"Dad's Army": What Was The Military Career of Lance Corporal Jones?

Absolutely love Dads Army. I served in the army and at many times our army reflected the stupidity of orders seen in Dads Army who in reality should have been wiped out to a man within a very short time including L/cpl Jones who only got his stripe by bribery lol

Oh come on ,someone found a bunch of old medals in a junk store and used them as theatrical costume 😅

GREAT comedy. Well done chaps.......

With all that soldiering experience they should have at least made him a full corporal 😂😂

I thought it was interesting that Major General Percy Hobart allegedly spent some time in the home guard after being sent sideways, and before he was recalled to the 79th Armoured Division

If anyone is interested in the lives of some of the characters form Dad's Army after the war, the BBC radio sitcom, 'It Sticks out half a mile' explains.

I love these stories, it's nice to know they took so much trouble with the characters back story. With modern programmes that don't last half as long as Dad's Army, there doesn't appear to be any thought to back stories. Thank you very much for doing the brilliant research.

In real life Clive Dunn was a Nazi . He was a black shirt before the out break of WW2

Very enjoyable - an ardent lifelong Dads Army Fan - a fictional story but showing the backbone of the fighting British of the time.

An absolutely wonderful program. Utterly fascinating.

Thanks!

Have loved Dad's Army since a child, this was a fascinating episode.

Fuzzy wuzzy

This is brilliant!

How the BBC have turned.
Now, they cheer the Mad Mahdi.

We do know what happened to the Home Guard after the end of the war right? Isn't that how Dad's Army starts? A table with Mainwaring being introduced by Wilson as "banker, soldier, magstrate, alderman and secretary of the Rotary club-a good fellow all round." We can see Walker and Pike with cigars (Pike has a monocle I think), Frazer sporting a beard and hearing aid. They had met for the "I'm backing Britain" campaign of 1968. Jones is nowhere to be seen though! Presumably he had died by 1968.

Here's to you Chris-a good fellow all round!

My favourite character of that show is Captain Mannering. You can tell the man is good at his position but unfortunately he can’t really come across well. He,s insecure but it’s a non toxic type of insecure

That's a true hero. Retired Army, 1st Sgt.

A bit confused about the order in which his medals were worn. My own (from service in the Gulf War and "Long Service" have a very strict order of precedence...) Any chance you could explain WHY Jonesy wore the ribbons in the order he did? Was that Egypt medal really the highest precedence of that group?

Two things spring to mind

1) If one batt was under strength, its possible that he transferred over

2) Jones would have qualified for more than just the Defence Medal... He would also have picked up the Restoration of Peace medal as well maybe just qualifying for the 39-45 Star

The Buffs (3rd Foot) museum is in Dover.

Both The Buffs and Green Howard's once time had Colonals of surname of Howard

If Corporal Jones had been involved in: The Nile Campaign (1886); Omdurman (1896-9); The Boer War in South Africa; the North Western Frontier Campaign in India; and WW1 (the 1914 Mons Star uniform ribbon is missing the customary silver carnation pip signifying he was there from the start - an Old Contemptible. A silver carnation pip or bronze clasp on the full medal ribbon was authorised by the King in 1919); and was 70 by the time he came into the Home Guard at the start of WW2 in 1940 then he was around 16 when he first went to Egypt in 1886. As you had to be 18 to join the army, he must have lied about his age to get into the army. His WW2 Home Defense Medal ribbon is missing, but he would probably have received that at the end of WW2. My grandfather had one of these medals too as he was a sergeant in the Home Guard throughout WW2. Still a great character.

As I travelled to The British Legion Club every Sunday as a small boy with my great grandfather, a WW1 veteran of the 1st & 3rd Battles of Ypres, The Somme Campaign, and Neuve Chapelle, with the 4th Territorial Battalion KOYLI, I knew many WW1 veterans and they too were wonderful men, real hero's with interesting varied characters like Jonesy. Some had only the British War Medal (BWM) and the Victory Medal. This set were known as a Mutt and Jeff. These guys joined the war after 1915, and were looked down on by the guys with the three medal set (known as Pip, Squeak, and Wilfred) as being shirkers not to have enlisted earlier in the war, but fact is that many of them were simply too young. A few had the MM, but one respected guy had the DCM, MM and Bar, and full WW1 three medal set with the silver pip carnation on the 1914 Mons Star ribbon, and an oak leaf clasp on his victory medal ribbon. Know what that signified? Mentioned in dispatches. This guy had been a machine gunner, but he had undertaken some really brave and courageous actions in WW1, saving at least five men, four at night who were lost in no mans land who he led back to safety, and dragging another wounded man to safety in a pill box during the day whilst under heavy German rifle fire. He was a really serious man who drank his beer alone. You had to be really careful about how you approached him and what you said. He never suffered fools gladly where WW1 questions were concerned, but as a lad I could get away with some things that others would have had him in a rage. Yeah....he was nearly barred from the Legion twice for heated loud arguments that had almost resulted in fights. Strange how these veterans would stick to their guns and not back down in an argument. I remember all of them. Some with arms and even legs missing. The absolute salt of the earth. I miss them, their conversations, and their recollections. It was special to be part of their world.

Permission to speak...Sir...

That was excellent well done

When ww1 veterans were inducted into the home guard. They were used as opfor during early War games. They kept winning due to their experience. Contrary to the popular myths about both the home guard reservists and the capability of ww1 soldiers.

This is great, couldn't you do these kind of reconstructions for other pictures of soldiers ?

May i suggest, a video on Vincent price. 😊

Excellent video, BUT, I seem to remember that his service ribbons were different in some episodes. Perhaps I'm wrong - but I don't think so...

My grandfather fought during The Boer War, he was in The London Light Horse.

The oft stated trope that Britain "stood alone" in 1940 is a nonsense. At the time the B.E covered a quarter of the Globe with millions of subjects, vast mineral resources and the R.N which ruled the high seas. If anyone stood alone in 1940 it was the Germans. She was for all intents and purposes landlocked and surrounded by hostile states.

They were a different breed back then, all right. You could knock 'em flat, and they'd still keep coming. My childhood contained many stories of courage that went all the way back to the heyday of the British Empire. Colonialists were much condemned for what they did, quite hypocritically, even these days, I think (no one side was any better than the other, they all did awful things to each other, and we still do awful things to each other) - it's a controversial subject, but, my God, they were tough!

Britain was never alone against the Germans. For instance, pilots from 19 countries flew with the RAF during the Battle of Britain. A real historian should know better than churn out this cliche.

GREAT VIDEO!

I think this was one of the first wars (the country that would become) Australia served in (if not the first it was very close to it).

The wounded officer in WW1, Bernard Ferguson, eventually went on to be Governor-General of New Zealand around the early to mid 1960's.... He was Sir Bernard Ferguson by that stage. (Or maybe his son?)
While I do like Lance Corporal Jones as a character, Private Fraser was awesome when he went flying off the handle.... "We are doomed" etc in his thick Scots accent (with his scary facial expressions). All of these little things, when put together, made a cohesive and comprehensive show. This show was widely viewed by darn near everyone in New Zealand back in the '70's, with much nostalgia and laughs, from ex-servicemen and their families.

Can anyone else picture Jonesy singing "We're here because we're here because we're here" a long with the others in the retreat from Mons?

One of my Great Uncle's also served in Greece. His name was James Avery, service number NX2059.

My self being a retired soldier. I have met some very interesting people who let their decorations do their talking. Guys would give guys grief until they wore their Class A's. One memorable moment. i recalled was when we had a Class A inspection and there were several veterans in the formations who well decorated. One man was a medal of honor recepiant. Another won the Distinguished service cross. The Colonel was so astonished at seeing them. He couldnt believe it, He cut the inspection short and dismissed us for the rest of the day.

Thanks, Chris, for your thorough and insightful video. Your evident passion for the subject shines through! You've allowed us a fascinating trip through Jones's military career and an insight into the military campaigns of the late 19th century and early 20th century, which I've very much enjoyed and greatly appreciate. I send you my very best wishes.

The hilarious thing was Jones was the lowest NCO and yet he had the most medals of all of them while Mainwaring the bombastic Captain had none. It's hard to believe he wasn't a full Corporal at least by WW2 if not a Sergeant. Lance Corporal is a very low rank for a guy so decorated.

That was really interesting. Thank you.

charming informative and funny.

It is so sad that to think in another 35 years very few will ever know about this and the real stories ,,,,, 😢

England has been invaded and if the English stand up to the aggressors they get gaoled.

As with other History chap items, this was really interesting and educational and I really enjoyed it. The only thing that might be missing, is although it mentions Corporal Jones referring to the 'Fuzzy Wuzzy' there is no reference to the origin of the word. I understand it was the nickname given by British soldiers to the Hedendoah tribe who allied themselves to the Mahdi, the nickname came from the eccentric hairstile they sported. Apparently they gave the British a bit of a kicking , and was paid homage to by Rudyard Kipling in his poem the Fuzzy Wuzzy including the lines 'So here's to you Fuzzy Wuzzy in your home in the Sudan , you're a poor benighted heathen but a damn fine fighting man !'

Giving a character a prehistory well that's just brilliant,👍👍👍💛

What a classic and timeless comedy series this was and remains today. 🇬🇧

On a more sobering point Chris.
I understand that some
Warwickshires were massacred by the Waffen SS during the
Dunkirk retreat.
The Waffen SS (as at Arnhem ) did usually show respect for captured Allied soldiers in the West.
I just wondered if any of the SS were put on trial for these murders.
Thank you.

Looking back at British history, they did some horrific things, India for one, Kitchener was horrific, Churchill also bad reports of his earlier campaigns, although he was great in WW2. So the British were not so humane to the fuzzy wuzzys at all.