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An Introduction
In his piece, "Pour
La Patrie", Ian Ronayne describes the mobilisation
of the French reservists in Jersey at the outbreak of
the Great War. Pierre-Marie Le Garignon was one of those
2,500 plus reservists who would return to France and rejoin
the colours, in his case leaving St Matthew's Farm at
Coin Varin, St Peter in Jersey for the duration.
His Canadian grand-son, John Le Garignon
has very kindly produced our article on Pierre-Marie:
There are no references of where Pierre-Marie served
in regards to the front, but it can be assumed from some
of the postcards and the Jersey Evening Post articles
that he was in the Ypres and latter, the Verdun sectors.
It seems unfortunate that there is so little recorded
of the 2,500 plus Jersey-Frenchmen who left the Island
to serve in their Army and Navy, especially as it was
advised by Jersey's Attorney-General in 1917 that some
20% of the population in 1911 were of French origin. There
are however, the names of those Frenchmen who lost their
lives, and these appear in Jersey's Roll of Honour
and Service
as well as Memorials in at least two churches - St
Thomas and St
Matthew.
The article is in French, however, an
English translation will shortly be added and linked.
If there are errors with this article they are mine through
transcription.
Barrie Bertram
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