Combined Protractor and Parallel Rule in cardboard container: Flight Lieutenant Laurie Raymond Jones, 160 Squadron RAF

Clear celluloid "Douglas" Combined Protractor and Parallel Rule in green cardboard sleeve. The front of the sleeve is printed 'W & G/ "DOUGLAS"/ COMBINED PROTRACTOR/ AND PARALLEL RULE/ AN ACCURATE INSTRUMENT/ ENGRAVED BY W & G/ MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA/ USE SOFT PENCIL AND SOFT RUBBER/ KEEP PROTRACTOR IN CASE SUPPLIED/ WHEN NOT IN USE'. Written at the top in blue ink is 'L.R. JONES B.C.P.A.'. The back of the sleeve is printed with instructions and examples of use.

Born in New Zealand in 1922, Laurie Raymond Jones moved to Sydney as a child and enlisted in the RAAF in January 1942. Fascinated with navigation since childhood he had planned to join the regular air force before war intervened. Assigned the service number 421224 Jones trained as a pilot at Narrandera in New South Wales before undertaking further training in Canada, the United States and the Bahamas, where he trained on Mitchell and Liberator bombers.

Jones was posted as a pilot navigator to 160 Squadron RAF, then transferring from service in the Middle East to service in India. He was detailed deliver a new Liberator to Karachi, in what was then India, before formally joining his squadron in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where he remained for nearly 18 months. The squadron was employed on convoy escort, anti-submarine patrols and photo reconnaissance, mainly over Sumatra. Some patrols involved flights of up to 21 hours, in which case three navigators formed part of the crew.

Jones was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1945. The citation reads: 'Flight Lieutenant Jones has completed and outstanding tour of operational missions. He has been particularly successful on long range photographic reconnaissance sorties. On one occasion he obtained valuable photographs from a low level strongly defended enemy gun post. [the squadron's deepest penetration of enemy airspace requied the audacious daylight crossing of the Malacca Strait for oblique photographs from 1,000 feet of potential landing beaches at Phuket Island...the aircraft incurred only a little damage from light flak] While operating at long distances from his base, Flight Lieutenant Jones has consistently obtained exceptionally fine results.

Jones was discharged from the RAAF in January 1946. A few months later he joined British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines flying in New Guinea and the Pacific islands. When that company was taken over by Qantas he transferred to de Havilland (Australia) and remained with them for 27 years. He died in 2014.