La Vieille - Reserved Occupation at La Vieille

Reserved Occupation At La Vieille

In the aftermath of the first world war, France had many disabled ex-servicemen among its population. The government enacted a law in February 1924 that reserved jobs for these people. These jobs, supposed to be less arduous than average, included usher, office worker, policeman, postman, and lighthouse keeper.

One year later, two demobbed Corsicans were appointed to "Hell" of La Vieille. Terracini (assigned 3 June 1925) and Ferracci (posted 22 November). Both had suffered a punctured lung; the first had muscles in his right arm severed, while the second had shrapnel that surgeons were unable to remove from his body and that might occasionally travel. Their physical condition was probably inadequate to ascend and descend the 120 steps of the tower let alone make the perilous handover.

Once they understood the difficulty of the job, they asked several times to change their posting—which met with refusal each time. Accustomed to a warmer Corsican climate, the morale of the men only decreased. The conditions in the lighthouse, the humidity, howling winds, and the enormous size of waves and spray—sometimes higher than the tower—were a nightmare for both. They quickly became neurasthenic. Despite this, the light shone every night.

In the third week of December 1925, the weather was atrocious. The Raz de Sein was always in full swing, leaving no breathing space to the men. Visibility was zero, making rotation impossible within the means of the time. The senior keeper was down, the two Corsicans alone in situ. The black flag, a signal of distress, was swiftly raised. Despite the courage of its crew, the relief vessel was unable to get close enough to La Vieille: the buoy tender Léon Bourdelles was engulfed with all its occupants.

Two months later, thanks to storms clearing, the two men had been sighted—in poor condition. At this point, it was the fog that hampered visibility. On 19 February 1927, the light was extinguished, and the siren was not working. Consequently, a Paimpolaisean schooner named the Surprise, struck herself onto the rocks near the town Plogoff.

More than a week later, the tender supply ship was able to get close enough to start the rope transfer. A contemporary newspaper reported "Courageously, despite the sea conditions, the tender Clet Coquet returned Sunday afternoon to the lighthouse, taking with it the chief keeper Kerninon's own son who has agreed to replace one of the Corsicans". But the two had not reckoned on how challenging it was using this mode of transit. A team of young sailors from Brittany, swimming through the glacial sea, clinging to ropes, finally managed to put foot on the island and return through the same route, with the two wretched survivors both "black as demons and literally in shreds". Both keepers were later assigned to mainland lighthouses. Their plight, publicised after the shipwreck, was a cause célèbre of the nation. Paris decreed a permanent ban on employing disabled ex-servicemen in the lighted beacons at sea.