Ernest Henry Amourette

Ernest Henry Amourette

Jun 12, 1892	Born at Jersey, Channel Islands to August and Marie (nee Guillou) Amourette
Sep 9, 1911	Embarked the SS Teutonic at Liverpool England
Sep 15, 1911	Disembarked at Quebec City, Quebec and proceeded to Almonte Ontario on the Grand Trunk Railway
Nov 7, 1914	Attested into the 21^st Battalion at Kingston Ontario Ø Number 59010 (temporary number 383) Ø Next of kin given as August Amourette, father, of St Lawrence, Channel Islands Ø Previous occupation given as Blacksmith Ø No previous military experience given Ø Religion given as Roman Catholic Ø Assigned to “D” Company o This was later reorganized into “B” Company o In Steve Nichol’s book Ordinary Heroes, he is listed as a Bugler in the original Bugle Band
May 6, 1915	Embarked the RMS Metagama at Montreal Quebec
May 15, 1915	Disembarked at Devonport England and proceeded to the West Sandling Camp, near Hythe, Kent
Sep 2, 1915	Fined 1 days pay for being absent on this date
Sep 14, 1915	Embarked the St Seiriol at Folkestone
Sep 15, 1915	Disembarked at Boulogne France and proceeded to St Omer. Appointed to the rank of Lance Corporal to replace 60092 L/Cpl Wood who had been promoted
Sep 27, 1916	Promoted to the rank of Corporal to replace 59155 Cpl GA Chatter who had been invalided to England
Dec 8, 1916	Granted 10 days leave
Dec 22, 1916	Rejoined the Battalion from leave
Jan 2, 1917	Appointed to the rank of Lance Sergeant to replace 454303 L/Sgt Cresswell who had been promoted
Jan 17, 1917	Appointed to rank of Acting Sergeant with pay to replace 59348 Sgt T Galbraith who had been wounded and admitted to hospital. Sgt Galbraith had been wounded on this date during the large Calonne Trench Raid
Apr 9, 1917	During the advance on Vimy Ridge A/Sgt Amourette was killed in action. As noted above, he was given a proper burial and the location was noted. However, at the end of the war when the Graves Commission attempted to consolidate the battlefield graves into proper cemeteries, A/Sgt Amourette’s remains could not be located. This was most likely caused by the continuous artillery shelling until the end of the war. Because of this, he is commemorated on the Vimy Ridge Memorial Canadian National Vimy Memorial Vimy Ridge France Following the war the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, Plaque (Dead Man’s Penny) and Scroll were sent to his father, August Amourette, at Mont L’Abbe, St Heliers, Jersey, Channel Islands No Memorial Cross was issued as his mother had predeceased him

The above is from the January 1936 issue of the Communiqué, the 21st Battalion Association post war newsletter. Although a poor quality photo, he is standing 5th from the left. Below is a recolection of Pte Sam Floyd in the following issue that the above photo appeared in

Below is from the website The Channel Islands and the Great War

Sergeant Ernest Henry Amourette
21st Battalion, Canadian Infantry (Eastern Ontario Regiment)
09/04/1917

Son of Auguste Marie Amourette and his wife Marie Guillou. From St Lawrence, Jersey. Served two years in Royal Jersey Militia

Killed in action aged 23 years.

NEWS ITEM in Jersey Evening Post of Monday 26 April 1915

From a Jerseyman with the Canadians. Mr Auguste Amourette of Mont a l'Abbe has received the following letter from his son, Ernest, who some years ago emigrated to Canada and who, as the letter shows, is doing his bit for the Old Country. The letter reads "Just a few words to tell you that I have enlisted to go to the War and expect to be sailing for England at any moment. I have been training now for five months. I would have joined the first contingent but the notice was so short that I could not go on account of business. I will try to go to Jersey so if you will leave your address at the Evening Post office I will know where you live and will see you before going to the Front". The writer was evidently not sure of his father's residence as the communication was addressed to St Helier and the postal authorities had some trouble to discover the proper destination.

NEWS ITEM in Jersey Evening Post of Thursday 26 April 1917

Roll of Honour. The sad news has been received that another Jersey-Canadian was killed in action on 9 April last. The deceased soldier, Sergeant E Amourette of 21st Canadians, had been in France for some 19 months and was killed instantly, he being shot by a sniper during an attack on the German trenches. The officer of his Company in conveying the sad news states that the gallant Sergeant was loved by his men and respected by his officers for he was always ready and willing to do his duty and help others to do theirs. Sergeant Amourette, who would have been 24 in June next, was the son of the late Mr & Mrs Amourette of St Lawrence. He was in Jersey on leave at Christmas and the news of his death will be read with sorrow by his relatives and friends, to whom we tender our sincere sympathy.

2014

In January of 2014 Chris Rayner of the BBC in Jersey contacted this webmaster to enquire about using some of our research for a project they had underway regarding WW1 soldiers from Jersey. Their project can be viewed at this link They in turn shared their research with this website.

The BBC produced a 13 minute soundtrack that was aired in late Februay 2014. BBC Jersey was kind enough to allow this website to reproduce it here. The full soundtrack can be heard at this link

The photo below is of Amourette's great niece, Mary Amourette, in front of the Vimy Cottage mentioned in the soundtrack.

A/Sgt Amourette is also honoured on the Almonte, Ontario War Memorial