Burma Star 1941-45

Campaign medal awarded to Brigadier Frederick Theodore Jones, Army Staff India, 1945.

Copper zinc alloy medal in the form of a six-pointed star. On the obverse, the royal cypher, 'GRI VI', for King George VI, surmounted by a crown, with a circlet inscribed with, 'The Burma Star'. The medal is suspended from a dark blue ribbon with central red stripe and two orange stripes.

The Burma Star was instituted in May 1945 for personnel serving in operations in the Burma Campaign during World War Two (1939-1945) from 11 December 1941 to 2 September 1945.

Frederick Jones was born in 1885 in Byculla, Bombay, India. He entered the Indian Service of Engineers in 1907 and joined the Indian Defence Force as a Lieutenant the following year. He served with the Lucknow Volunteer Rifles, the Mussoorie Volunteer Rifles and the 9th Mussoorie Battalion, rising to Captain in 1919. In recognition of this service, Jones received the Royal Victorian Order, Fifth class in 1911, and the Volunteer Officers Decoration in 1920 to honour 20 years commissioned service in the Volunteer Force.

Jones built his career as an engineer, working with the Imperial Works Department, Government of India, before moving to the Central Public Works Department, Delhi. He was twice honoured for his distinguished work for the Empire in the New Years Honours List; in 1931 he was admitted as Companion to the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire and in 1936 he was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal.

In 1940 Jones became the Consulting Chief Engineer for the Government of India, and from 1942 the acting Deputy Assistant Master-General of Ordnance. During the Second World War he was promoted through several War Substantive ranks, rising to Colonel in 1944. He died in 1968.

From a medal group awarded to Brigadier Frederick Theodore Jones, Army Staff India and Chief Engineer to the Government of India, 1911-1945.