Raise your glasses to a gallant Jerseyman

Saturday 20th March 2010, 2:58PM GMT.

Jersey’s Ernest Briard (centre) when he was a hockey team captain

A SPECIAL beer has gone on sale in honour of heroic Jersey soldier Lieutenant Ernest Briard, the first Channel Islander to die in the First World War.

Lt Briard was featured in a recently published novel based on the life of his friend Sgt Frank W Clarke, which retold the bravery the men showed at the Battle of Mons in August 1914.

In their honour, a new beer called Hero has gone on sale, with some of the proceeds going to help seriously injured soldiers in Afghanistan. John Edwards, owner of Wolf Brewery, which is making the beer, said that they were now looking for a Jersey brewery to arrange an ale swap.

Details about Lt Briard were revealed in Not Quite the Gentleman, a book by Dale Le Vack that tells the life story of his platoon member Sgt Clarke. A former Victoria College pupil, Lt Briard had been Sgt Clarke’s commander and friend.

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.