Defence Medal 1939-45, Brigadier Frederick Theodore Jones, Army Staff India and Chief Engineer to the Government of India, 1911-1945.

Circular campaign medal with, on the obverse (designed by Thomas Humphrey Paget), the head of King George VI and the inscription, 'GEORGIVS VI D:G:BR:OMN:REX F:D:IND:IMP.'. On the reverse (designed by Harold Parker), the Royal Crown on an oak sapling, with lion and lioness supporters flanked by the dates, '1939' and '1945', above stylised waves and the medal name, 'The Defence Medal', within the exergue. The green ribbon has a central band of orange and two thin black stripes.

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 the rank of 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.

Struck in cupro-nickel or silver, the Defence Medal 1939-45 was instituted in May 1945 and was more widely distributed than the 1939-45 Star. Its recipients included personnel who had served for at least three years in Britain during World War Two (1939-1945). The medal was awarded to non-operational service personnel and for certain civilian services, such as Civil Defence. Commonwealth and Colonial personnel in some services, deployed away from their homes, were also eligible.

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