Jones, HPM

Lieutenant Henry Paul Mainwaring Jones

Paul was born on May 18th 1896, the eldest son of Harry Jones, parliamentary correspondent and assistant editor of the Daily Chronicle, and his wife Emily. He joined the College in the summer of 1908, and shortly afterwards earned a scholarship, later going on to earn a senior scholarship in 1912. It was in that year that he was in the 1st XV for the first time, the first of three straight years in the team, during the last of which he was Captain. He also spent two years as an editor of The Alleynian, and at sports day in the spring of 1915 won the Mile, Half-Mile and Steeplechase, also tying for the Challenge Shield as most impressive overall athlete. Shortly after this, in April 1915, he left the College.
Paul had earned a scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford, but because of the war did not take this up, instead opting to enlist for military service. He was rejected from infantry duty on account of his eyesight, and as a result joined the Royal Army Service Corps. In July 1915 he went over to France for the first time, as Requisitioning Officer for the 9th Cavalry Brigade, and promoted to Lieutenant the following May. He spent that summer serving on a supply column, before being attached to the 2nd Cavalry Brigade that November. In February 1917 however his career changed tack, as he transferred to the Tank Corps. Later that year, on July 31st, he was advancing in his tank during the Flanders Offensive when he was shot dead, at the age of 21. Many of the letters he had sent home during the war were later collated and published in a book, entitled War Letters of a Public-School Boy. Additionally, in his honour were founded at Dulwich the Paul Jones Memorial Prizes, two prizes awarded annually, one for a historical essay, and the other for a literary essay.