With our Fighting Men Part 19

"Now as to the distribution of Church of England chaplains on active service. They may be roughly divided into two cla.s.ses:

"(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.

"(2) Those with Field Ambulances. By this term we should understand Field hospitals which receive the sick and wounded from their advanced dressing stations, which in their turn receive them from the First-Aid Posts just behind the firing line.

"To these two cla.s.ses have recently been added another, namely, Senior Chaplains of Army Corps, whose duty it is to advise and direct chaplains of the divisions composing the corps in their work. For instance, I am now senior chaplain of the Third Army Corps.

"I have now been in each one of these three cla.s.ses, for I came out with number four general hospital, though I was with them subsequently for only a very short time.

"The work of cla.s.s (1) consists princ.i.p.ally of ministering to the sick and wounded, holding services when possible, especially on Sundays, and giving the patients and staff frequent opportunities of the Holy Communion and other ministrations. It may often happen that chaplains of this cla.s.s may find troops near to them, who are away from their own chaplain. It will then be their duty to minister to them so far as they possibly can. They, of course, also have to conduct many funerals.

"As to the chaplains of cla.s.s (2), the Field Ambulance will be the centre from which the chaplain should work in his brigade, and such divisional troops (R.A., R.E., &c.) as are included in the brigade area.

"I was for some time with the Eleventh Field Ambulance in the Fourth Division, and as I was the senior chaplain in that division, the general asked me to take over the arrangement of things. My plan was that each chaplain in his area should endeavour to hold five or six large central parade and other services on Sundays, with perhaps celebrations of the Holy Communion after two of the ordinary services.

"Then, chaplains give special attention to particular units on weekdays. Here all days are alike and so are all times. So I would arrange with the commanding officer, and would set out on horseback carrying the requisites for the Holy Communion, for I always, when possible, had a celebration after the ordinary service. My servant would ride behind me with the service books. In this way it was possible to cover the ground in the division fairly well, and to see that each unit had its due.

"The ordinary services were taken usually in the open air, though sometimes some large building, a barn, schoolroom, or shed was available. Whenever it was practicable I had the Holy Communion indoors, and for this service I invariably put on my surplice. I have had to celebrate in many strange places--in lofts, kitchens of farm-houses, engine sheds, stables, and even in a slaughter-house. But there has been a devotion and a spiritual uplifting in these most unwonted surroundings which have been good to see, and officers and men have come to the Holy Communion in large numbers with a reverence and an evident longing for communion with G.o.d which one does not always see, even in the most splendid churches at home.

"When my stay in the Fourth Division was drawing to a close, Mr. Hall, whom you probably know, the Wesleyan chaplain at Chatham, was posted to the Eleventh Field Ambulance, and came to live with me at my billet. He and I did a great deal of work together, and he would tell you about it, for he is at home now. I shall never forget how we went together one night to a certain battalion which was going into the trenches the following day. We first had the ordinary evening service in an underground place, and afterwards there was the Holy Communion, to which came 122 officers and men. The room in which we were gathered was very dim, and we felt very deeply the immense solemnity of the hour.

"It was all very wonderful and very beautiful. During the actual administration, the commanding officer walked behind me with a lantern, up and down the rows of kneeling men, so as to make sure that all were cared for.

"We did not reach our billet until after eleven o'clock that night.

The next day some of those who had made their communion on the previous night were killed in action.

"Very often our service had to be conducted under sh.e.l.l fire. I recall one amongst many instances. I was taking a service one weekday morning for a battery in the garden of a house at Houplines. A great number of sh.e.l.ls went over us while the service was proceeding.

Afterwards we had the Holy Communion in the house. During the service the houses on either side of ours were struck, and, finally, at the close there was a deafening crash and we found that the house in which we were had been hit, though not much damage was done.

"These circ.u.mstances of difficulty and danger seem to bring out the very best that is in men, and I have been immensely impressed by the craving for spiritual help shown by both officers and men, and their grat.i.tude for anything I could do for them, as well as by the humble reverence and real devotion of all ranks.

"There are, of course, many other sides of a chaplain's work: the ministrations to the wounded and dying in the hospitals, and advanced dressing stations of the Field Ambulance, the burial of the dead--often at night and in strange weird circ.u.mstances--the visiting of men in the trenches when feasible, the writing of letters to relatives, the censoring of letters, and a number of other duties.

"It is often in a strange sort of place that one witnesses a poor fellow's last dying testimony, in some cellar possibly, where a wounded man has had to be conveyed so as to be safe from sh.e.l.l fire.

"In times of comparative quiet, and when troops are resting, I consider it most important that chaplains should try to organise some directly spiritual work, and also recreation daily during the trying hours after dark, until men have to be in their billets. For instance, in this place we have a room and a hall; in the room we have a Bible-cla.s.s each evening, while in the hall there are papers and games, coffee can be procured, and there is an impromptu concert every evening. We have a stage with footlights, and a serviceable piano. On Sunday evenings there is a well-attended voluntary service there. Both places are well warmed and well lighted, with plenty of seats and chairs. This is most important.

"One great difficulty under which the Church of England has to labour in this country is that, with very few exceptions, the Roman Catholic ecclesiastical authorities will not allow us to use their churches.

This is, I think, to be deplored, and I cannot understand how people can worship comfortably in their churches, while they know that fellow-Christians are obliged to hold their service in the open air, in cold discomfort, or in some quite unsuitable and mean building.

"Possibly, however, it is for our good that we should have these difficulties. These difficulties and trials are perhaps a tonic for our spiritual life. And after all we learn what every campaign has to teach us, and what I was first taught in South Africa, that often the truest worship can be offered in most uncongenial surroundings; and I have been myself strengthened and helped, and I have marked the reverence and devotion of officers and men at some service beneath the sombre skies of Flanders, or it may be in some comfortless or even squalid building.

"Out here one realises more what things really matter, and how to distinguish the essential from the unessential. One has so much to be thankful for and so much to help, strengthen, and inspire."

Hitherto I have given Mr. Tuckey's statement in his own words. Nearly all the rest does not concern the public, but ere he closes he acknowledges gratefully the kindness of the Archbishop of Rouen in allowing him the use of two churches or chapels, and speaks most appreciatively of the hospitality of some of the _cures_. We may hope and pray that he may be long spared to do such glorious work as his statement indicates.

Our next report is from the pen of the Rev. E.L. Watson.

Mr. Watson is the senior chaplain at the front representing the United Army and Navy Board. This Board, recently formed, comprises the Baptist and Congregational Unions, and the Conferences of the Primitive Methodist and United Methodist denominations. Until the outbreak of the war, Mr. Watson was minister of the Baptist Church at West End, Hammersmith. His report has been written at the request of the Rev. J.H. Shakespeare, M.A., Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. I omit from it a few sentences covering ground already dealt with.

"The task that Great Britain has in hand is of such magnitude that the demand for fighting men is without parallel. Proud we are of the fact that every individual man now in the greatest army that Great Britain has ever raised is serving of his own free choice, and happy indeed to be of service to his King and country in the hour of need.

"This great body of men is necessarily composed of many types, drawn as it is from all quarters of the British Empire, and representing every political opinion and all religious denominations, but co-operating in perfect unity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A FIGHT IN THE AIR.

_Drawn by Christopher Clark._]

"Every provision has been made for the material comfort of the men, especially those in the firing line. Transport arrangements are in themselves a marvel, every modern appliance being requisitioned for the purpose. Letters and parcels can be received and posted every day if necessary. In like manner, also, is fresh food supplied, thus saving any unnecessary privation.

"Equipment is also as perfect as British science and common sense can make it. In these and many particulars the British Army has the reputation of being one of the best fed and equipped armies in the field, whilst the spirit of the men is recognised as second to none.

"Not only has the War Office spared neither expense nor pains to place everything that is essential within the reach of the average soldier, but it has also recognised the necessity of keeping the men in touch with those spiritual influences that count for most in the British soldier.

"To meet this spiritual need a new army of chaplains, in addition to those already in the regular list, has been appointed and sent forth with befitting rank to minister to their respective denominations. The field is a wide one and unreservedly open to the individual chaplain simply to care for his men as he may see best. Where desired and possible every facility is given to the men to attend the means of grace. It is also placed on record in the King's Regulations that, without distinction, every a.s.sistance is to be given to the chaplains in the performance of their duties.

"Regimental work where possible is always a satisfactory task, for the fortunate chaplain is then always identified with the men of his regiment, thus getting to know each individual as in a regular congregation.

"Brigade work is more difficult because of the number of regiments and width of operations, but even in this the work is within the reach of the brigade chaplain. The most difficult and almost impossible task falls to the lot of a Nonconformist chaplain who has charge of the whole of a division. Besides the three brigades there are the ma.s.ses of men in the divisional troops. Under some circ.u.mstances the division may have an area of some three miles of front and reaching back some ten miles to the rear.

"To cover this ground and get into touch with my men scattered throughout the whole of the division and keep in touch with them is my task. The demands are so great upon time and capacity that I simply have to shoulder as much of the work as strength allows and pray G.o.d that my very best may count for most.

"For instance, there are three large and active field ambulances operating in the division, where it will be remembered that most of the collecting of the wounded is done under cover of darkness.

Consequently the dressing and operations are carried out immediately upon their arrival, the cases rarely remaining more than a few hours in a field hospital, being of necessity hurried away to the base hospitals. Thus the time for visiting the sick and the wounded is limited.

"There are letters to be written for the badly hit men to the loved ones at home. There are the dying to be comforted and pointed to the Saviour. A word of cheer to be spoken to all. It is indeed in the field ambulance where valuable service is rendered to men and staff in a hundred ways.

"To keep in touch with most of our men thus pa.s.sing through the ambulances, each ambulance operating in a different centre, necessitates from four to six hours' duty each night.

"Besides the work of the hospitals there are pressing day duties to be performed. Burials must receive attention. Regiments must be visited.

Many calls are received from anxious and troubled men. Even the firing line claims attention at times in the performance of duty. Wherever the men are standing to their duty and where the greatest service could be rendered there I have striven to be. Identification with the men is the key-note of a chaplain's work. He shares in the recreations, pleasures, dangers, and sorrows of his men, and is looked upon as the soldier's best friend.

"The strain is incessant, but the work is most encouraging and filled with unequalled opportunities.

"The men prove responsive to the spiritual touch and take full advantage of the means of grace and communion afforded.

"The circ.u.mstances of the front bring one into closest touch with the men in such a way as is not possible at home, and it is indeed a joy and a reward to feel that one is helping to keep the men in touch with the faith and spirit of their fathers."

The public imagination has been touched by the part the Salvation Army has played in this great struggle. Its contribution to the fighting line and to organised works of mercy has been striking. I am grateful, therefore, to General Booth for the opportunity of including in this volume an authorised account of the Salvation Army's war work, prepared by Brigadier Carpenter.

"It is impossible to give in the brief s.p.a.ce available anything approaching a comprehensive idea of the work the Salvation Army is accomplishing in the various new situations created by the war. The more outstanding features of its activities can be summarised, but such a statement appears--as do statistics to a lay mind--cold, lifeless, uninteresting, whereas the tangible facts which they represent glow with life and beauty and inestimable worth.

"On the outbreak of hostilities General Booth held conferences with his chief officers at headquarters in London, to determine upon what lines of action Salvationists would be of most service to the authorities and the people in the national crisis.

"Our naval and military homes at Harwich, Chatham, Plymouth, and Dover, and as many of our social inst.i.tutions and halls as might be found necessary, were placed at the disposal of the government; those not taken for military requirements were offered to local governments for use as relief and industrial centres.

"With the formation of the Expeditionary Forces, General Booth dispatched to the continent a contingent of officers to minister to the troops in any way that might be found possible. These officers were placed under the direction of Brigadier Mary Murray, Secretary of our Naval and Military League. It might be mentioned that the Brigadier is a daughter of the late General Sir John Murray. Miss Murray went through the South African war at the head of a Salvation Army Red Cross contingent, and for her services was awarded the South African medal.