It would neither be right nor in good taste to mention any names of
chaplains, but one may instance the kind of work which one saw them
doing. I have already referred to the dug-out club in a destroyed
town. I may go on to tell of one who on his bicycle, sometimes late
at night, would go away from the centre where he was stationed to
outlying districts for the purpose of giving lantern lectures to our
troops. When last I saw him he was arranging to give this particular
entertainment to a number of our Indian wounded. This chaplain was
the life and soul of a great parade service held in a square in one
of the French towns, where, by his voice and his enthusiasm, he made
the whole service go with fervour and effect. I remember how, on
this occasion, numbers of French people came up to me and told me
that they were certain that this outward acknowledgment by our
soldiers of their devotion to God would be helpful to the
spirituality of the whole town. The chaplains abroad have to be
business men as well as clergy. The arrangements for services and
other matters take up a considerable amount of time. At one base
there are about thirty places to arrange for every Sunday, and in
these thirty places over sixty services are held. It is no light
matter for the Senior Chaplain to see that week by week everything is
in order. This particular instance is not an isolated one, and is
taken simply at random. Now that there is a Bishop as Deputy
Chaplain of the Forces in France, everything should go on in a
perfectly satisfactory manner and with great advantage to the
chaplains themselves.
SPECIMEN OF SERVICE LIST OF ONE OF
OUR BASES AT THE FRONT