Author: Elise Meerpoel

On 3^rd September, a delegation led by the Bailiff of Jersey, alongside the Lieutenant-Governor, the Chief Minister and officials visited Guillemont and Soyécourt in the Somme county, North of France

 to commemorate 102th anniversary of the Battle of Guillemont, ahead of the 100^th anniversary of the end of WWI on 11th November 2018. This event was an important ceremony to highlight Jersey’s history and links with France.

The delegation from Jersey paid tribute to the “Jersey Contingent” or so called the “D company” in Guillemont where the island of Jersey has its very own statue remembering the contribution of Jersey men in this terrible battle. The “human shape” statue is made of granite from Jersey and was first officially unveiled on 3^rd September 2016. The “heart” of the statue was officially brought back to the island today and will then be presented to the people of Jersey by the Bailiff on 11^th November in Royal Square over a public ceremony.

The ceremony in Guillemont was organised by the Mayor, Monsieur Didier Samain and was combined with another ceremony led by the Irish Ambassador in France, Her Excellency Patricia O’Brien, paying tribute to the 7^th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles (with responsibility for the “D Company” of Jerseymen) which fought in Guillemont.

The second part of the visit took place in Soyécourt, which the island of Jersey contributed to rebuild post WWI. The Jersey delegation was greeted by the Mayor Mr Luc Maille who shared various interesting historical facts, unknown to Jersey, which led Jersey’s historian Ian Ronayne to start new researches on Jersey’s further contributions after the war.

Press articles are available in the JEP and in the Courrier Picard.

Discussions included opportunities of cooperation on the promotion of marinas, economies of scales in arranging port equipment to work consecutively in St Malo and in Jersey- Guernsey, and possible tourism opportunities. The Breton delegation also advised on plans for change at the St Malo harbour.

This first visit was considered very fruitful. It has enabled to establish a first contact and discuss concrete projects that could be beneficial on both sides of the water.

The first Peace Forum, called Normandy for Peace, imagined by President Morin was held in Caen on 7-8 June and attended by Deputy Le Tocq, member of the Policy & Resources committee in Guernsey, on behalf of the Channels Islands.

For two days, more than 5,000 people (including a large representation of young people) joined the Abbaye-aux-Dames, headquarter of the Regional Council of Normandy, to attend debates of “very high quality and very high level led by international experts – like Ban Ki Moon, former Secretary General of the UN or the former foreign minister, Hubert Védrine”. It is indeed more than 130 speakers who came from Europe, America, Africa or Australia. 35 countries were represented at the event.

The topics were varied and topical, the situation in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Libya, Afghanistan, the Balkans and thematic workshops on nuclear deterrence, war journalism, child soldiers or terrorism, etc.

President Morin, for whom “Normandy has the historic legitimacy of talking about the construction of peace” wishes to perpetuate this event, which will take place each year after the commemorations of the D-Day of 6 June 1944 and the Battle of Normandy, with the ambition to contribute to “the establishment of models of anticipation of crises with the leaders of this world”.

For the first time, Bruno Lassus, harbor Master of St Malo came to Jersey to meet his counterpart William Sadler. Mr Lassus was accompanied by Xavier Haurez Managing Director of Morvan Fils and Frederick Wakefield Director General of Condor ferries St Malo.

It was a cordial and constructive visit. The delegation were able to get out on the water in the Duke of Normandy vessel and discover Jersey’s Multi Beam echo sounder, discuss training, operation room layouts and the various capital infrastructure projects both Harbours have in the pipeline.

And of course, a lot was shared on common experiences and challenges.

A delegation from the Channel Islands comprising Emergency planning officers, police intelligence, harbor authorities and Customs and Immigrations officials came to St Malo to meet their Breton counter parts. The objective of the day was to initiate contact and better understand how things work respectively and identify each other’s counterpart to contact when needs be.

The preparation and safety measures around the Route du Rhum have also been discussed.

This first meeting has kindly been arranged by the Sous Préfet of Saint Malo, François Claude Plaisant, representative of the French State in the corsair city, and will be followed by regular exchanges.

London, 1946. Juliet Ashton, a young writer in need of inspiration, receives a letter from a mysterious member of the Guernsey Literature Club created during the occupation. Curious to learn more, Juliet decides to go to the beautiful Channel Island and then meets the eccentric members of the literary Circle of lovers of potato peels including Dawsey, the charming and intriguing farmer at the origin of the letter. Their confidences, his attachment to the island and its people or his affection for Dawsey will forever change the course of her life.

On screens in France on 13 June

A small contingency from Jersey and Guernsey visited Cherbourg and the surrounding areas as guests of the French Authorities. This follows the visit of the French counterpart in the Channel Islands in June 2017.

 Emergency planning exchanges with France are a key element in helping to protect the welfare of the Channel Islands.

The trip represented an opportunity to visit a number of the local emergency services with the intention of improving the current collaborative workings, and develop better exchanges with our French counterparts to prepare for any future incidents that could potentially impact the Channel Islands.

 It was also an opportunity for Emergency Planning Officers from both Islands to sign their existing Memoranda Of Understanding (MOU’s) with Chief of Staff of the Prefet of La Manche, and to improve and update local contingency plans.

After a comprehensive visit in Feb 2017 to meet pupils in secondary schools of the island, the University of Caen Normandy came back to Jersey for the Higher Education Fair.

The aim is to encourage Jersey students to consider taking their degree in Caen, especially as they would benefit from the support of the Carré International team and Education Department. The positive links were strengthened last summer through a visit to the campus by a number of Jersey teachers and participation in a French summer course by an officer from the Jersey Education Department.

On 22 March, the connection has been formalised through the signing of a cooperation arrangement that notably gives a number of Jersey students easier access to accommodation.

Attending university in France is a realistic, viable alternative for Jersey students. Not only does it offer a more affordable higher education option, but it also provides an opportunity to become proficient in a second language, with great potential to enrich a student’s university experience. – Chief Education Officer Justin Donovan

To note that the University of Caen Normandy hosts nearly 3000 foreign students each year, representing nearly 120 nationalities.