With Our Fighting Men: The story of their faith, courage, endurance in the Great WarSellers, William E.
History
With Our Fighting Men: The story of their faith, courage, endurance in the Great War
Sellers, William E.
Great Britain. Army -- Military life; World War, 1914-1918 -- Religious aspects
The first is the Church of England report. It is written by the Rev.
J.G. Tuckey, one of the senior Church of England chaplains at the
front, and has been prepared for me at the request of the Rev. E.G.F.
Macpherson, the senior Church of England chaplain. Mr. Tuckey has had
long experience of army work. He served through the South African War
with distinction, and has served throughout the present war. Few know
the British soldiers better than he.
I preface his report with a brief extract from a letter received from
the Rev. E.G.F. Macpherson and dated March 8, 1915. He says: "We are
kept very busy. In addition to my work in Boulogne, I have to keep in
touch with Church of England chaplains at the front, and on the lines
of communications. I went up to Ypres the other day, they were
shelling the place, and I nearly got a shell in my car.
"The Church of England has a large number of chaplains at the front,
and they are doing splendid work for God. Their number, though, makes
it difficult for me to keep in touch with them all."
But now for Mr. Tuckey's report.
"You ask me about the Church of England work. Where am I to begin? How
tackle it? It is so vast. As to number of chaplains, all details can
be seen by reference to the _Army List_. It will be noticed that the
very vast majority of permanently commissioned chaplains belong to the
Church of England. The Presbyterians are now the only other body which
has permanent commissions. The Roman Catholics do not now allow their
men to accept them. They are only appointed temporarily for five
years, and even if re-appointed can never rise above the rank of
captain. This, of course, makes no difference to the Roman Catholic
chaplains appointed before the new regulations, but they will
gradually die out. As no doubt you know, the Wesleyans were offered
four commissions and refused. But though we have such a relatively
large number of chaplains to the forces, the work is so great that it
has to be supplemented by a very considerable and increasing body of
acting chaplains.
"Permanently commissioned chaplains are divided into four classes,
the chaplains therein ranking as colonels, lieutenant-colonels,
majors, and captains respectively.
"Now as to the distribution of Church of England chaplains on active
service. They may be roughly divided into two classes:
"(1) Those with hospitals at the Base or on lines of
communication--these hospitals being of three kinds, namely, general
hospitals, the largest which are not moved; stationary hospitals,
which are supposed to be mobile; and casualty clearing stations for
receiving the sick and wounded from the front and forwarding them to
stationary or general hospitals, whence they can, if necessary, be
conveyed to England in hospital ships.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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