The Bailiff, Timothy Le Cocq, is due to lead the Island’s remembrance of the 326 men who served in the Jersey Contingent of the 7th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles – the Jersey Pals – and in particular their part in the Battle of Guillemont fought between 3 and 6 September 1916.
More than 100 Islanders were wounded and 20 killed but only two have marked graves. The remainder are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.
The ceremony is to take place in front of the Guillemont Heartstone, a cylinder of pink granite hewn from a memorial erected in the village of Guillemont for the centenary of the battle in 2016. It symbolises that the hearts of the Pals who made the ultimate sacrifice forever rest in their Island home. It is set in the wall of the Royal Court building.
Historian Ian Ronayne, whose book, Ours: The Jersey Pals in the First World War, was the catalyst for the swathe of events commemorating the Contingent that took place for the centenary of the First World War, is due to speak during tomorrow’s ceremony.
He said: ‘Between 2014 and 2018, Islanders, organisations and the establishment came together and commemorated Great War centenaries magnificently.
‘Subsequent anniversaries would understandably be lower profile as the spotlight of public interest moved on to other past events, which makes it reassuring to see a continued commitment to our Great War past, on this important milestone date.
‘The lads that fought had a simple, enduring request: remembrance and recognition.
‘The passing of 105 years doesn’t diminish the historic sacrifices they and all Islanders made.’
More than 6,290 Islanders fought in the First World War, with 862 listed as dead or missing in action.
An official party had hoped to travel to the Somme to take part in ceremonies to remember the soldiers from southern Ireland and Jersey who fought and died side by side. A visit to Soyércourt, a village in Picardy nine miles from Guillemont which Jersey helped to rebuild after the First World War, was also on the itinerary.
However, uncertainties over the Covid pandemic resulted in the trip being cancelled.
Tomorrow’s ceremony is scheduled to begin at 9.30am, and Islanders are invited to attend. The Lieutenant-Governor Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton and Chief Minister John Le Fondré are also due to attend, with music provided by the Band of the Island of Jersey.
