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CHURCH AND WAR

. THE PADRE MINISTRY OP THE TRENCHES EXPERIENCES OF A NEW ZEALAND CHAPLAIN. Tho Itcv. W. Sliirer (convenei- of the Chaplains' Committee of the Presbyterian Assembly) has received a very interesting letter from the Rev. W. M'Lean, one of the nine chaplains sent to thu front by the New Zealand Presbyterian _ Church. Mr. M'Lean gives a -graphic description of life in tho fighting linos, wit-h. special reference to tho work of tho chaplains—the "ministry of the trenches." The Somme Battle. Much history (writes. Mr. M'l.can) has been made sinco last I wrote to you. The groat naval battle lias been fought and won. Curiously enough, we received the first information of this action from a placard exhibited in tho German trenches several days before the news appeared in the English Press. Then followed tho tragic death of Lord Kitchener. And now the Franco-British advance on tho Somme. When first we came to this part of the lino it was regarded as being comparatively quiet. For certain' hours during the day and night there seemed to be an informal truce. "If you don't fire at us we will not fire at you," was the sort of tacit understanding. The story, goes that a Bosche used'to come out from his trench at nine o'clock every morning to draw water from a well in No-Man's Land, and was allowed to return unmolested If ever that- happened, certainly .nothing liko that happens now. "Isn't that a German over there?" one of our advance party is reported to,have asked a Tommy belonging to the'regiment we were relieving. "Yes." "Then .why don't you shoot him?" "I'll have to ask tho corporal first." This may bo nothing more than a trench' "yarn," but undoubtedly tho atmosphere of the trenches has changed and is now instinct with lifo 'and activity. Artillery Duels. When you read in your newspaper that fierce artillery duels have been fought, don't imagine for one moment that anything so prosaic has taken place. Certainly the opposing artillery seeks to find the other out, but what mostly happens is this: Our artillery opens ; firo : on the' enemy's front trenches and the Hun 'retaliates by shelling our. trenches. .It is the infantrymen in. the trenches who pay the price. "This is too much of a gentleman's war,"/ said a blase young artillery officer to me recently. " Vou sit down to your gun and pull the trigger, but you can't get any retaliation." If only he would spend a week or two in _ the front trenches he would revise his views about retaliation. Irench bombardment always means much subsequent labour. Parapets are knocked down, .trenches battered, dugouts blown in. In tho shortest possible time all has to be put in order, only to be blown into disorder 'again. Or when you have improved your trenches'and build better dug-outs other troops march in and reap the fruit of your labours.' So often had this sort of thing happened to certain troops that one of them put over a disused trench a sign-board bearing tho words: "licclcs. 11,-18, 19." The reference is, "Yea, I hated all my labour which 1 ha'd taken under the sun; because I should leave it to the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth ho shall be a wise man. or a fool? Yet shall he.havo rulo over mv labour wherein I have showed myself wise under the sun. This is also Vanity." A T ot quite! .And we are deeply mdebted to our artillery. Their work lias been excellent.

baring Airmen. I Our aircraft also have been very busy. You never tire of watching them or of praising our intrepid airmen. ; Xhoru is' Hot the sJightesc doubt that tliey are much more daring than the German. They fly at a much lower altitude, and stick to their worlc until their observations are completed. One night 1 watched one of them hovering over the German lines. Shells vrero bursting all around him, but as often as he was driven off he circled back again. At least 450 shells wero fired at liim without taking elfect. Of course, our airmen do not always escape the enemy's lire. On another evening three of our airmen performed a fine pieco oE work. Three sausage-like kite balloons were up behind the German lines for, observation purposes, when three or' our airmen appearod on the scene. Ono hovered about and attracted tho enemy's lire while the other two suddenly swooped down from behind a bank of .cloud, and within two minutes had the three balloons ablaze, and wore speeding back to safety; The Kaiser is a hydra-headed monster, isn't he? Well, lie had three eyes put out that time. On occasion I saw a ileet of 24 ' aeroplanes leaving on an expedition which was successfully carried out. It vm a splendid sight. A Gas Alarm. The cablegrams will have informed you that gas has been used on tlia British front. Thank God, -we were not tho first to use it, but once the Huns had used it we could not ask our men- to stand up to it without employing something similar, not in retaliation, but in their defence. The other day 1 looked through a periscope over "No Man's Land," and saw the effect of our gas upon the vegetation. The tall grass had a light, dry appearance, with a pinkish tinge,' while the thistles and other things wero blackened as if frostbitten. What its effect on tho Germans was I do not know. Some nights spent here I can never forget. Tho horror of a gas alarm I Bells ringing and horns lionking in the front trench, and then to right and left, and from front to back, until you hear tho alarm all about you. Gas helmets arc wretched tilings to wear. Fortunately we have had no losses from gas. "Whizz-Bangs"'and "Minnies." . We are living a fairly strenuous life here, what with billets,' recreation rooms, correspondence, trenches, hospitals, cemeteries; and wo do not live under ideal conditions. True, some have a measure of comfort,; but shells and bullets aro always flying about, and one day ono may come with your name on it. You never bccome used to some tilings. -To hear a high explosive or a shrapnel shell shrieking death always gives mo a ourious feeling in the "innards." Shocks to the nerves, duo to exploding shells, are common, and the heart often beats pil>-a-pat. It is not a pleasant experience to feel in your faco the blast of hot air from an exploding shell, or to have fragments falling around you or debris thrown over you. "Whizz-bangs" are bnites. They aro shrapnel shells of very 'high velocity. You no sooner hear the "whizz" than tho "bang'! is upon you, hence the nick-name. "Minnies" ("Minemverfers," or trench mortars) are profoundly disliked. Tliey weigh 1801b., most of that high explosive. But they have a redeeming feature: they somersault leisurely through tlie air, singing "I've got you," "I've got. you," "I've got you," and, being able to seo .thorn because' of their-

size, you can gel out of their jsjyr. eo that when tho fir/.i cr-r-r L'MP comes you are able to say, "No you haven't.", But tho tremendous report makes you jump, willy-nilly, and tho trembling ground, and great crater compel you to think. The "ping" and "zipp" of bullets are insignificant in comparison, and yet not quite that, especially when you have to bend yourself double or sprint along a piece of trench upon which a sniper is playing. The whole thing gets upon your nerves, and tho almost nightly bombardments, mostly with all guns going, and rendering sleep impossible, do not improve matters. On tho whole Fritz has been good to me. There have been days when he has ce.ased shelling the trenches into whicli I went, and days when ho has followed iik up shelling tho trenches as I left thorn, troncli after trench. . But there have been other days!! He wasn't at all nice, and I didn't liko him.

"Tha Chaplain Amons Them." I have been into overy_trench.occupied by my men from time to tune, and have poked into practically every dug-out. It is slow and tiring work, but work that pays. Many of the men aro asleep in their dug-outs, no matter at what hour yon go, excepting at "stand-to," but; the others let them know that "padre" has been along. Thoy liko to see tho chaplain among them ; strangely enough, it gives tlieiu a feeling of security. .The ministry of the -trenches is largely one of encouragement and cheer, and occasionally you get the opportunity of speaking "words of life." Later oil, when you address them at church parade, or voluntary service, the fact that you have shared something of the life of the trenches counts. You establim points of contact, and rcceivp confidences that would have been impossible otherwise. Sometimes you have very touching experiences, as foy: examplo when a soldier hands you a little bundle containing four letters to fie sent to his wife and three children, one of whom he has never seen, should lie "go West." The boys are wonderfully cheerful, and dearly love a joke. The first Sunday they were in the treDchos 1 could not bo with tlieni, tho Adjutant having sent mo to some other work. When I went up to tho front lino on Monday morning, one soldier aaid, "You weren't up yesterday, pa3re. n -"No, I coukhi't D© with you yesterday. "We had a combined service." I was thunderstruck. "Combined service? Services in the trenches are both'forbidden and lmposisble." Ho scrutinised my lace, smiled, and! then said, "Yes, wo had, a combined service with the Germans 1" A combined service all right —artillery. The music was antiphonal, and tho text was not "Love 0110 another." "Sheer Impertinence." The quiet unconcern of these m'en, washin, shading, hair cutting, otc., etc., ill tho trenches has been the moami of giving ino confidence in very trying circumstances. In hospital, suffering from wounds, they, are • still cheerful,, "I have no right to. be here, sir," said an Australian who had miraculously escaped- death, a shell having burst very near him. I thought him a sensitive soul, and was going to assure him of his right to all a New Zealand Ambulance could give when he suddenly added, with a bright smile, "It's sheer impertinence that I'm alive." A New Zealand lad who had been badly wounded by a bomb dropped from a Taube, said, with tears in his eyes, but smiles shining through his tears, '"All I want, sir, is to get right and a chance to get one back on those Germans." The words worked up from a smile through tears to almost a laugh. It does you good to speak with the wounded. Fallen Heroes. But oh! the sadness of laying away our fallen heroes, far from home and loved ones! Those rows of little crosses, each representing' a cross in some mourning one's heart mid all representing a cross in the Heart-of God! Those who iiavo been called upon to sacrifice, lored ones may rest assured that everything will be done to care for their last resting-places. I was deoply touched tho other day when ducting a service to see some flowers which had been sent by two French ladies. There was an inscription attached: "From two French ladies for a New Zealand soldier who died far from home and country." The Saoranieht. As' God gives us opportunity and grace we endeavour to do the work for which wo as chaplains are here. Every Sunday there are parades and voluntary services for; troops who aro not in the trendies, and God has blessed us in these. At the close of almost every service the Sacrament of .the Lord's Supper is dispensed. We have not developed into Sacramentarians, but chaplains of all denominations have discovered w.hat a powerful means of grace this Sacrament can be, and our Christian men show great eagerness to receive it. I have never attended such Communion services as I have attended here —somo in the open fields, one in a peasant's humble cottage, with crucifixes all around the room, others in national schools and colleges from which, the iiamo of God had been banished, another in the cellar of a woollen mill, most thrilling of all, in a dug-out in the trenches. Eight of lis gathered there. The artillery on both sides had been shelling, but ceased as we were about to commence. Wo two verses of "Jesus, Lover of My' Soul" ; the tablo was 1 "fenced"; the words of institution were read ; prayer was offered ; the sacrcd elements were distributed. What did it matter 'if two spluttering candles did no more than make the darkness of ; the dug-out visible, it' an empty biscuit tin did servico as a Communion tabic, if we had no silver plate! Christ was there as Host to spread His own table, and wc did eat the bread of His strength ana did drink tho wine of His love. We occasionally have the joy of welcoming to tho Lord's Table for the first time men who strike hand with Him and swear undying allegiance. Pray for us. Chaplains Boss and M'Kenao, who are also with -tho front-line troops, are well and happy in their work.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19160916.2.92

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2878, 16 September 1916, Page 14

Word count
Tapeke kupu
2,226

CHURCH AND WAR Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2878, 16 September 1916, Page 14

CHURCH AND WAR Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2878, 16 September 1916, Page 14

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