In memory of
Lt. Cdr. Val Jones,
C.O. of 835 Squadron from
July 1944 to January 1945

Everything went swimmingly at the ewer presentation in January. Swimmingly was the right word in more senses than one. We had to plough through a flood which was almost a couple of feet deep to get to the church and we put up a bow wave that Nairana would have been proud of. We had to go full pelt through it because if we had stopped in the middle nobody would have been able to get to the church down that road.
The assembled company consisted of David and Joyce Whittick, Ken and Elizabeth Atkinson, Ted and Babs Pitts, Charles and Julie Gough, Humphrey (Val's son) and Reia Jones, Di plus daughter and son-in-law, Vera de Trey White, John Lloyd, Donald Payne, yours truly and Midge. The handing over ceremony was a very simple one. All the lads paraded in front of the altar steps and the ewer was passed from hand to hand to me. (I may say that the passing wasn't as slick as you would see an All Blacks three-quarter line in operation but it reached me eventually without being dropped!). I then handed the ewer to the Commodore who is the Chairman of the Fleet Air Arm Church Trust with these words:
It is a great honour for me, speaking on behalf of the pilots and observers of 835 Royal Naval Air Squadron, to ask you to accept this baptismal ewer to commemorate the memory of a very brave man - our revered Commanding Officer - Lieutenant Commander Val Jones.
The Commodore did take it!
The Commodore accepted with a few words of thanks and the service continued with a Baptism, when the ewer was also Christened.