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INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH
by Betty James
Reproduced from the Abbey Church magazine January
2013
TO MANY OF our readers, Alan needs no
introduction but to those who are not familiar with this gentleman,
prepare to be amazed by this 91-year-old who has certainly seen life
and the world.
Alan was born in Ruislip, Middlesex on October 13th, 1921, attending
the local school until his father, serving in the RAF, was posted to
India for five years. During this time, Alan and his mother went to
live with her sister in Portsmouth.
However, in late 1928, they joined Alan's father in Karachi and
shortly afterwards he was posted to Peshawar where Alan attended the
local service school. In the summer months, families were considered
unable to cope with the heat and were moved to accommodation in the
Himalayas which meant another change of school for Alan.
In 1930, Alan's father was posted to Mesopotamia (now Iraq) but as
families were not allowed, Alan and his mother returned to England
(Bournemouth), staying first with friends and then renting a flat
until 1933, when father came home and was posted to the RAF Records
Office at Ruislip. In 1935, he was commissioned and subsequently
posted to Egypt. Alan's mother went with him but it was then off to
boarding school in Kent for Alan. He was not a happy bunny.
During the war, Alan also served with the RAF at various locations
in the Middle East and during the latter part of his service, he met
a young lady who was in the ATS while attending a mess dance. She
was Ileene, a wee Scottish lass who later was to become his wife.
When Alan returned to the UK, the Air Ministry offered him a job
based on the work he had been doing during the war which he
accepted. After training courses and for a number of years
afterwards, he was posted to various RAF stations plus two periods
at the Air Ministry/MOD, one of which involved visiting units,
travelling around the country, including Northern Ireland). In 1952,
he visited two RAF stations in what was then Southern Rhodesia.
Alan and lIeene were eventually married at Glasgow on 18th June 1948
followed by a honeymoon in Southern Ireland. Home at first was a
rented house at Petts Wood, Kent. Their first child, Christopher,
was born in 1950 followed by a daughter, Alison, in 1953. They
enjoyed the first home of their own in 1956, when they bought a
house at Orpington, Kent.
Alan's father died in 1956 and his mother came to live with them. In
1958, after a posting to an RAF station in Wiltshire, he received
further promotion and was posted to the RAF Maintenance Command HQ
at Andover, Hants, and again acquired a travelling job. In March
1961 he was posted to the RAF Middle East HQ in Aden for a two-year
tour. This posting required frequent travelling to visit RAF units
located at various places on the Arabian coast to Bahrain and
latterly, for a period, Kuwait. He was also required to visit
locations in Africa, Djbouti, Hargeisha, Addis Ababa, Khartoum,
Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Mauritius and during this tour
year he clocked up over 500 flying hours.
Alan's mother died in 1962 and in April the following year, the
family came home by sea, disembarking at Suez for a sightseeing trip
in Cairo. Then on to Port Said to join the ship.
After a spell in temporary accommodation, the family eventually took
a house at Wokingham, Berkshire, and during this time, Alan was
stationed at the Ministry of Defence.
But in March 1966, he was on the move again, this time to Singapore
for three years and with the children now at boarding schools,
lIeene joined Alan three months later. This posting involved visits
to Malaysia, Borneo, Hong Kong and Gan (now the Maldives).
Back to Wokingham in 1969 after a long voyage home (the Suez Canal
was c1osed) and a return to the Ministry of Defence in London where
he stayed until his retirement in July 1986. This was a very
interesting period which led to many visits to RAF units in Germany,
Oman and to Egypt in 1975 in connection with the re-opening of the
Suez Canal.
Alan and lIeene moved from Wokingham to Hail Weston, a village near
St Neots, Cambridgeshire, in 1980, where both soon became involved
in local affairs.
Alan very proudly told me: "Our children were really amazing. It was
not easy with so many changes of schools. lIeene and I were over the
moon when Christopher graduated from Exeter University and Alison
was accepted for a Short Service Commission in the RAF and passed
out from OCTU at Henlow as an Acting Pilot Officer in 1972, leaving
the service in 1979 as a Flight Lieutenant.
Coming up to retirement in 1986, Alan and lIeene decided that they
wanted a bungalow which was in easy reach of necessary facilities.
Hail Weston was a lovely village, they had a four-bedroom house but
the facilities were a drive away and they had walking in mind. After
a long search they settled for a bungalow in Stanley Street, Bourne,
moving in during April, 1987. "We just fell in love with the town
and the friendliness of the people", said Alan, "Even after all
these years, I would never live anywhere else."
He soon became involved in local affairs, joining the town council
and twice becoming mayor, governor of Bourne Grammar School (12
years), treasurer of the South Lincolnshire Branch of the
Alzheimer's Society (10 years), treasurer of Bourne Civic Soc (16
years), a member of the Greater Peterborough Area Board for Young
Enterprise, the Peterborough Citizens Advice Bureau, founder member
of the Stamford Volunteer Bureau, founder member of Hereward Probus
Club, committee member of Bourne Royal British Legion Branch and the
Bourne Branch of the Royal Naval Association and a trustee of the
Butterfield Centre.
To summarise: Alan Jones is a one-off. His enthusiasm for everything
he does is more than 100%. An amazing man who has had to cope with
losing his son, Christopher, through illness at the age of 46, and
then, in 2005, his dear wife, Ileene, to vascular dementia. Before
her death, Ilene had also for many years been very active in local
affairs.
Alan's daughter and son-in-law and his granddaughter now live in
Australia and every year, he jets off to the other side of the world
to visit them without batting an eyelid. Not bad going for someone
aged 91. |
