Jabus ‘Jay’ Rawls

Birthplace: Columbia, Mississippi

Branch of Service: Army

Unit: Allied Forces HQ

Theater of Operation: European

Enlisted / Commissioned: Jul 3, 1937

Highest Rank: Colonel

Military Honors: Honorary Officer in the Order of the British Empire

Honored By: Children

Colonel Jabus “Jay” Rawls was an Antiaircraft Artillery officer during World War II. He served overseas at a variety of locations, beginning in July of 1942 at the headquarters of II Corps in Salisbury, England, then later in London where he worked on the planning and execution of Operation TORCH, the British-American invasion of French North Africa. He landed in Oran, Algeria, on the morning of November 8, 1942, and remained in North Africa until moving on to Tunisia. He served under General George Patton and then was assigned to General Eisenhower’s Allied Forces Headquarters in Algiers. He arrived at the AFHQ on April 17, 1943. Colonel Rawls’ continued work with his British colleagues and was recognized by King George VI at the war’s end by being named Honorary Officer in the Order of the British Empire (OBE), an order of chivalry founded by the British monarchy. Following the war, Colonel Rawls continued his distinguished military career as an officer at the Pentagon. Discharge Date: 1954