This memorial is to be found in a poignant
location right in front of St Mary's parish school. It takes the form of a cross
made of granite with a sword fixed to the front. There are four panels around
the bottom of the memorial, two of which have twenty two names listed on them.
There are three Catelinets listed on the memorial, two of which were brothers
Henry
and John.
Henry was killed in action while fighting at Arras on the 12th April 1917. He
was serving with C Company, 6th Bn., Dorsetshire Regt. Henry had left Jersey with
the Dorsets and went to France in 1914 with the original BEF and is remembered
on the Arras Memorial. He was twenty two. His brother John died on the 2nd December
1918 aged twenty. He was serving with 3rd Bn., R.M.L.I., when he died of disease
in the Aegean Sea area, and was buried in the East Mudros Cemetery. Their parents
were James and Annie Catelinet of 1 D'Auvergne Cottages, Aquila Rd, St Helier. A
member of the Jersey Overseas Contingent is also remembered on the memorial. Sergeant
Clarence
George Minchington died of disease aged twenty three on the 24th April 1917
and is buried in Hazebrouck Communal Cemetery, also a long way from home.
As I took the photographs of the memorial I couldn't help notice the date
on the front of the school, 1901 and my thoughts turned to the boys who had attended
the school during those early years, going in and out of the door with Garçons
above it only for some years later to end up listed on the memorial now standing
proudly in front of their old school, a most fitting place for their memorial.
| The
inscription on the memorial reads in French: "St Marie Tribut Reconnaissance
a La Memoire Des Paroissiens Morts Pour La Patrie 1914-1918" List
of names |
