Egypt War Medal 1882-89

Obverse: Head of Queen Victoria in a diadem and veil (left). Legend: 'VICTORIA REGINA ET IMPERATRIX'. Reverse: the sphinx on an ornamental platform. Legend: 'EGYPT'. Exergue: '1882'. Inscription on edge: 'G.H.JONES. BO'SN MATE H.M.S. DEE'. Suspended from a clasp and blue ribbon with two white stripes.

George Henry Jones (1853-1935) was born in Wallingford, Berkshire, the son of an army veteran Richard Jones. He signed up for ten years’ service in the Royal Navy on 25 May 1871. He initially served as Able Seaman in HMS ‘Dido’ on the Australia station. During a cruise in the Pacific, in early 1873, the ship took a group of European settlers on board, preventing the escalation of a conflict with the government of King Cakabau of Fiji. ‘Dido’ was present at the cessation of Fiji to Great Britain on 10 October 1874. In November 1875, Jones transferred to HMS ‘Nymphe’, still on the Australia Station, until she returned to England and was paid off in May 1879. During this time, he was promoted to Leading Seaman and Petty Officer. He then worked on UK-based training ships until he joined gunboat HMS ‘Dee’. She was involved in the seizure of the Suez Canal during the initial stages of the campaigns in Egypt during 1882. During November the same year, he joined HMS ‘Hibernia’, then part of the Channel Fleet. From March 1883 to June 1886, he was in ‘Cygnet’ in the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. His last overseas voyage was in HMS’ Kingfisher’. Her crew formed part of a naval brigade during a punitive expedition against the Sultan of Witu - Fumo Bakari ibn Ahmad.

George Henry Jones left the Royal Navy in May 1891 at the end of his ten years’ service and in 1901 was working as a licensed victualler. He had married Sophia Harriet Hands in Wallingford in 1891 and the couple had three children. Jones died in Wallingford in 1935.