Charles Edward Jones
1895 - 1965
Charles Jones
married to Daisy Bones
By a member of his extendend family Charles Jones joined the Middlesex Regiment in 1916, at the age of 21 and
was sent to the Western Front. He was a keen photographer and took photos when
he could. On one occasion, he was on cook house duty with one of his pals. They were
cooking a stew for the Officers' mess, and left it simmering while
thye went out to take some photos. They were gone longer than they had
intended, and when they returned, the stew was burnt. the
other man told Charles not to worry, and began to add anything he could find like
tea, coffee and sauce. Charles nervously took the stew to the officers, leaving as quickly as he could.
Later, even more nervously, he went back to clear the tables, only to be congratulated on a fine
stew, the best that they had tasted!
Charles Jones
married to Daisy Bones
Charles got 'trench foot' after being stuck in waterlogged trenches for 3 days at the Front. (Probably on the Somme sector, during the winter of 1916/17.) His feet were heavily bandaged and he was transported back to England for treatment. The bandages were removed, easing the pain greatly. He was sent to convalesce at Leckhampton Court Cross hospital in Cheltenham. While there he took an album of photos, and took portraits of his fellow patients, the staff and some of the grounds. He recovered and was sent back to France.
While at the Front, our artillery opened up a barrage without down or covered their ears and kept their mouths open. But Charles' ears took the full shock and his eardrums were perforated. He was not invalided out, and like so many others was so eager to be demobilized, he did nothing to delay it. However, in late 1920's, he did have an opportunity to claim damages, but by then he had lost contact with all his conrades. So, although he could quote day, time and place, he had nobody to corroborate his claim and got no recompense. At first, his hearing was not too bad, but it deteriorated over the years untill he was completely deaf.