He served in Champagne, Verdun and the Somme, was promoted to officer and was awarded the Cross of the Legion of Honour and the Croix de Guerre.

On 16 November 1917 he accepted the position of Minister of State for Maritime Transport and the Merchant Marine in the second cabinet of Georges Clemenceau.

[1] Lémery became a tireless critic of foreign policy, where he felt that France was weak and inconsistent, and supported Western European unity and the League of Nations.

It was only when the Russian tanks made their appearance in Madrid [...] that the Generalissimo of the Nationalist forces decided to allow foreign volunteers to enlist.

[10] In his memoirs Lémery wrote that a month after the war had begun he visited Marshal Pétain in Spain and tried to persuade him to form a new government.

[10] On 10 May 1940 Germany launched an invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, and ten days later reached the English Channel at Abbeville.

[9] Lémery did what he could to prevent the Gaullists from taking over the French colonial empire, and transmitted Pétainist messages that called for respect for authority and for the people to leave the cities and "return to the soil".

On 16 August 1940 he wrote to the governor of Senegal, "I ask you to ensure that in Dakar a strong discipline and rigorous order be maintained, as well as a respect of leaders.

However it is noticeable that much of the local public talk against the Pétain government has ceased since the receipt of a telegram from Monsieur Henri Lémery, Senator from Martinique and now Minister of the Colonies, requesting that the people support the present regime in France.

[16] Lémery extended the laws of 18–19 August 1940 to the colonies, prohibiting "extraordinary sessions" of elected councils and banning secret societies (eg.

[6] Lémery sent a letter to Pierre Laval on 28 August 1942 in which he proposed to introduce the Conseil Local to the Antilles, and to make Guadeloupe and Martinique French départements.

In 1964 he published D'Une République 'a l'Autre: Souvenirs de la Mêlée Politique 1894-1944 in which he defended his political career.

A reviewer wrote, "To those who are still interested in the war-time political divisions, this personal account may have some nostalgic appeal, for it does evoke certain authentic attitudes of the Third Republic.

"[19] In 1965 he was accused of insulting the Head of State (General de Gaulle, who had returned to power in 1958) in this book, and defended himself in court at the age of 90.