People on board

JONES, William Thomas

William Thomas Jones was born in Caernarvon in 1881 according to his medal card. It has not been possible to identify his birth or census entries. A William Jones of the same age was working for the City of Dublin Steam packet Co. in 1896 on the Express and in 1902 on the Ulster, as a Fireman. On the 1918 Crew List he was named as Fifth Engineer.

According to an interview that he gave to The North Wales Chronicle on the 11th of October he was in the stokehold when RMS Leinster was struck by the first torpedo. Realising what had happened he instructed the firemen to leave and soon followed them. The second explosion wrecked the ship and Jones jumped into the water. He found a life raft that already had several people clinging to it, and over an hour later they were rescued. They were taken to Kingstown and “given every possible attention”.

William Jones received the Mercantile Marine Medal and the British War Medal.