Well-known Yarrawonga resident and WWII Navy veteran, 102-year-old Des Jones has been remembered as a laid back man, brave Navy stoker, husband, father, sportsman, volunteer and elder statesman.
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Mr Jones, who passed away on July 31, was commemorated with a graveside service on August 15 by Navy chaplain David Hastie RAN with the Commanding Officer HMAS Canberra Captain David McPherson RAN reading a naval ode as well as presenting navy pins to Des’ grandchildren.
Part of his eulogy, shared by ‘adopted granddaughter’ Laura Stahl, president of the HMAS Canberra and Shropshire Association Chris Johnson and Des’ Yarrawonga best mate John Bastin follows.
“I read recently a poem by Linda Ellis that speaks about the information left on your headstone when you pass,” Laura started.
“There’s your date of birth, which for Desmond Grieve Jones was May 4, 1923, in Brunswick to Maude and Walter Jones.
“Des’ dad Walter was a musician at the Tivoli Theatre in Melbourne. He played the trombone and Des followed in his footsteps. He had a great love for music, especially marching bands.
“When Des was a kid, he played in the school band and they went over to Adelaide. This was the first time Des had ever been on a bus.
“He was an avid bunny hunter back in his youth; it was actually the family business. Hunting is also how Des stumbled across his first car, an old T model ford that he went into partnership with some mates for as the farmer wanted five quid for it.
“He spent time fixing up the car and getting it ready and they all had a wow of a time.
“But then war came calling.
“Des enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy on January 30, 1941, for wartime service. He had apparently spent some earlier time in the Army and had the good sense clearly to join the Senior Service as the Army was not for him.
“Enlisting at HMAS Lonsdale in Victoria officially as W1967, at the tender age of 17 ½, he became a Stoker 3rd Class and undertook his basic training in seamanship at HMAS Cerberus.
“On his 18th birthday in May 1941, he was promoted to Stoker 2nd Class and he continued at Cerberus until July 28, 1941. When the drafting’s to sea came at the end of their initial training, Des was to go to HMAS Sydney.
“For some unknown reason, this never occurred, which was fortunate, as things for all of us, would have been very different if he had joined Sydney.
“Des instead was drafted to the Kent Class, County Cruiser HMAS Canberra which had just been assigned back to Australian waters operating around the western and southern coasts.
“Upon Des joining, Canberra resumed those operations until Japan entered the war in December 1941.
“On his 19th birthday in May 1942, Des was promoted to the rate of Stoker. Both Des and Canberra were present in Sydney Harbour during the Japanese midget submarine attack on May 31 – June 1, 1942.
“As August 8 became August 9, Stoker Jones, below decks in Canberra had just finished his watch in the boiler room and had cleaned himself up to join the fire party in the sick bay flat.
“It was a dark, cloudy night, pitch black with short sharp rain showers. Planes were heard in the darkness overhead.
“Des recalls a torpedo hit Canberra amidships in the boiler room, where he had been on duty less than two hours before, immediately killing four Stokers, one Petty Officer and completely disabling Canberra.
“Des recalls ‘the Japanese continued to fire upon us, we could not fire back as we had no steam to operate the gun turrets and had no pumps to fight the fire. We just had to take cover and take it’.
“Des and a shipmate went to the low side of the ship and saw a Carly float in the water about 100 yards from them.
“It had proved to be a long night, Des was picked up by a US Navy long boat and eventually was joined by the rest of the crew on the hospital ship.
“Survivors leave then ensured for Des upon his return home to Australia, but this was total war and he wasn’t idle for long. Back at HMAS Cerberus, Des was spotted.
“Des was one of the 60 in the initial draft to Shropshire.
“Des served four tours of duty in HMAS Shropshire that included two Battle Tours. Des and Shroppie were together for the Arawe and Cape Gloucester campaigns in late 1943 and retook the Admiralty Islands and Hollandia in early 1944.
“Des and Shropshire were back in Sydney undergoing a refit and maintenance in preparation for sailing for her fifth tour of duty when Des was drafted ashore on June 30, 1944, just prior to Shropshire’s sailing, to HMAS Melville in Darwin.
“Des would see out the rest of the war in and around the port of Darwin in various roles.
“Des was rated Acting Leading Stoker in Melville on November 1, 1944.
“In October 1945, Des was back in Victora at HMAS Lonsdale where he was made Leading Stoker and later spent some time aboard HMAS Quiberon and HMAS Lachlan.
“Des was demobilised on July 24, 1946 at the age of 23.
“Life after the Navy looked different for Des, he married his first wife Isabel, settled in Geelong and completed an electrical apprenticeship.
“He started working for good mate Stuart McColl who owned a large dairy and began servicing all the ice cream machines.
“McColls moved into the transport business and Stuart asked Des if he’d like to drive their very first milk tanker. About eight months in and he left truck driving and started up his own electrical business with good friend Matt Brown.
“Des and Isabel went on to have three children Tim, Alan and Jenny.
“They brought a farm at Wallington and Des became a jack of all trades, navy sailor, truck driver, electrician and potato farmer.
“Besides taking part in Anzac Day marches, Des was light on his feet in other ways, he was a wonderful ballroom dancer.
“Des and his brother ended up doing some electrical work in Cobram and Des moved to the area later in life and met his second wife Marie.
“They brought a caravan and headed straight for warmer weather, typical grey nomads really, settling in Queensland for a while and stormed onto the lawn bowls scene.
“Des just loved his bowls. Great player, coach and umpire. It took them everywhere.
“Des and Marie stayed in the area and Marie passed away in 2011 at Woods Point aged 90. Des got restless legs after that and shifted a little bit.
“Des started to get involved with more things in the community, playing cards at Woods Point, an avid RSL member, and Probus Club.
“It was during these years that Des started becoming more active in the Canberra and Shropshire memorial events.
“Des seemed to love moving house or had trouble settling down.
“It wasn’t uncommon for Des to be chastised and have the threat of the electric wheelchair being banned.
“A couple of years ago Des got rid of his car and thought he’d be ok using his scooter to go down the street. That didn’t last long and Des, true to form, was on the hunt for new wheels.
“Des’ next move was into Warrina aged care at Yarrawonga Hospital at the spritely age of 101 to begin another chapter of wheelchair terrorism along the corridors
“His final move was into the higher care wing of Karana where he continued his reign of terror with the fastest wheelchair in the west.
“Never one to sit idle, Des was a thinker. He never stopped coming up with new projects or researching a new item that would improve his mobility or another handy gadget or electrical appliance that might be better than the last one
“He also had a thing about armchairs. His pursuit to find the ultimate recliner chair was relentless.
“After the purchase of the Rolls Royce of recliner chairs a few years ago, Des was always on the lookout for something bigger and better and we had quite a few trips to neighbouring towns to try out a new chair.
“He just enjoyed a day out and the search for a chair was a good excuse.
“In 2022, Des, Alan and myself (John Bastin) attended the 80th anniversary of the loss of the Canberra at Garden Island in Sydney and also Canberra.
“The sight of Des the Stoker and Admiral Guy Griffiths, also in his 99th year, chatting and swapping stories of their experiences epitomised the comraderies shared by all veterans.
“It was a great road trip and Des shared many stories of his vast experiences and adventures over a century of living.
“Des loved these events and started planning the next trip, usually the day after we got home.
“Our trip to Canberra for the Freedom of Entry Parade was a wonderful event and Des took on rockstar status, 101 years old rubbing shoulders with politicians, dignitaries, Navy hierarchy and living relatives of HMAS Canberra sailors was memorable.
“In April this year, Des was invited by former Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove to attend the Anzac Day eve Sunset Tribute at the Opera House.
“Des, Laura and Brent made the trip where his spirit and determination shone through.
“Des even backed up the next day, Anzac Day and lead The Canberra Shropshire Association march through Sydney City, doing selfies with his new besties Normie Rowe and Little Pattie.
“He was optimistic to the end.
“He loved a feed of grilled fish at Burkes, a milkshake from the Smoko Shed or fried drumsticks from KFC.
“Des’ secret to a long life, don’t smoke and take the big pill. Don’t ask what the big pill is, he could never tell but he guaranteed it was keeping him alive.
“This is not goodbye Des, it’s just hooroo. Fair winds and following seas to you. Time to sling your sack sailor – you’re dismissed Stoker Jones.
Tributes flow for Des
Former Governor-General of Australia Sir Peter Cosgrove, who wheeled Des into the 2025 Anzac Tribute at the Sydney Opera House, shared his condolences and respect for the bravery displayed by Des in his time in the Navy.
“I give a final salute to Des Jones,” Sir Cosgrove said.
“Des being the last survivor of HMAS Canberra, it was a great honour to welcome him as the WWII Navy Veteran of Honour at this year’s Anzac Tribute at the Sydney Opera House.
“As a resident of Yarrawonga, Des in fact travelled to Sydney from Victoria twice in recent months, once for the Anzac tribute and again a month later for the Anzac tribute reception held at NSW Parliament House.
“Des was a wonderful Australian and his life and service to our nation will never be forgotten.”
Yarrawonga Mulwala RSL Sub-branch member and close friend of Des, Ian Summers shared his memories and condolences to a man who was so helpful to and well respected within, the RSL.
“On behalf of the RSL, Des was one of our most respected members,” Ian said.
“He was our oldest and last World War II veteran. So that's an era that's gone for us now.
All the stories have gone, we can't tap into them anymore.
“We loved sending him up to Sydney and Canberra and those sorts of places.
“We were going to take him on a trip to New Zealand and he was so looking forward to that. I think that a lot of that is what kept him going.
“On a personal note, he was just a great fellow.
“He was just a regular all-round man that was more than helpful when we wanted to know something. Even if he couldn't stay on track for very long.”
Adoringly known as Des’ ‘adopted granddaughter’ Laura Stahl, whose grandfather Arthur Curtin served on the HMAS Canberra and later the HMAS Shropshire with Des and became very close mates, said that Des was as close as friends could get to family.
“I have known Des my whole life, my Mum practically all of hers too,” Laura said.
“He was my mate, that was as close to family as you can get.
“I loved listening to Des tell stories. After losing my Pop a number of years ago, I just loved the time with him and had definitely adopted him as my grandad.
“Our last trip was the ANZAC services in Sydney this year. So many firsts for Des and so many for me too. I’ll never forget them, I will never forget him, he will always be my TV star.
“I was in Sydney for the Canberra memorial shortly after Des passed. He was always dirty he never got a trip on Canberra 3. I went for a tour on her that day thanks to Captain David and I can assure you he was with me that day.”
Best mate of Des’ in Yarrawonga John Bastin said Des was a living legend, a jovial fellow.
“He was jolly, always having a chuckle and a laugh. He enjoyed life right to the end,” John said.
“He was also pretty active. Only three weeks before his passing, he was still down the street having coffees.
“I had a lot of interesting adventures with him, accompanying him to Sydney and Canberra for the various commemorations and navy events that took place, which he absolutely loved.
“He lived for those. They kept him going.
“We became friends after I did some renovations on one of his many properties years ago.
“He was always fixing things, he couldn't sit still. He had to be active and to keep his mind very active, which was why he lived such a fulfilling life.”
Journalist