Jones, Alan Walter.

Jones, Alan, born 1894, in Glendale, Washington, the son of Jessie M. Jones and Milton S Jones. Alan was raised in Walla Walla, Washington, and attended Whitman College and the University of Washington. Jones was working as a laborer for the Union Pacific Railroad in Seattle in 1917 when he applied for a commission in the U.S. Army. During WWI in 1917, Jones was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant in the army. He served in Europe with the 43^rd Infantry Division.  After “The Great War” he also served with the 45^th Infantry Division. He attended several Infantry and Artillery Schools and after he made a tour in Hawaii, he was assigned Assistant Division Commander of the 90^th Infantry Division, nicknamed “Tough ‘Ombres” or “Texas-Oklahoma Division”    under General James Van Fleet  . In early March of 1943 he organised the new 106^th Infantry Division at Camp Jackson ,S.C., trained it and went over to Europe with his Division to participate in the Battle of the Bulge.

The Battle of the Bulge (16-12-1944 – 25-01-1945) was a major German attack near the end of World War II, in Belgium, France and Luxembourg. The attack surprised Allied forces. It was the worst winter battle in terms of casualties for the United States. It also used up huge amounts of Germany’s war-making resources. The press made up “Battle of the Bulge” to describe the way the Allied front line bulged inward on wartime news maps and became the best known name for the battle. Map showing the swelling of “the Bulge” as the German offensive progressed

The German attack was supported by several other operations. Germany’s goal was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capture Antwerp, and then encircle and destroy four Allied armies. They hoped this would force the Allies to make a peace treaty with Germany. If they did this, Hitler could focus on the eastern front of the war.

General Jones commanded the 106^th, nickname “Golden Lion”  till the 22^nd of December 1944, when he suffered a heart attack and was succeeded by his assistant Commander, Brigadier-General Herbert Towle Perrin.  At the end of the war the division had seen 63 days of combat. It had suffered 417 KIA, 1.278 WIA, and 53 died of wounds. It lost 6.697 personnel taken prisoner. Of that total, 6.500 POWs were eventually returned to American military control after being released at war’s end. The remainder were listed MIA. Among General Jones’ decorations are: the Purple Heart, the Legion of Honour and the French Croix de Guerre. He was a member of the Army and Navy Club and the 106^th Infantry Division Association, where he was a gladly seen guest at reunions.

General Alan Jones Jones was diagnosed with cancer in 1968. His condition steadily worsened and in December he was moved to Walter Reed Hospital for treatment. He died there on 22-01-1969, age 75.

Death and burial ground of Jones, Alan Walter.

  He is buried with his wife Alys, born Pickering, who died very old age 99, in 1998, at Arlington Military Cemetery, Section 11. His close neighbours in Section 11 are the, Lieutenant General, Commanding General, Normandy, Henry Aurand, Air Force Brigadier General, Chief of Staff Second Air Force, Nathan Forrest III, General Lieutenant, Commander of the 10^th Mountain Division,  Georg Hays, Lieutenant Colonel and Fighter ace, “The Boise Bee”, Duane Beeson, 1* Major General, Commanding General 7^th Armored Division, Lindsay McDonald Silvester and General, Vogues Forests, 36^th Infantry Division, nicknamed “Arrowhead” , he arrested Reichsmarshal, Hermann Göring,  John Dahlquist.

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