Dating

From what I can gather from letters, Linton was quite the flirt. The fact that he had a severe stutter didn't affect his ability to charm in the slightest. There are three women that I know he dated, as there is proof in the form of letters. I have no doubt there were other flirtations though.

Helen Anne Ryan.

Born on July 9, 1914. Helen was fostered for a while by an Aunt, so her name was

legally changed to Prouse, in 1938. She and Linton exchanged many love letters

between 1935 and 1937, but in early 1937 Helen broke things off.

She married a man called Horatio Nelson Sturrock on July 12, 1940, in Wellington. They

had one son, Keith Nelson Sturrock (1942 - 2002). She died on September 17, 1995

and is buried in Karori Cemetery, Wellington.

Above: Helen and Linton on The Bluff's Farm, Havelock 1936.

Above: A letter Linton sent to Helen.

Katherine Waltho.

Katherine was a friend of a friend, and they met while seeing the motion picture "Little Nellie Kelly" as a group. She and Linton wrote letters back and forth while he was serving in England, and she was clearly in love with him. After Linton's death she wrote to Innes (Linton's older brother) and forwarded all her and Linton's correspondence to him.

Above: Katherine Waltho and Linton Jones.

Above: A letter Katherine wrote to Linton.

In her letter to Innes after Linton's death, she recounted a memory of Linton...

"I thought of your family over Christmas, and hoped that it would not be too lonely.

I remember well last Christmas Eve and how impatient Linton was to be off home. I put a toll call through to Havelock for him, and he paced up and down for an hour, waiting for the call to connect. Only then did we have peace in the house. How disappointed he was that he could not get home before Christmas Day."

Lallie Methley.

Linton met her in Lincolnshire after the Methley family invited Linton and one of his friends, Bill Abbott, to a dinner party. They continued to meet the Methley family for motion pictures, picnics and dances while they were stationed there.

Linton wrote of the Methleys...

"They are lovely people, and have extended to us the freedom of their home. We have been there several times, and have gone out to quite a few dances and pictures. Mrs Methley says she looks on us, as her own sons, and has unofficially adopted us."

"I have been trying to persuade them to come to New Zealand after the war and settle down, and wouldn't be surprised if they did. You can't imagine just what lovely people they are, Mrs Methley calls me 'Linton Dear' and makes me feel very much at home."

And now, an excerpt from one of the more scandalous letters Linton wrote home...

"I am enclosing a couple of snaps, two are of a lake where the two Methley girls, Bill and myself went for a picnic. The other two are of that good girl Lallie Methley, if you look closely at the photo of the young lady lying on the ground, you will see parts of your young son, protruding from underneath. We were engaged in a friendly scuffle, with a little bit of love play on the side when Bill took the photo."

Bill Abbott said in a letter to Innes that he thought Linton might propose to Lallie.

I wonder what would have happened, had Linton lived. Would he have married Lallie, and left Katherine heartbroken? Or married Katherine when he returned?

Towards the end of the war, Lallie was working at the British Manufacture and Research Company (BMRC), where she quality checked cannon manufactured there for Spitfire planes to replace their now inadequate machine guns.

It was around this time that she met Max Wilson, and soon became Mrs Wilson. They had three sons, Andrew, Stephen, and Philip.

If anyone reading this has any additional information about Linton Jones, please fill out the contact form below. I would love to hear from you.