argentine positions around Darwin and Goose Green on East Falkland. A strongly defended ridge halted the advance, exposing the paratroopers to mounting casualties. Jones moved forward to assess the enemy trenches and direct supporting fire. When the attack remained stalled, he seized a submachine gun and charged a position himself.

After falling on the slope, he rose and charged again, firing as he advanced. Fire from another trench fatally wounded him close to the enemy position. He died that day, leaving no later career beyond the action for which he was honoured.

His posthumous Victoria Cross was announced in October 1982. Jones is buried at Blue Beach Military Cemetery, San Carlos, in the Falkland Islands. His five-award medal group is held by the National Army Museum.

Victoria Cross citation: On 28th May 1982 Lieutenant Colonel Jones was commanding 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment on operations on the Falkland Islands. The Battalion was ordered to attack enemy positions in and around the settlements of Darwin and Goose Green. During the attack against an enemy who was well dug in with mutually supporting positions sited in depth, the Battalion was held up just South of Darwin by a particularly well-prepared and resilient enemy position of at least eleven trenches on an important ridge. A number of casualties were received. In order to read the battle fully and to ensure that the momentum of his attack was not lost, Colonel Jones took forward his reconnaissance party to the foot of a re-entrant which a section of his Battalion had just secured. Despite persistent, heavy and accurate fire the reconnaissance party gained the top of the re-entrant, at approximately the same height as the enemy positions. From here Colonel Jones encouraged the direction of his Battalion mortar fire, in an effort to neutralise the enemy positions. However, these had been well prepared and continued to pour effective fire onto the Battalion advance, which, by now held up for over an hour and under increasingly heavy artillery fire, was in danger of faltering. In his effort to gain a good viewpoint, Colonel Jones was now at the very front of his Battalion. It was clear to him that desperate measures were needed in order to overcome the enemy position and rekindle the attack, and that unless these measures were taken promptly the Battalion would sustain increasing casualties and the attack perhaps even fail. It was time for personal leadership and action. Colonel Jones immediately seized a sub-machine gun, and, calling on those around him and with total disregard for his own safety, charged the nearest enemy position. This action exposed him to fire from a number of trenches. As he charged up a short slope at the enemy position he was seen to fall and roll backward downhill. He immediately picked himself up, and again charged the enemy trench, firing his sub-machine gun and seemingly oblivious to the intense fire directed at him. He was hit by fire from another trench which he outflanked, and fell dying only a few feet from the enemy he had assaulted. A short time later a company of the Battalion attacked the enemy, who quickly surrendered. The devastating display of courage by Colonel Jones had completely undermined their will to fight further. Thereafter the momentum of the attack was rapidly regained, Darwin and Goose Green were liberated, and the Battalion released the local inhabitants unharmed and forced the surrender of some 1,200 of the enemy. The achievements of 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment at Darwin and Goose Green set the tone for the subsequent land victory on the Falklands. They achieved such a moral superiority over the enemy in this first battle that, despite the advantages of numbers and selection of battle-ground, they never thereafter doubted either the superior fighting qualities of the British troops, or their own inevitable defeat. This was an action of the utmost gallantry by a Commanding Officer whose dashing leadership and courage throughout the battle were an inspiration to all about him.

Supplement to The London Gazette of 8 October 1982. 11 October 1982, Numb. 49134, p. 12831