Appeal to find family of airman killed during Second World War ahead of memorial service
A search has begun for relatives of an air force veteran who died more than 80 years ago ahead of a service in his memory.
Urgent appeals have been made to trace any surviving relatives of Airman John Charles Jones who died in 1941 and was buried in Shrewsbury Cemetery.
The tombstone of John Jones was damaged when storms, which raged in December last year, brought down part of a tree.
Now Peter Easton, a retired dentist and volunteer with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire, Lieutenant Colonel Ian Sawers, are keen to trace any remaining family who might still live in the area so that they can be invited to attend a re-dedication service scheduled to take place on September 19.
All that is known of John Jones is that he was born on January 14, 1909, in Atcham.
In 1911 he was living in New Park Road, Shrewsbury, and in 1938 he was still there, unmarried and working as a railway porter.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force and died in 1941 while on a gunners course at RAF Penbrey.
His grave is registered at Shrewsbury Cemetery but little else is known about his life.
Mr Easton, aged 76, from Shrewsbury, said: "There are 274 war graves around the Shrewsbury area and about 70 per cent of these have Commonwealth headstones.
"There are 15 other cemeteries around and about and I inspect them and take photographs and report any damage and also clean them.
"Around December 20 last year I heard about a tree having come down and damaged a headstone.
"I reported the damage which was checked out and half of the fractured stone was replanted.
"An order was made for a new stone which came from Romania and then went over to France for cutting before arriving here and being put in place.
"Our main aim now is to find any relatives of John Jones.
"We know he was working at Shrewsbury Railway Station as a porter before joining the RAF.
"He was living with his widowed mother and we have the vague suspicion that he might have been married.
"However, there is no record found of a marriage having taken place.
"We are hoping that someone will see this appeal and come forward as there were definitely people in the Telford area who were part of the family and he was the youngest of five children.
"We are hoping that we may be able to find relatives who are still living in this area and would appeal for them to get in touch."
If you can help, contact dominic.robertson@mnamedia.co.uk.
