Twenty men of the Jersey Contingent, a company formed in December 1914 from members of the ancient Royal Jersey Militia, died in the battle, which lasted from 3 to 9 September 1916, and more than 100 were injured, many seriously.
It had taken almost 100 years for a memorial to be erected in their honour, and this was largely due to military historian Ian Ronayne, who researched and wrote the book telling their story, Ours: The Story of the Jersey Pals in the First World War.
However, the idea that the memorial should be a traditional Jersey granite standing stone came from former Deputy Collin Egré, who was not able to make the trip to France.
Politicians, soldiers and people from Jersey, the UK and Ireland stood side by side with villagers from Guillemont in Picardy to mark the centenary of the battle in an international ceremony outside the village church.
Read more in Monday’s JEP
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