The memorial was saved when St Joseph’s Catholic Church, which stood at the top of Grouville Hill, opposite the Arsenal, was demolished in the early 1990s to make way for a residential development.
It was placed in an out-of-the-way corner of La Croix Cemetery in Rue à Don until it was brought to Constable John Le Maistre’s attention by parishioners Bob Hambly and Peter Le Feuvre.
It is engraved with the names of Islanders with French descent or nationality who were killed fighting in the Great War, mostly in the French Army.
‘The memorial was moved to La Croix Cemetery when St Joseph’s was demolished, but was put in a place where not many people could see it. The parish has always laid a wreath on it on Remembrance Sunday,’ Mr Le Maistre said.
‘We thought it would be fitting to move it to a far more prominent location in the parish churchyard to make the point that we do not forget anybody. It is now standing by the side of the memorial to those who died in the skirmish at La Rocque in 1781, when Baron de Rullecourt’s forces landed before the Battle of Jersey in the Royal Square.
‘We always lay a wreath on that memorial on Remembrance Sunday, so we shall lay one on the St Joseph memorial as well.’
A ceremony of dedication for the memorial in its new location will be held at Grouville Church on Saturday 10 November at 2 pm. The Bailiff, Sir William Bailhache, the Dean of Jersey, the Very Rev Mike Keirle and the Catholic Dean of Jersey, Canon Dominic Golding, are due to attend.
Refreshments will be served afterwards in the parish hall.
