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Show DELAYED HONOR IS CONFERRED Commander Jones of British Navy Is Awarded the Victoria Cross. CONSPICUOUS BRAVERY Officer Mans Only Remaining Gun and Gives Orders After Leg Is Shot Off. LONDON, March 17 (Correspondence (Correspond-ence of the A880Clated Press.) For "most conspicuous bravery and devotion devo-tion to duty" in the battle of Jutland a posthumous Victoria rro?r. has just hecn awarded Commander Loftus William Wil-liam Jones. The London Gazette, in making the announcement, states that "the full facts have only now been as certalned," which accounts for the long delay in bestowing the distinction. distinc-tion. The official report states that on ihe afternoon of May 31. 1916. Commander Com-mander Jnnes. in the torpedo boat destroyer de-stroyer Shark, led a division of destroyers de-stroyers to attack the enemy battle cruiser squadron In the course of this attack a shell hit the Shark s bridge, putting the steering gear out of order and very shortly afterwards another che disabled the main engine, leaving the vessel heipie.. The commanding officer of another destroyer, seeing the Shark's plight, came between here and the innv and offered assistance, but was warned by Commander Jones not to run the risk of being almost certainly sunk by trying try-ing to help him. Although wounded in the leg, he went aft to hejp connect con-nect and man the nfter-vhe. Meanwhile Mean-while the forecastle ;in with its crew had been blown away and the same fate soon befell the after gun and crew Comxnander Jones then went to the midship and only remaining gun and personally assisted in keeping it In Leg Is Torn Off All this time the Shark was subjected sub-jected to very heavy fire from enem light cruisers and destroyers at short range. The crew of the midship gun was reduced to three, of whom one was soon badly wounded in the leg A few minutes latr( 'ommando r Jones was hit by a shell which took off hi. leg above the knee, but he continued to sh'e orders to the pun's crew while! a s'oker Improvised a tourniquet around his thlkh. Noticing that the inslen was not properly hoisted, he gave orders that another be raised ?oon afterward, seeinc that the ship could not last much longer and that a Cerman destrover was closing in. he j rave orders for the surviving members1 of the crew to put on life belts Al-j most immediatelv after clving this or der the Shark was struck by a torpedo and sunk. "Commander Jones," stated the re port in conclusion, "unfortunately was qoI among the few survivors from the Shark who were picked up by ;i neutral neu-tral vessel in the night " |