From the moment war was declared until it was disbanded in 1917 and replaced by the Royal Jersey Garrison Battalion, the Royal Militia Island of Jersey had an important and at times controversial role in island affairs.
They were mobilised five days before the declaration of war and ordered to guard the island's coasts and key locations.
Payments
This was altogether different from the men's previous involvement in weekly drills and annual camps, and they had to be paid to compensate them for loss of earnings when away from work. It was decided that in addition to daily pay, married men could claim 4d a day for their wife and 2d for each child under 14.
The scale of daily pay for militiamen on active duty ranged from 25s for the Colonel in charge to 1s 3d for ordinary soldiers. Corporals earned 2s; Sergeants 3s; Lieutenants 6s 10d, Captains 11s 7d and Majors 16s.
The States had to meet these costs, which would eventually impose a considerable burden on the island's public finances.
Initial advances by the German Army in Europe resulted in a ban on any members of the Militia leaving the island to join the British Army, but then Allied successes led to questions being raised over why 4,000 trained soldiers were needed to defend Jersey.
In September 1914 the War Office relented and moves to form a formal Jersey Contingent from militiamen accelerated.
Meanwhile the hazards of Militia service in the island were highlighted by the death of Private Winter Tite, a member of the Militia Reserve, who died of pneumonia after catching a chill while on night duty. Followed in early 1915 by the deaths of Private Philip Langlois and Corporal Walter Cheney, both of pneumonia contracted while on duty.
Initially the response from within the Militia to the creation of a Jersey Contingent was muted and the States met in special session in December to discuss the low number of volunteers and also criticism in newspapers of the States recruitment efforts.
Led by the Bailiff, member after member called for Jersey to be properly represented on the battlefield and the States agreed to lead a new recruitment campaign.
Departure
By 2 March 1915 230 volunteers had come forward to join the Jersey Contingent. They paraded in the Royal Square, watched by hundreds of family and friends and well-wishers, before marching to the New North Quay behind their commanding officer Major Walter Stocker. Each recruit shook hands with the Lieut-Governor, Bailiff and Dean before boarding the ss Ibex and heading for war.
They left behind a cheering crowd and the noise of gunfire salutes from Fort Regent, on what was deemed to be one of the most momentous days in Jersey's history.
The Jersey Contingent was attached to the Royal Irish Rifles and news began to filter back to the island of how they were settling in. They travelled by boat, train and on foot to reach their camp near Buttevant and join the 7th Battalion.
By September they had moved to England for further training, their numbers boosted to over 300 by the arrival of further volunteers. A renewed recruitment effort was not particularly successful, largely because of rumours that the former militiamen would not serve at the front but be sent elsewhere for garrison duty.
These rumours were disproved by news in December that the Jersey Company, as it was now known, had crossed to France and moved close to the frontline. The newspapers, which had not previously shown great support for the unit, now began to refer to them as 'Ours'.
Future news was unlikely to be particularly cheerful, and in January 1916 the States were forced to debate the validity of the wills all the volunteers would have made before their departure for France. Wills which were valid in the United Kingdom would not be in Jersey, and despite the urgency of legislating to cope with this anomaly, which affected no more than a few hundred individuals, the States, as it so often does, decided to form a special committee to consider the implications.
First casualty
And it was not long before the urgency of the situation was confirmed by news of the death of 2nd Lieut Laurence Hibbs. A 21-year-old former pupil of Victoria College, he fell in and died in a military hospital of blood poisoning before unis unit had complete its training.
As news filtered through of the deaths at the end of May of 26 islanders serving in the Royal Navy at the Battle of Jutland, fears for the future of the militia volunteers grew, particularly as reports reached Jersey of the scale of fighting in the Somme.
It was soon clear that the Jersey Pals had been involved in this battle and distinguished themselves by their heroism, while suffering heavy losses.
And that was to be the pattern repeated over the coming months, as the columns of the island newspapers were filled with sad news that brave Jerseymen, and also those with local connections who were serving in the French Army, had been wounded, were missing, or had been killed in action.
One of the worst battles was a Messines Ridge, where at least two Jerseymen, Clarence de Veulle and George Picot, lost their lives, and eight were taken prisoner by the Germans.
In June 1917 the Royal Jersey Garrison Battalion took over from the disbanded Militia as guardians of Jersey's coastline. Many of the members of what was a British Army unit were former militiamen, not deemed fit enough for active service, supplemented by others recruited from English regiments.
Military medals
Meanwhile the news from the front was not always bad. In October it emerged that seven members of the Jersey Contingent had won the Military Medal for bravery on the same day and in the same action at Frenzenberg. Inevitably casualties were also high and those had been reported before news of the gallantry medals reached Jersey.
As 1917 drew to a close the future of the surviving Jerseymen had become uncertain, with the news that their parent battalion in the Royal Irish Regiment was to be disbanded. The men were unhappy at the prospect of being dispersed among other units and petitioned the Bailiff to be allowed, either to come home, or to remain together in an English regiment of their choice.
Sir William Vernon and Lieut-Governor Sir Alexander Wilson put pressure on the War Office and the 60 surviving Pals got their way and were allowed to join the Hampshire Regiment, which had longstanding links with Jersey, and already had a number of islanders among its numbers.
As the war entered its final months news continued to filter through of acts of bravery by Jerseymen, resulting in the award of more gallantry medals, but also of further deaths and large numbers of islanders being captured and made prisoners-of-war.
After the Armistice, as surviving members of the Jersey Contingent returned home, it became clear that of the 326 originals, 80 had died, and at least as many had suffered serious wounds, in addition to a large number who spent months or years in German prison camps.
