CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2812, 1 July 1916, Page 12

CHURCH AND WAR

HEROIC CHAPLAINS V.C. WON BY A LONDON CURATE. Tho Rev. Edward Noel Mellish, temporary chaplain tu the Forces, wjio recently won tho Victoria Cross "for most conspicuous bravery/' was curato of St. Paul's, Deptford, where ho was exceedingly popular, More than fifty of the congregation gave him a send-off when ho joined the Army. ■ He was educated at tho Saffron Waklen Grammar School, under tho Kcv. It.. 11.. Lnokock, and fought us a'priyato in the Boer war, and afterwards worked in Africa in various capacities, not having been ordained until 1912. Tho only other clergyman to win a V.C. was tho Rev. James William Adams, who gained it in the Afghan of 1879. At a special naradu Gnnoral Officer Commanding tho Division to which Mr. Mellish is. attached pinned upon tho breast,of his tunic the ribbon of tho Victoria Cross. The gallant chaplain was tho last recipient of twenty-two men decorated. Standing beside him in the centro of a -hollow square into which the troops iiad been formed the general related tho splendid acts which' had caused . him to recommend the rev. gentlemau for tho V.C. . He voiced the pride of tho division in 'having such a comrade, and tlieh proceeded to pin',the crimson.ribbon on to the khaki of the young padre, ivhosestature is well over Gft. The Cross-itself,, the general said, would more than likely be presented by the King-.a little later on. Then, on the invitation to give threo cheers for Mr, Alollis'h, a thousand throats broke into n' hearty roar. Tho square was' rolled back into a battalion in line; rifles flashed to the present; the.band played "God Save the King"; and'the troops, taking their time from the general, gave three cheers for His Majesty. Some Other Gallant Chaplains. Canon R. Ross-Lewis (retired chaplain, R.N.) writes as follows to the London "Daily Mail":— Sir,—lu your account of tho bostowai of the " V.C." on the Rev. E. N. Mellish, you quite correctly stato that is only the second occasion on which the V.C. has been given to a chaplain. However, it does not follow that 110 others have deserved it. In the famous pieturo by De Neuville of the fight at Rorke's Urift, the tall black-olad figuro of the chaplain (Smith) is perhaps the most conspicuous, lie is filling the ammunition pouches of the soldiers defending the breastwork. He 'had ridden up (ono of the few survival's of tlio slauhgter jit' Isandula) just before the engagement of tliis small ■ outpost which yet was the only barrier between Natal and horror indescribable. A chaplain of a Natal Volunteer regiment, he might have, ridden, on to safety, not being a fighting' man, bue he - stayed to help iu tho defence. Tho two brave oUicers in command, Chard and Bromhcad, both got the V:C., but the chaplain did not, although niado in the Regular Army, and receiving tho thanks of tho Government. I was at thi Capo just afterwards, and came Home with many officers, and I remember how they talked about it, and strongly con demned his being) passed over by tlm Army authorities.. Then at "M'Neill's Zcreba," as the first has beon called, in the .Sudan;'near Suakim, an Indian regiment lost-its head for tho moment in the sudden Arab charge, and was firing straight ihto a British regiment. Tha R.C. chaplain wont 'across in the direct line of lire, regardless of bullets and Arab spears, and got thorn to ceaso Sling. Officers who fought in the engagumeiit said it was the bravest thing they ever saw; but I do not Ihink tho V.C. was granted. Chaplains, of course, gel few opportunities for obtaining honours for bravery in tho field compared with combatants, aiid do not press claims tor such rewards, but I venture to mention these two instances and could givo several moro to show- that they can taito their share of risks with others. After the sinking of R.M.S. Victoria, the captain, when asked at'the court-martial (always held after tho loss of a ship) whether he noticed any very oonspicuoits act of bravery as the ship was going down, said yes, he noticed the chaplain (Morris) bringing sick men ou deck tr the very last. Tho chaplain was drowned. .He could probably have sa,ved Ihimfelf otherwise.. A; GREAT HEART. Here is an oxtract givon by tho "Spectator" from tho letter of a soldier in Flanders to his parents, on tho nows that ihis brother had beou. killed in action:— "I lhave seen many -a breach in tho circlo in which I live, but wo hardly think of them as dead. It is inoTe like school,, where, each term brings fresh faces, while others aro missed. It is ,easy for us. It is tlioso at . homo who feel the blow most when, it comes. But the compensations ai'o very real, especially in' this war of wars .in which tho duty to go is so it is far better never to return than never to have been."