In brief: A St Brelade-born First World War veteran, Edwin Leigh Le Rossignol, has been given a full military burial in Quebec City, Canada, following a years-long international effort to identify and commemorate his remains. The ceremony, held on 15 October, is thought to be the last of its kind in Canada for a Great War veteran. A Jersey-born professor attended to represent the Island.
From St Brelade to the Trenches of Belgium
Edwin Leigh Le Rossignol left Jersey to serve with the 60th Battalion Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force, and his story is one that very nearly disappeared entirely from the historical record. He was wounded in action at Hooge during the Battle of Mont Sorrel in June 1916, and by February 1918 had been discharged as unfit for further war service. He never made it home in any meaningful sense. Falling victim to the influenza pandemic, he died at the age of just 27 in a remote Canadian town with no medical assistance available.
He was buried in a field in Quebec, and there he might have remained, forgotten, had it not been for a determined great-great-niece on the other side of the world and a Channel Islands historian with a knack for detective work.
A Race Against the Sea and Against Time
Lara Pollard, based in Australia, joined forces with Jason Cronin, a historical researcher and member of the Channel Islands Great War Study Group, to locate her ancestor’s grave. With assistance from two Army veterans active on a local Facebook group, Mr Cronin established that Le Rossignol had been buried in a field in Quebec. The discovery carried an added urgency: the area where he lay was at risk of being swept out to sea by coastal erosion within as little as seven years.
Mr Cronin and Ms Pollard then worked together to have Le Rossignol recognised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as Commonwealth War Dead, a status that opened the door to a proper, dignified reinterment. Their efforts culminated on 15 October, when Le Rossignol was interred at Mount Hermon Cemetery in Quebec City with full military honours. The ceremony was organised by Canada’s Department of National Defence and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and is thought to be the last funeral of its kind ever to be held in Canada for a First World War veteran.
Jersey Represented at the Graveside
Among those attending the ceremony was Rob Whitley, a Jersey-born Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. He told the Jersey Evening Post that he felt it was “particularly important that someone from the Island was there to pay their respects and honour Edwin’s memory, especially as he came from St Brelade, an area where I spent much of my youth as a pupil at Les Quennevais.”
Mr Whitley described the coffin, draped in the Canadian flag, being carried by soldiers of the Royal 22nd Regiment in full ceremonial uniform. The Minister of Veterans Affairs, Hon Jill McKnight, was among the senior dignitaries present. “The presence of senior dignitaries, including the Minister of Veterans Affairs, reflected the importance that Canada attached to the occasion,” Mr Whitley said.
He added that the speeches were “heartfelt and moving, rightly recognising his service, sacrifice and contribution to Canada,” and that “the sense of gratitude and remembrance was palpable.” Le Rossignol now rests at Mount Hermon Cemetery alongside soldiers and veterans of both World Wars.
Source: Jersey Evening Post
