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Auction: 24112 - Orders, Decorations and Medals - e-Auction
Lot: 901

The post-Great War photograph albums of Squadron Leader A. G. Jones-Williams, Royal Air Force and Royal Flying Corps, late Welsh Regiment

An 11-kill ace of great repute, he carved his name into history as a pioneering Long-Distance aviator, who set the World non-stop Distance Record in April 1929 before being tragically killed before the year's end

Three large-format photograph albums, of 50, 50, and 24 pages respectively, circa 1922-25, containing many fascinating and striking original images, very fine (3)

Arthur Gordon Jones-Williams was born in British Colombia, Canada on 6 October 1898 but was sent to England, being educated at Blatchington Place Preparatory School and Haileybury.

Great War - Ace

Commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant into the Welsh Regiment in August 1916, he was seconded to the Royal Flying Corps in November 1916. After training with No. 66 Squadron, he joined No. 29 Squadron on the Western Front on 22 March 1917, piloting Nieuports. In less than a month, on 14 April, he scored first victory over an Albatross D.III at Neuvireuil-Vitry. Less than two weeks later, he scored victories over two similar planes and on 25 May was made a Flight Commander. The following month he gained two more victories over Albatrosses - thus making 'Ace' status in three months - gaining another on 12 July and two further in September. In the autumn he was posted to the Home Establishment. The following year he returned to France to command a flight of No. 65 Squadron where, between 3 September - 4 October, he added another three victories, all over Fokker DVIIs, taking his final total of victories to eleven, with a brace of M.C.'s and the French Croix de Guerre to his name.

Post War - Middle East

Jones-Williams remained in the Royal Air Force at the conclusion of the Great War and was confirmed Captain on 1 August 1919. By 1923 he was called out to active service in Kurdistan, as A.D.C. to Air-Vice-Marshal Sir John Salmond, flying DH 9As and thence upon his return was employed as a test pilot.

Jones-Williams was clearly one of the finest of his generation and was selected to pilot the Air Minister, Sir Philip Sassoon to Venice for the Schneider Trophy meeting and also accompanied him on his mission to Washington in October. On 1 January 1928 he was promoted to Squadron Leader, at which time he was serving with No. 23 Squadron at Kenley.

Pioneer

On 24 April 1929 Jones-Williams and Flight Lieutenant N. H. Jenkins attempted to beat the world non-stop distance record by flying a Fairey Monoplane from Cranwell to Karachi, a distance of 4,130 miles. They achieved this in 50 hours and 48 minutes, arriving at their destination on 26 April. The record was to be broken the following year by Dieudonné Contes' solo flight from Paris to Manchuria, but Jones-Williams was the hero of the moment and with friends in the higher echelons of the Air Force it seemed that a golden future was in store for him.

Looking to further gild his laurels, on 17 December 1929 Jones–Williams and Jenkins attempted to beat their own long distance record by flying non-stop from Cranwell to Cape Town, a distance of some 6,000 miles. On the night of the 17th while over Tunisia, they were caught in a storm and, owing to an aneroid failure, they misjudged their height. The ‘plane crashed into the side of a mountain near Djebel-Zit, killing both officers. Their bodies were recovered and a service was held at the Protestant Church of St George, Tunis, on 21 December. Jones-Williams’s body was returned to England and he was buried at the church of St. John the Evangelist, Newtimber, Hassocks, Sussex, where there is also a window erected to his memory; there is another at Brecon as well as a brass memorial tablet at Northolt.

The photograph albums in this Lot offer us a fascinating glimpse into elements of the life of Jones-Williams as outlined above, including many detailed and large-format photographs of flights around the Middle East; active operations against the enemy; aerial shots of New York City, Washington D.C., and Detroit; a visit to the Great Sphinx of Giza; formal images of members of his Squadron; the Taj Mahal; Khyber Pass, and many others besides. All are meticulously annotated in ink, identifying the place, situation or individual and are a remarkable record of R.A.F. and flying history.

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Sold for
£1,300

Starting price
£110