Jones, Christopher Hastie Died

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Personal Information

Rank W/C
Forename(s) Christopher Hastie
Surname Jones
Gender M
Age 25
Decorations DFC, MiD, IGSM
Date of Death 01-08-1942
Next of Kin Son of Dr. John Hastie Jones and Margaret Jones
JONES CH

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Aircraft Information

Aircraft Bristol Blenheim IV
Serial Number V6432
Markings WV-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 28. H. 15.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 190
JONES CH

Location

Row -
Panel 190
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 2
Panel Number 190

Enlistment Information

Service Number 37183
Service Royal Air Force
Group 2
Squadron 18 (Burma)
Squadron Motto Animo et Fide (With courage and faith)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Miscellaneous Information

Mentioned in Despatches 25 October 1940. Citation: "In recognition of gallant and distinguished service during operations in Waziristan for the period 1st January, 1939, to 31st December, 1939."
DFC Awarded 21 May 1940 for Service on NW Frontier. Citation (21 May 1940): On the 20th February 1940, at the commencement of the operations in the Ahmedzai Salient, F/Lt. Hastie Jones rendered particularly valuable support to a military column while they were engaged with hostile tribesmen at Tabai. Whilst cooperating with the column he was constantly under fire from the ground. On the morning of the 3rd March, this officer took off in response to a call sent by the Frontier Constabulary at Drazinda, where news had been obtained of a Mahsud gang three hundred strong near the Sawan River. At the time of his arrival a fierce engagement was in progress at Sheikh Haider between the hostile tribesmen and the Frontier Constabulary, who numbered only 31 and were divided into three picquets. Although under constant fire from the ground, this officer pressed home his attacks with great accuracy and effect. While this engagement was in progress it was learnt that during an attack the night before on the Khassadars Post at Sheikh Haider, a Frontier Constabulary signaller and four Khassadars had been kidnapped. These captives escaped and each of them stated afterwards that his escape was due directly to the action of the aircraft. F/Lt. Hastie Jones continued to assist the Frontier Constabulary until the gang were in full retreat. On the 12th March, whilst reconnoitring in answer to an "Emergency" call stating that the Frontier Constabulary were in contact with a gang near Khan Khelan, F/Lt. Hastie Jones located 50 of the gang in the Khania Nullah and gave most effective assistance to the ground forces in the face of heavy fire. This officer during the three and a half years of his service in his present Squadron, has completed 700 hours of operational flying on the Frontier. In the summer of 1938 he took part with distinction in the Mamii Rogha and Kharre operations.
Appointed CO on 24 July 1942 - this was his first op on the Squadron.
Although he was listed in various records with Hastie Jones as his surname, the 1921 Census has him and other family members as Jones with both he and his father having Hastie as their middle names. None of the other family members have Hastie in their names.
Born Q1, 1917.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/244/8
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/244/8

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Name Outcome
Evans A D (Sgt) Died
Waylett K M (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 31-07-1942
End Date 01-08-1942
Takeoff Station Wattisham
Day/Night Raid Night (79% moon)
Operation Intruder duties over Venlo airfield
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night fighter crew comprising Hauptmann Streib & Oberfeldwebel Ruscher of Stab I./NJG 1 at 00:35 on 1 August 1942. They were flying a Bf 110 F-4 from Fliegerhorst Venlo. Crashed in Lipperdorf, Germany

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

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