Captain Ted Maslen-jones
Highly decorated air observation pilot whose control of artillery fire outwitted the Japanese
CAPTAIN TED MASLENJONES, who has died aged 98, was one of only two Air Observation Post (AOP) pilots to be awarded both an MC and a DFC during the Second World War.
Maslen-jones served with No 656 (AOP) Squadron RAF, manned by both Royal Artillery and RAF servicing personnel and equipped with the Auster aircraft flown by Royal Artillery officers. It was the only such squadron to serve in Burma and was under command of the 14th Army.
The squadron moved to the Arakan early in 1944, as the Japanese 55th Division launched a major offensive, and was soon thrown into battle. He recalled: “This was to be the most severe baptism of fire for all of us.”
Initially he and his fellow pilots evacuated casualties and delivered documents and medical supplies. As the heavy fighting continued, they conducted observation tasks, and on one occasion he was chased by a Japanese Zero fighter, but managed to avoid being shot down by diving steeply and escaping at treetop level.
Throughout the spring of 1944 he provided support for the 25th Indian Division. As the operations intensified his primary role became the control of artillery fire. Flying low, he identified targets, broadcast firing details and then corrected the fall of shot until the target was destroyed. For several weeks he controlled guns in the open country south of Maungdaw, sometimes flying as many as five sorties in a day.
He was recommended for the MC but higher authority declared that a DFC was more appropriate for his gallant actions.
The citation recognised his contribution to the operation over a sustained period, when he “was first to suggest some cunning ruse to outwit the Japs … and was frequently fired at when his courage was unfailing”. Maslen-jones readily acknowledged the award as a joint effort for which his flight personnel and gunner crews also deserved credit. After providing support to 21 Brigade in the crossing of the River Chindwin, Maslen-jones began working with 20 Indian Division on January 9 1945 as it prepared to cross the River Irrawaddy to the west of Mandalay. It first had to capture the town of Monywa, where the enemy was well dug in and perfectly camouflaged.
Maslen-jones discovered an abundance of trees both around and in the town, which prevented reliable observation from his unarmed Auster flying at 2,000ft. When he descended lower he encountered heavy antiaircraft fire. To counter this difficulty, he sat down with the Divisional Commander Royal Artillery and devised a clever but hazardous plan. After Allied guns fired a heavy early-morning barrage of smoke rounds on the northern half of the town, he waited for the smoke to drift over the whole town.
He then descended to treetop height and started sketching positions and making notes. This procedure was repeated, with smoke laid on the southern part of the town. It was only after the capture of Monywa that the scale of Maslen-jones’s audacity, daring and skill could be fully appreciated.
He was awarded an immediate MC. The citation concluded: “It is no exaggeration to say that the success of the assault on Monywa, and the comparatively small casualties incurred by our infantry, are due in no small measure to the initiative, personal continuous gallantry and devotion to duty with which this intrepid young officer carried out his reconnaissance.”
The son of an obstetrician and gynaecologist, Edward Walter Maslen-jones was born in Balham on October 11 1919 and educated at Oundle. After a visit to Germany and Austria in early 1938, when he saw the aftermath of the Anschluss, he joined 119 Field Regiment RA as a reservist. At about the same time he was accepted by Brasenose College, Oxford, to read Agriculture with Economics. He completed just three weeks of his course before being called up.
He was commissioned in July 1940 and posted back to 119 Field Regiment, then in Northern Ireland. Restless for action, he volunteered for pilot training and eventually joined No 656 Squadron, which moved to the Far East in September 1943. Once its aircraft arrived it began training for operations, before deploying to the Arakan.
The squadron’s modus operandi was unique. Squadron headquarters deployed independently operated flights to support each corps. Maslenjones served mainly in “A” Flight, yet on regular occasions he deployed with a small ground party in support of particular operations. He was acknowledged throughout the squadron as their most naturally talented pilot, and consequently was given the most challenging tasks. He never sought command, however.
After his action at Monywa in 1945, Maslen-jones, known as Mas, continued flying at an intensive rate, as the 14th Army headed for Rangoon. He flew his final operational sortie on July 2, when he carried out a reconnaissance north of Pegu. In addition to his two gallantry awards, he was twice Mentioned in Despatches.
In 1946 he returned to Brasenose to complete his degree. He then pursued a career in the agricultural supply industry, working for 31 years with Rank Hovis Mcdougall, rising to become the national sales manager. For five years, before his final retirement, he worked as an agricultural consultant.
He was instrumental in helping to establish 656 Squadron Association and was an enthusiastic committee member of the Air OP Officers’ Association. From 1988 to 1999 he was churchwarden at St Luke’s Milland, West Sussex, although his main passion was the restoration of the four-acre woodland churchyard.
For his charity work and his selfless support of his housebound wife, Jill, he was awarded the Order of the League of Mercy in 2013. In 1997 he wrote Fire by Order, the recollections of his service with 656 Squadron.
Ted Maslen-jones’s first marriage broke down in 1948 and he later married “Jill” Morgan. They had been married for 56 years when she died in 2016. He is survived by a son from his first marriage and three stepdaughters.
Ted Maslen-jones, born October 11 1919, died March 16 2018