CHURCH AND WAR

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2920, 4 November 1916, Page 3

CHURCH AND WAR

THE ARMY CHAPLAINS

IN THE THICK OF THE BATTLE "DAMNED FINE FELLOWS." The special correspondent of the Loudon ''Morning l'ost," with the British Army on tlio Western front pays a high tribute to the splendid work which is being done by the Army chaplains. Ho writes: To nil his brother officers the chaplain is known as the padre. His profession is that of a minister of religion. It is primarily as a spiritual iniido and comforter to the troops that he is attached to the Army. But while ha keeps' religion in the forefront, as befits his sacred calling, our padro is a man who sees the essentially human sido of war, who realises that in moments of physical suffering the welfare of the body has paramount claims, and that in his leisure moments the soldier craves for instruction, amusement—and spOrt. Tho padro honestly panders to these tastes —whether in times of stress or in moments, of recreation and relief.

I have seen him at work in tho many different phases of his strenuous and anxious life. Watch him with his troops in the trenches. Shells fall thick and fast. Men are wounded: some are dying. To them the chaplain whispers words of spiritual comfort and hope. Watch him a moment later, when tho troops swarm out of their flimsy shelters, mount tho parapets, and advance against tho enemy. The ground is now strewn with wounded. The chaplain crosscs with his comrades of the Royal Army Medical Corps- into this shell-swept gateway of devastation and death. He steadies waverers among the stretcher-bearers by his cheery words and the force of his own example, as ho helps to carry in the wounded to somo place whero hell is not being raked out of tho earth. It is not laid down as part of . the chaplain's duties that ho shall act as an auxiliary to the R.A.M.O. in tlio thick of battle. But he does it. Very often the padro i,- tho coolest of all tho men under iire, and it is impossible to appraise at too high a ratio the value of his personal example. To tho men ho is a hero rather than a. parson. Before they entered into this fight they may have heard him speak of. holy things. Pcrchance ho may havo reminded them how man in the midst of life is in death, or lie may have spoken of'the glorious reward which comes to those who lay down their lives in a great and sacred cause. He may even have administered to them the Sacrament of their Church. At tliis moment tlioy sec in him only a man —a brave man, who i 3 one of themselves, their equal in every risk and every sacrilicc.

Care for the Wounded. At casualty clearing stations tlio chaplains are there to receive tho wounded, who already liavo obtained first aid before being handed over "to the lied Cross transport. Each man is docketed with his name, rank, and unit, and tho nature of his, wound, and while tho surgeons of the R.A.M.C. are engaged in professional inspection and classification tho padre goes round among tho men, speaks- to them cheerily and attends to their'creature comforts. The other, day I eamo across some 'four hundred men —ragged, blood-stained, and weary.—at one of tho C.S.C.'s, as thev are called. They needed nothing so much, as sleep. They stretched themselves out on the cool grass. Some 'of them, parched with thirst, asked for a "drink of" water or a'cup of tea; • This was speedily brought to them; "Nowthen' boys," shouted "a lusty-luiige.d) son of tho Church, "what do you say to a cigarette? All of you who would like a, cigarette please sit: up." They all sat up, and tho padre wont round the crowd, handing out packets of "fags." It is in comparatively trivial incidents like these that one observes tWfruitsof "practical religion" in this war: " They explain, too, why it is that the chaplain is so popular with the men. "The padre is a. trump always," said a wounded soldier to me on this samo occasion. "Ho doesn't forco religion upon you. He will pray with you if you ask him to. If you don't he will just trot off and fetch you a fag or a cup of tea as quick as winking." Then ho added, without tho leaßt intention of being profane, "God bless our chaplains. They're, damned fine fellows." Tho chaplain is a prodigious letterwriter. A disabled soldier will say to him: "Do, please, write homo to my people, sir. Tell them you've seen me; that I'm wounded, but that I am all right." Brave lads.will say this when they know that they are not all right. The chaplain will answer: "Yes, my hoy, I will write to your mother. I will tell her how brave and good you liavo been, and how proud she ought to he of her son." The padre will pray softly by.tlio.bedside of the dying soldier. Ho will even make a will for him, while yet .the spark of human intelligence remains. He will collect lus letters)and all.his little personal effects and see that they are 6ent to that home somewhere in. England, or it may he beyond the seas, to which the soldier who has given liis life for his country will never return. Ho will write tenderly of last moments—how souls made strong in tho faith winged their flight, while the bodies they dwelt in liad been interred with tho. rites of Christian- burial. I have seen tliese chaplains on tho battlefield uttering the solemn office .for the burial of the dead"While tho ruthless dogs of war have barlted their loudest and fiercest —aye, while'the instruments of death themselves liavo hurtled overhead and

one know not whose turn might be the next. Frequently Communion is ad-, ministered io men oil the eve of tlioir going to battle. Underground Altars.

Little altars, miniature houses of God, aro erected in cellars and dugouts. The men gather rouiid and partake of the elements which are the sacred emblems of the Christian faith. To-morrow they may die, but they will yield up their young and precious lives fortified with the rites of their Church. As I write I have before me the sketch of a. typical underground chapel which

was constructed by a chaplain close to that dismal part of our front which converges on Gommecourt. The altar is built up out of empty ammunition boxes; its rails arc old meat-tins, the cross is made of wood cut from a neighbouring tree, and tho flowers which adorn the altar are simple wild flowers gathered from the hedgerows and fields. On the right of the altar is a gaping hole made by a Bochc shell. Above the altar, in a roof where an attempt has been made to fashion somo rudo form of dccorativo work, is a swallow's nest. Men came here to pray.- The chaplain held his services and administered) Holy Communion. This was lieforc the Ist of July. Many of tho soldiers who prayed_ here are dead. But surel.v tho spirit that led ■them to this little altar is immortal. • \ Spirit of Go-operation. Our Army chaplains are a united ami a harmonious body. Tho Deputy Chap-lain-General, who exorcises 'the real control out hero in France, is well known for his broad-mindedness and tolerance, and from personal converse witli |»dres of diffcret creeds I can testify that the spirit ho displays is the secret of tho popularity and respect lie univorsally enjoys. Dcmominationalisni, of course, caunofc bo wholly banished from tho Army oven in war lime. It is laid down in-

the King's Regulations that men aro entitled to the ministrations of the Church to which they belong. Tlio I Church of England is the vastly prodominant body in France. She lias 646 chaplains, or about 75 per cent, of the total engaged, now serving her in the field. The balance is made up of .Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Wesley ans, and serving under the United Board, in wliicli aro included all other Nonconformist denominations. But the spirit- of cooperation throughout - all -tlio ■ religious bodies is 'complete, and joint services, in which-the various denominations equally participate, are of daily occurrence. As a dignitary of the Church said to mo: —"We aro all /Working for a common aim. Our primary object is to see that tliis terrible war shall end in complete victory for ourselves and our Allies. In this respect there is no division of opinion among us. I am not without liope, too,-that, only good will come out of tlio way in which the war has united us. As ministers of religion wo have striven to lay aside all differences. It may ho that wo are nearer to a union of Christendom than over we have been before. God grant that it may bo. so." Our chaplains have lost fivo killed aiul lnoro than twenty wounded in the war,, One of tlieir number has gained the Victoria Cross, another has the D.5.0., and a considerable number of tliem have been awarded the Military Cross. In the advance now proceeding they have added lustro to their record of perilous services under fire. Many instances of conspicuous- igallantry on tho part of padres have been brought to my notice. I will give no details, and only say that recent events liavo more than ever demonstrated tho value of tho work of our chaplains and their conspicuous gallantry in the hottest areas of conflict.