With The Immortal Seventh DivisionKennedy, Edmund John
History
With The Immortal Seventh Division
Kennedy, Edmund John
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, British
(5) All this involves a large amount of correspondence on the
part of the chaplain, and there are busy times when a
'scrap' is proceeding. Every spare moment is occupied with
writing letters for those who are unable to do so
themselves. On the top of all his other work the padre is
constantly receiving letters from home, asking him as to the
whereabouts of this or that man, who may be dead, wounded or
missing; and this phase of the work of itself takes up a
great deal of time.
(6) A not unimportant duty which falls to a chaplain's lot is
the recreation of the men, and if he is a good sort he will
endeavour, during periods of rest, to enliven the lot of his
men with sing-songs, boxing competitions, football matches,
athletic sports, etc., etc.--anything to buck up the men and
keep them cheery. In addition to this, many nondescript
duties fall to the chaplain's lot. Sometimes he is mess
president, and that will give him an anxious half hour. The
solicitude of a young wife who asked a matron of mature
experience as to the best method of keeping the affection of
her husband and preserving his interest in the home, was
answered by, 'Feed the brute.' A mess president knows to the
full what this means. The padre will sometimes have
difficult and perchance dangerous work allotted to him, such
as carrying messages under fire, or tending wounded men in
exposed places. He must also be prepared to lend a hand in
carrying the wounded; and, in short, render himself as
useful as possible, and thus prove himself a friend of
officer and man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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