Victor Jones (colonel)

Victor Jones
Died	London, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Rank	Colonel
Service number	17042
Unit	14th/20th King's Hussars Royal Armoured Corps 'A' Force
Battles/wars	Second World War
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire Mention in Despatches

Lieutenant Colonel Victor Harry Jones OBE was a British intelligence officer and "visual deception" expert during the Second World War. First serving with the 14th/20th King's Hussars during the North African Campaign, he made a name for himself using dummy tanks (and other fake vehicles) to mislead the enemy. In 1941 he was transferred to A Force in Cairo, under Dudley Clarke, to continue deception operations on a larger scale. Toward the end of the war he was invalided home to Broadway, Worcestershire.

The first record of Jones is a posting to the 14th/20th King's Hussars, where he initiated several dummy tank operations and became an expert in visual deception techniques. In June 1936 he was promoted to the rank of major. In March or April 1941, Jones joined Dudley Clarke's 'A' Force, the department overseeing strategic deception in the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres. Jones was put in charge of visual deception operations, used to confuse the enemy as to the location and strength of Allied forces. During 1941 he oversaw the creation and deployment of three regiments of dummy vehicles, the designs growing steadily more elaborate under the influence of his 'A' Force colleagues and the members of the camouflage section. In August he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

Jones briefly commanded 'A' Force from July 1941 after it was placed under the auspices of a new deception department, GSI(d). Clarke was put in overall charge of this endeavour, leaving Jones nominally the head of 'A' Force. However, by September the experiment had failed and the deception departments in Cairo reverted to their previous organisation. By August, 'A' Force was fully operational and running its first major deception. Operation Collect was a cover plan to disguise the real date of Operation Crusader. After seeing Collect started, Clarke left for Lisbon, leaving Jones to manage the operation alongside intelligence commanders Brigadier Shearer and lieutenant colonel Raymund Maunsell. During this period the three collaborated to set up Operation Cheese, the first double agent channel in the Mediterranean.

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