Captain Ira Taffy Jones

Does anyone have any really detailed information on Taffy Jones? Was he a really skilled pilot and what unit did he serve with? Also, did he serve in World War II? Thanks very much!

[Graeme]

Taffy was an Observer with No 10 Sqn before becoming a scout pilot with No 74 Sqn. He was reasonably good - he is credited with about 37 victories. An enjoyable read is his book "Tiger Squadron".

[Mac]

Better than reasonably good. How many of the 37 were OOCs ?

[Billy_Bishop]

According to Above The Trenches, Jones had 1 balloon, 28 and 1 shared EA destroyed, 6 and 1 shared OOC.

Going by the decimal system that Barret loves so much , Jones has 29 and 1/3 destroyed (counting the balloon) and 6.5 OOC.

VBR,

Al Lowe

[Vin]

Al,

Should his score be

1 balloon, 28 and 1 shared EA (29.33333333 etc) destroyed), 6 and 1 shared (6.5) OOC 1 Bishop nose ?


Vin

[Ginger.]

What Taffy was most proud of was that when they made him a Flight Commander he never lost a pilot.He did serve in WW2 and is reputed to have tagged onto a few fighter sweeps.'An Airfighters Scrapbook'is another good read.

[Billy_Bishop]

Vin, that I don't know. I've only seen mention of a scuffle between Jones and Bishop, and in any version I've seen it was not specified who won.

So far as I know, Bishop never mentioned it, and neither did Jones. I had thought for years that I saw it mentioned in Art Bishop's bio of his father. But now that I have two copies, (hard bound and paperback) I can find no mention of it.

My memory must be of another book by another WWI writer, perhaps Reynolds or Whitehouse. And if that is the case, then it throws doubt on the whole story. Anyway, I digress.

VBR,

Al Lowe

Arthur Bishop mentions the fight on page 16 of his book "Courage in the Air." Writing about how Mannock got credit for 73 victories (when he claimed only 61), Arthur writes:

"It began with a fist fight in the officers mess between my father and Ira Taffy Jones, who in 1918 were stationed at Vert Galand with 74 Squadron. To get even Jones listed Mannock as having shot down one more plane than Bishop in his book, Tiger Squadron."

Arthur doesn't say who won, but the insinuation was that Billy emerged the victor. Why else would Jones need to "get even."

As for Jones' total, I believe there are only two confirmations in German records, which puts him in the same boat as Bishop, Ball, Hawker, Rickenbacker, Collishaw and many, many, many others.

[Ginger.]

Chris,
try and get hold of some of Taffy's scribblings.If that does not convince you he was the greatest Welshman,since those at Rorke's Drift, I will eat my Union Jack underpants.

Based on his own books, he seems to have been a very unpleasant individual.
He tried to denigrate von Richthofen because many of his victories were two-seaters--as if he was a sporting huntsman after big game, rather than a military professional. I'm sure that a lot of the infantry was grateful that Von R. shot down so many of the planes that made their lives hell. It was Udet himself, I think, who replied in print to Jones' charge.
He tried to make Mannock the top RAF claimer by overclaiming on his behalf, a thing Mick would never have done himself-- mainly because his animosity towards Bishop--something that calls his honesty into question--what else did he lie about?