100th Anniversary
Battle of the Somme
Friday 1st July 2016
Howard Davis Park
FOREWORD
This evening’s ceremony marks the 100th anniversary
of the Battle of the Somme, an event which became
famous for the colossal loss of life, not least the almost
20,000 British servicemen who fell on the first day.
Although Jersey was not occupied during WWI as
it was during the Second World War, the impact of the
war on the Island and its community was nevertheless
considerable.
Tonight we mark one of the most historic battles and
reflect on events as they happened 100 years ago, when thousands of troops
emerged from their trenches and went ‘over the top’ at the sounding of a
blast of a whistle at 7.30 a.m. on 1st July 1916.
In this ceremony we remember the ultimate sacrifice made by so many,
including the lives of those Jerseymen who served in British and French
Armed Forces, and those who served as part of the Jersey Contingent. At the
conclusion of tonight’s ceremony we shall witness a moving and solemn
wreath-laying ceremony in honour of all those who perished.
This evening’s ceremony brings together local musicians, actors, and members of the community of all ages as part of a commemoration which has
been a great collaborative effort. Needless to say, it would not have been
possible without the commitment of all those involved. While it is not
possible to thank them individually in this short foreword, I am most
grateful to all of them.
I hope this evening will provide all those attending with a suitable
moment to reflect on the events 100 years ago, the extent of the
bloodshed suffered and which ensued, and the hardship experienced
by our community along with so many others.
William Bailhache
Bailiff of Jersey.
The Battle of the Somme and Jersey:
a historical perspective
After six days of remorseless bombardment, the Allied guns fell silent at
7.30am on 1 July 1916. Just a short pause while the gunners lifted their
range from the first line of German trenches and prepared to open fire on the
second. For the infantry, however, the great moment had arrived. Whistles
blew, sergeants winked, uttered prayers, men surged forward…machine guns
opened fire.
At the conclusion of that first day of the Battle of Somme, a faltering count
revealed the cost in lives. Among those killed were 11 soldiers from Jersey, 10
serving in the British Army; one, Adolphe Laulier, fighting with the French.
It was only a tiny fraction of the overall number of men who died in the
battle on 1 July 1916, which totalled 19,240 British soldiers, 7,000 French
and an indeterminate number of Germans. It was a heavy blow for the Island
nonetheless, especially for those families whose loved ones would never be
coming home.
Other families faced an anxious wait after receiving news of someone
wounded. Among them was 21-year-old Howard Leopold Davis, who would
later succumb to his injuries, a death that spurred his father, Jerseyman T.B.
Davis, to create a beautiful park in memory of his lost boy.
These shattering losses, in exchange for such scant territorial gains, have
come to dominate many modern day views of the Battle of the Somme. The
gathered, gallant hopes of Britain dashed against uncut German barbed wire
and clattering machine guns. Yet 1 July 1916 is only one day in a battle that
raged for another four and a half months. And the men present on 1 July are
just a small part of those who fought in this titanic struggle that ultimately,
according to some on the other side, left the German Army irrevocably
weakened.
Many Jersey soldiers served in the Battle of the Somme 100 years ago.
Spread throughout the British and French armies, islanders were involved in
just about every action – great and small. Some in triumphant successes: the
French 6th Army’s advance in the first few days of battle; the British night
attack on 14 July that captured Bazentin le Petit and Bazentin le Grand; the
revolutionary first use of tanks in a British offensive on 15 September; the
Highland Division’s storming of Beaumont Hamel in November.
Of course many others were involved in futile, wasteful fighting that has come
to characterise the battle: Private George Bewhay, mown down alongside
a wave of Devonshire Regiment comrades within a few minutes of leaving
their jumping-off trenches in front of Mametz; Private Frederick Muspratt
among the Australians who fell so thickly around the heavily contested
village of Pozières, its windmill and ridge; stretcher-bearer John Blampied
killed rescuing a comrade in the confused October fighting near Flers while
serving as a private in the Middlesex Regiment.
For the Jersey Contingent, the Island’s only formed military unit sent to the
First World War, the Somme signifies both triumph and futility. This band of
Jersey Militia volunteers joined the 7th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 1915
and arrived on the battlefield at the start of September 1916 after training and
familiarisation. On 6 September 1916, they endured a day’s heavy shelling
while holding the village of Guillemont in an area of the battlefield utterly
destroyed by earlier fighting. Three days later, the survivors took part in the
storming of Ginchy, a fortress village that had defied all previous attempts
to wrest it from the Germans. It was a watershed moment: like many other
units, the Contingent never recovered from its Somme experience.
By the end of the battle in November 1916, the fighting on the Somme had
cost the lives of at least 120 Jerseymen. Wasted lives? Perhaps, although the
outcome of the battle is clear: in the end it was the Germans contemplating
retreat, unable to countenance another similar struggle in 1917, and the
Allies preparing to renew the attack, something they did in April 1917. And
the British Army that emerged from its 1916 Somme ordeal, bloodied and
bruised, was better equipped, better trained, better prepared than the Pals
battalions that clambered out of the trenches on 1 July 1916. The war was
certainly not won on the Somme, but it was advanced towards an end.
By that end, in November 1918, over 1,500 men from Jersey or from island
families had lost their lives, from among the 8,000 that served between 1914
and 1918. Their courage, commitment and sacrifice is not one that Jersey’s
present generation should ever take for granted, albeit with the passing of
100 years. And the courage, commitment and sacrifice of islanders – young
and old, men and women – who collectively faced the enemy threat and
helped sustain Britain in one of the nation’s darkest times should never be
forgotten.
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
War on the Home Front (from 2030Hrs until 2100Hrs) This ceremony commemorates the start of the Battle of the Somme
in July 1916 and the contribution made by islanders to the Great War.
While servicemen left the island to face the horrors of conflict, their
wives, children, families and the wider community remained to respond
as best they could to the challenges of the First World War at home. The
Jersey community rallied to the cause of the war effort. Crèches were
opened to care for the children of absent soldiers while their mothers
had to work. Women joined the Jersey Voluntary Aid Detachment of the
British Red Cross to collect funds, sew and make hospital clothing and
equipment. Many of these women also left the Island on active service
as nurses. Parcels for Jersey prisoners of war were packed and
despatched. Fund raising events for war charities were held at Government
House. Meanwhile effective production of a potato crop had to be
maintained, despite a depleted agricultural workforce, both to feed
islanders and to meet export demand from the British Government to
feed troops. Inevitably, the sombre sight of funeral processions for lost
servicemen became all too frequent. These archive photographs bear
witness to war time events at home. *Please note –In view of the solemnity of the occasion, it is requested that
there be no applause during the formal ceremony or after the event.
1. 2.
3.
2100Hrs - Arrival of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor,
General Sir John McColl, KCB CBE DSO, the Bailiff of Jersey,
Mr William Bailhache and Assistant Chief Minister, Senator
Paul Routier MBE to a fanfare played by the Band of the Island
of Jersey.
Elgar’s ‘Nimrod’ played by the Band of the Island of Jersey.
Address by the Bailiff of Jersey, Mr William Bailhache.
4.
Entrance of Parade featuring 12 Parish Standards accompanied
by Cadets from the following local units –
Jersey Sea Cadets
Victoria College Combined Cadet Force
Jersey Army Cadet Force
7 Overseas (Jersey) Squadron Air Training Corps.
5.
Reader: Jyothi Nayar – ‘The Send-Off’ by Wilfred Owen.
6.
Soloist: Miss Gabriella Cassidy, accompanied by Malcolm Whittell, pianist – ‘Silent Noon’ by Vaughan Williams.
7.
Entrance of Parade, featuring Drum Bearers and Standards
comprising members of the Jersey Field Squadron. Drum Head
is built at the front of the main stage by members of the Jersey
Field Squadron to music played by the Band of the Island of
Jersey.
8.
Parades featuring Jersey Field Squadron, Standard Bearers and
Cadets exit.
9.
Church procession and service led by the Dean of Jersey –
Welcome: The Dean of Jersey.
Hymn (All): Oh God our help in ages past
accompanied by the Band of the Island of Jersey
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Still may we dwell secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
The Bidding: The Dean of Jersey
All: Our Father, who art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. AMEN.
Reading: Ephesians 6: 10-20 – The Armour of God
Monsignor Nicholas France.
Prayers: Rev Graeme Halls and Governor’s Cadets Cdt. Sgt. Rachel Murray, Cdt. Cpl. Amy Claxton and Cdt. Cox. Bradley Rose.
Hymn (All): Jerusalem
accompanied by the Band of the Island of Jersey.
And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England’s mountain green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England’s pleasant pastures seen?
And did the countenance divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark satanic mills?
Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England’s green and pleasant land.
Final Blessing: The Dean of Jersey.
10.
Soloist: Miss Gabriella Cassidy, accompanied by Malcolm Whittell, pianist – ‘The Lads in their Hundreds’
by George Butterworth.
11.
Reader: Mac Galvin – ‘Rendezvous’ by Alan Seeger.
12.
Reader: Fynn Mason – ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’
by Wilfred Owen.
13.
Blessing of the ‘Guillemont Stone’
by the Dean of Jersey.
14.
Reader: Xavier Sourris – ‘Les Morts’
by René Arcos.
15.
Soloist: Miss Gabriella Cassidy, accompanied by Malcolm Whittell, pianist – ‘Sleep’
by Ivor Gurney.
16.
Entrance of Parade featuring Jersey Field Squadron Scarlets and a Cadet bearing wreaths, Halberdiers, Parish Standards, and The Royal Irish Rifles’ Colours to music played by the Band of the Island of Jersey.
17.
Wreath laying ceremony (All stand) –
‘For the Fallen’ – read by Trevor Rayson RNR (Lt Cmdr SCC)
Last Post and lowering of Standards
One minute silence
The laying of wreaths –
The Reveille and raising of Standards
The Kohima Epitaph – read by Trevor Rayson RNR (Lt Cmdr SCC)
i.
His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor
ii. Bailiff
iii. Assistant Chief Minister
iv. Madame Marie-Martine Myatt (French Hon. Consul/
Maire of Guillemont representative)
v. Connétable Sadie Le Sueur-Rennard of St. Saviour
vi. Lt. Col. Charles Woodrow, Chairman, Royal British
Legion (Jersey) Branch
vii. Major Charles Montgomery, Officer Commanding, Jersey Field Squadron
viii. Mr E Bill, Chairman, Royal Ulster Rifles Association
(Lisburn)
ix. Connétable Philip Le Sueur of Trinity (family of
Rifleman John Vibert, Jersey Contingent)
‘Evening Hymn & Sunset’, played by the Band of the Island of Jersey while Standards are lowered
18.
The National Anthem played by the Band of the Island of Jersey
God save our gracious Queen,
Long Live our noble Queen,
God save our Queen.
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save The Queen.
19.
Departure of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, the Bailiff
and Assistant Chief Minister.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Air Training Corps,
(Jersey No 7 Overseas)
Arrow Electrics
Band of the Island of Jersey
Gabriella Cassidy and Malcolm
Whittell
Connétable John Le Maistre of
Grouville
Connétable Philip Le Sueur of
Trinity
Crapaud Hash House Harriers and
Paul Harding
Dean of Jersey
Malcolm Ferey
Warrant Officer (CCF) John-Paul
Fidrmuc
Monsignor Nicholas France
Governor’s Cadets
Gwyn Garfield-Bennett
Rev. Graeme Halls
iMAG
Jersey Army Cadet Force
Jersey Arts Centre YouTheatre &
Daniel Austin (Director)
Jersey Field Squadron
Jersey Security Bureau
Jersey Sea Cadets
Lieutenant Governor’s Cadets
Hugh Lincé
Madame Marie-Martine Myatt
Parishes of St Saviour and St Helier
-Honorary Police
Trevor Rayson RNR (Lt Cmdr SCC)
Jonathan Renouf
Ian Ronayne
Royal Ulster Rifles Association
(Lisburn)
Royal British Legion (Jersey)
Branch
Stage 2 Productions
States of Jersey –
Bailiff ’s Chambers
Government House
Chief Minister’s Department
Economic Development, Tourism, Sport & Culture
Department for Infrastructure – Parks & Gardens/
Jersey Property Holdings
States of Jersey Police
Standard Bearers
St John Ambulance
David Stuart
Gareth Syvret, Photographic
Archivist, Société Jersiaise
Victoria College Combined Cadet
Force (CCF) and Halberdiers
The organisers are very grateful for the contributions made by Mr Ian Ronayne and his
book “Ours” – the Jersey Pals in the First World War, and Mr Gareth Syvret of the
Société Jersiaise for the use of archive images featured in the ceremony and programme.