Leonard Jones was born in 1895 in Preston-on-the-Hill. His parents were John and Sarah Jones. John was also born in Preston-on-the-Hill in 1866 and worked as a Ship Canal Warehouseman. Sarah was born in Kingsley in 1870.
Leonard had two younger brothers, Luke and Thomas born 1897 and a sister, Dorothy, born 1900. The family lived on Canalside and were educated at Daresbury School.
Leonard was employed as a clerk in the offices of J Crosfield and Sons. He joined the RFA (service number 160750), but later transferred to the York and Lancashire Regiment (service number 40610).
He went to the front on 7 January 1917. Later he suffered from trench fever and was a patient at the Middlesex Hospital, London.
In 1918, he was registered as an absent voter, so still in the army. His address was given as Pepper Street. Leonard married Mary Lightfoot on 9 November 1925.