100 chapters
7 hour read
Selected Chapters
100 chapters
Chapter I A Little Speculation
Chapter I A Little Speculation
“I’ll give you just three nights in the front line trench before your hair will turn grey,” said a brown haired priest, looking at me with a slightly aggressive air. I remained quiet. “You’ll not be very long in the army till you’ll wish yourself out of it again,” was the not very encouraging assertion of a tall, thin priest who suffered intermittently from dyspeptic troubles. Still I did not speak. Another priest, whose work was oftener among old tomes than among men, said slowly and, as was hi
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter II The Bishop Writes
Chapter II The Bishop Writes
Up to this time I did not have the Bishop’s consent. In fact, I cannot remember having mentioned in his presence my desire to go to the front with the soldiers as chaplain; but I had talked it over frequently with priests, and it never occurred to me that the Bishop had not heard of my wish, nor that he would not be in accord with it. But one morning I received a letter from the Bishop telling me plainly and firmly that he wished me to keep quiet, and not to talk so much about going to the front
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter III A Little Adjusting
Chapter III A Little Adjusting
During the next seven or eight days from all sides I heard one question asked by young and old: “When are you going to put on the uniform, Father?” Little children to whom I had taught catechism rushed around corners or panted up narrow streets of the little town where I was stationed and smilingly asked me. Their fathers and mothers, after saying good-morning, remarked pleasantly, as an afterthought: “I suppose we’ll soon be seeing you in the khaki, Father?” They seemed to anticipate real pleas
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IV The Portable Altar
Chapter IV The Portable Altar
After a few days a box about one foot and a half long, one foot high and nine inches wide, arrived. It was made of wood covered with a kind of grey cloth, with strips of black leather about the edges and small pieces of brass at every corner. There were leather grips on it so that it could be carried as a satchel. It was my little portable altar, containing everything necessary for saying Mass. One half opened and stood upright from the part containing the table of the altar, which when opened o
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter V In Training Camp
Chapter V In Training Camp
In a few weeks we left for training-camp, travelling all night and arriving at our destination early in the morning. We detrained and the whole battalion fell in, the band marching at the head of the column. Our camp was in a wide green valley, as level as a floor, flecked with hundreds of white bell tents; and in the distance on every side sloped gently upwards high solemn mountains that kept silent guard over the plain below. Through the whole length of the valley ran a long grey asphalt road,
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VI Mass Out of Doors
Chapter VI Mass Out of Doors
On Sundays I would set up the portable altar on two rifle boxes placed one above the other, on a great green plain near the end of the camp. Nearly always an awning would be erected above the altar, and whenever the wind blew canvas was draped about posts as a windshield, so that the candles might not be extinguished. It was a wonderful sight to see the men draw up on the grass, every one of them reverent and quiet before the little altar as I vested for Mass. Often three thousand were drawn up
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VII A Little Indignation
Chapter VII A Little Indignation
The time passed quickly for me, though I think for most of the men it went slowly; they seemed always restless, always longing to get to the front. They used to come to me often with their little grievances. They seemed to think that their troubles would disappear once they reached training-camp overseas. I remember one Sunday, after I had finished Mass and the last company had marched off the field, two soldiers came forward from somewhere and saluted. One of them, the taller of the two, acted
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter VIII We Break Camp
Chapter VIII We Break Camp
It was Sunday, October 1st. It was the most beautiful day I have ever seen. There had been a heavy frost during the night, and in the morning the hills, which had been green all summer, but had lately begun to put on their autumn tints, were glorious in bright scarlet, yellow and russet, with still here and there a dark-green patch of spruce. The white frost was on the ground and a covering of ice one-eighth of an inch thick was formed on the basin of water in my tent. The air was cold, clear an
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter IX The Panel of Silk
Chapter IX The Panel of Silk
The following Sunday, when all my Catholic soldiers were assembled at Mass in the church of the town where we were encamped, I spoke of what had transpired during our journey from Valcartier. During the week I had thought out a plan, and I had bought a few packages of blank visiting cards and a number of lead pencils. I had cut the pencils in two and had put a part in every pew, also a blank card for every person that would sit in the pew. In the course of my little talk I spoke of how fine a th
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter X Movement Orders
Chapter X Movement Orders
We did not stay very long in our new camping ground. For a few days the men seemed quite content. Everything was new to them; but soon they began to wonder how long it would be before we would leave. The nights often were very cold in the tents, for it was now late in October. We began to feel sure that orders for departing must come soon as no preparations were being made for going into winter quarters. On Sunday I had announced confessions for the following Wednesday. On the day set, four prie
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XI The High Seas
Chapter XI The High Seas
The doctor and I had been alloted a stateroom together, but I was subsequently given one down below, where I said Mass the first morning and heard confessions every evening. The chief steward was a Catholic and he was very kind. I had permission to say Mass in the second-class saloon, which was the largest on the boat, and nearly all the men came to Holy Communion. Our first Sunday out I said Mass for the lads below. As I proceeded with the Mass the seas became very rough, so that the book fell
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XII By Ireland
Chapter XII By Ireland
All day long we sailed by Ireland and she seemed strangely peaceful and quiet. Perhaps it was the great contrast with the sea, the wide tumbling waste of waters that, night and day, was always restless; or perhaps it was a benediction resting over the whole country. Anyhow it seemed that way to me as often as my eyes rested on the hills and fields of holy Ireland. Since that morning I have seen many different countries. I have come back to my own land over the same great distance of waters, and
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIII England
Chapter XIII England
That evening we moved slowly up the Mersey and at nine o’clock anchored out in the stream in full view of the city of Liverpool. We could not see it very well, for throughout the city the lights were dimmed and windows were darkened. All along the Irish coast the impression was one of peace and quiet, a spiritual something. But England seemed to give one the idea of a great machine, working slowly, steadily, untiringly. One was spiritual; the other material. That was my first impression of Engla
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIV In Camp
Chapter XIV In Camp
I have often remarked that English writers use the word “depression” much more frequently than do writers on this side of the water, and I have often wondered what could be the reason for this. I had not passed one week in England before I knew. A few days in an English military camp will give one an idea of what depression is. The military camp to which we were sent was Bramshott—a great collection of long, low, one-story huts, built row on row, with a door at each end, opening into muddy lanes
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XV The Cenacle
Chapter XV The Cenacle
Not more than three miles from the camp was situated the convent of the Sisters of the Cenacle, a beautiful three-story building of red brick and stucco hidden away among great hemlock, spruce and cypress trees. It is a kind of rest house, where at certain seasons of the year retreats are given for ladies, who come from different parts of England and pass a week at the convent. All during the war there was an open invitation to the Catholic soldiers of Bramshott Camp to visit the convent on Sund
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVI The Battalion is Broken Up
Chapter XVI The Battalion is Broken Up
We were not in England three weeks when orders came for a draft of men to reinforce a battalion that had suffered severe losses at the front. In a few days one hundred and fifty men left for France. We thought at the time that reinforcements would soon come to us from Canada, but not much more than a week passed till we were called on for another draft. This time the order was that three hundred and fifty men be sent to the Eighty-seventh Battalion. This second order came as a shock to us all. M
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVII The Little Spaniard
Chapter XVII The Little Spaniard
I had not been given very much information at headquarters as to how soon I might be sent to the front, for they did not know how soon the call might come for chaplains. In a few days the remnants of my battalion left Bramshott for a camp at Shoreham-by-Sea—all save a few, who stayed as officers, servants or clerks in different branches at headquarters. One afternoon I was sitting before Father Knox’s tiny fire-place in his little room, talking of the Sunday church parades, when a very young sol
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XVIII The Garrison Church Hut
Chapter XVIII The Garrison Church Hut
The days passed quickly. New battalions from home came and took up quarters in camp, and to their surprise were broken up and sent in drafts to France. Every night Father Knox or I remained on duty in the little garrison hut, that the lads might have an opportunity of going to confession before leaving for France. The garrison church hut had been built by the military authorities for the use of all religious denominations. It was used on Sundays by the Catholics, or, as the Army Equivalent has i
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XIX The New Sacrifice
Chapter XIX The New Sacrifice
Things went much the same at Bramshott. Spring came, and for the first time I saw the primroses, which are among the first flowers to bloom in England. They do not belong to the aristocracy for one sees them everywhere; along railway embankments, along the roadsides, near the hedge-rows, everywhere patches of the pretty little yellow flowers smiled the approach of spring. Then one day when the spring birds, nesting in the great old English trees, were cheering up the poor war-broken lads that la
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XX Through English Lanes
Chapter XX Through English Lanes
The early summer in England, especially in Surrey, is very beautiful, and as the work was light we had many opportunities to walk through the lovely country roads. But even prettier than the highways were the lanes that led off from them and went winding, with their hedges, through copse and field, and quaint little red-brick villages, each with its century-old, ivy-covered church that had come down from the good old Catholic days. In some of them a statue of some saint still stood, and in many
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXI At Parkminster
Chapter XXI At Parkminster
There was a different spirit in Witley Camp than there had been at Bramshott; for in the whole division—twelve battalions of infantry and three brigades of artillery, etc.,—was the one feeling of expectation of soon going overseas. Any day the orders might come. Father Hingston had made a retreat in London, and Father Crochetiere had just returned from five days’ rest and prayer at the wonderful monastery of the Carthusian Fathers, at Parkminster. I decided to go there. The following Monday, lat
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXII Orders For France
Chapter XXII Orders For France
Not a week had passed after my retreat, when one morning a runner from divisional headquarters came into my hut, saluted and passed me a paper. I was ordered to France. This was good news, for I had now been in the Army over a year. The battalion had been recruited to full strength early in 1916, and I had hoped to be in France before the end of that year. It was now June, 1917. The following morning I left Witley Camp for London, where I was to receive further orders and equip myself with bed-r
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXIII At No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot
Chapter XXIII At No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot
At the No. 2 Canadian Infantry Base Depot I had the most wonderful opportunity of the war to study the Catholics of the allied armies—Irish, Scotch, Welsh, English, New Zealand, Australian and Portuguese. For here were depot camps for all these troops. Often there would be as many as one hundred thousand men training at one time, but after every engagement drafts would be called for up the line. Then they would be given their full equipment from the large ordnance stores at Etaples, and in the e
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXIV The New Zealanders
Chapter XXIV The New Zealanders
Of all the lads of different nationalities who visited the little chapel in the evening and who came so often to Holy Communion in the early morning, I think I liked the best the New Zealanders. They were nearly all tall, lithe men, dark-haired, with long, narrow faces, and eyes that had a strange intensity of expression: perhaps one might call them piercing. They were quiet-voiced men and spoke with rather an English accent. They were the gentlest, finest men it was my good fortune to meet in t
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXV The Workers
Chapter XXV The Workers
There was one thing about the natives of Etaples that impressed me particularly, and that was the respect each artisan seemed to have for his work. In the little village were candle-makers, bakers, boot-makers, makers of brushes, etc., and all these workmen seemed to be interested in their work and to have a great respect for it. They worked slowly, patiently, and always thoroughly. I noticed the same spirit in the fields. Just beyond the hill and the giant windmill that overlooked the village,
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXVI Orders Again
Chapter XXVI Orders Again
I had come down to my tent one evening a little later than usual to find a D. R. L. S. letter from the Chaplain Service awaiting me. D. R. L. S. meant “Dispatch Riders’ Letter Service.” I opened it quickly, as a letter from headquarters, brought by a dispatch rider, might contain very important orders. This was an order to report for duty at No. 7 Canadian General Hospital the following day. I looked at my watch. It was nearly nine o’clock. It was very dark outside and the rain was beating on my
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXVII Hospitals and Trains
Chapter XXVII Hospitals and Trains
No. 7 Canadian General was only one of a group of hospitals situated along the highway that led from Etaples to Camiers. There were seven or eight large hospitals in all, though only two were Canadian, the others being British. Although I was quartered at No. 7, I had also to attend the other Canadian Hospital, No. 1. There were about 2,500 beds in No. 7, and about 2,000 in No. 1. At one end of No. 1, there was a marquee chapel-tent and at the rear of No. 7 there was a low wooden chapel called “
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXVIII D I’s and S I’s
Chapter XXVIII D I’s and S I’s
I remember the day I arrived at No. 7. The quartermaster allotted me a burlap hut in the officers’ lines, just large enough to contain a low iron bed, a rough table, made of boards from an old packing case, a chair (which was not there) and a little stove when it was cold enough for one. I hung my trench coat on a nail and asked the two men who had brought my bed-roll to place it where the chair should have been. I gave just one look around the hut, then went out again and up to the Registrar’s
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXIX Down the Hospital Aisle
Chapter XXIX Down the Hospital Aisle
Although the emergency cases were attended at all hours by the chaplain, it was in the afternoon that the general visiting was done. Each patient, when he had entered the hospital, had attached to the buttonhole of his shirt, or overcoat if he was wearing it, a thick waterproof envelope containing a card on which was written a description of the wounds he had received and the treatment that had been given them in the different stations through which he had passed. Sometimes, though not often, th
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXX The Two Brothers
Chapter XXX The Two Brothers
I had been visiting the two brothers for over a week—indeed one of them for over two weeks, before I knew they were brothers. One was in No. 1 hospital; the other in No. 7: one had been wounded in the chest or shoulder; the other in the knee. I carried messages one to the other, and they looked forward eagerly to my coming, for it was three years since they had seen each other. They used to anticipate with great pleasure the day when they would be convalescent and could see each other. Then one
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXI An Unexpected Turning
Chapter XXXI An Unexpected Turning
It was now November. The days were passing very quickly for I was kept busy; convoys were coming daily. Passchendael was being fought. I had to visit the D. I.’s and S. I.’s very often, for many were being admitted. One morning I stopped just long enough to prepare an Australian for death. He had been wounded through the throat and could not swallow, so that it was impossible for me to give him Holy Communion. I absolved him and anointed him quickly, then I told him I must pass on as I had many
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXII Private Belair
Chapter XXXII Private Belair
The days passed quickly, for they were well filled, and sometimes at night the call would come; my door would open quite abruptly, awakening me, and the light from a small flash-light would dazzle my surprised eyes, while a voice called, “R. C. chaplain?” I recall one night in particular. I had been awakened by the orderly calling, to find him standing at the head of my bed, his flash-light focused on a message written on white interlined paper that he held before my eyes. The words read: “Come
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXIII A Little Nonsense
Chapter XXXIII A Little Nonsense
It was hard work visiting the wounded, listening time after time to each one as he described the nature and history of his wounds, which in many cases were so similar. Often on leaving one hut only to enter another, I have paused to look longingly out to the estuary of the Canche, where the sun would be sinking slowly, and breathe the strong, aromatic air coming from the sea and the marshes that grew from the river mud; then in again to great wards of poor broken lads and the antiseptic odors of
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXIV Transfusion
Chapter XXXIV Transfusion
Although the little wooden chapel called Church of Our Lady, Help of Christians was nearer No. 7, I always said Mass in the chapel at No. 1. It was wonderfully edifying there in that little marquee chapel. I don’t know who had had it erected, for it was standing when I went to No. 1, but I do recall the devout congregations of walking wounded in their hospital suits of light-blue fleeced wool; the hospital orderlies who came so reverently; the white-veiled blue-clad nurses who came in large numb
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXV The Ministering Angels
Chapter XXXV The Ministering Angels
The nurses—“sisters” we called them—throughout all the base hospitals were most attentive to the wounded, without the slightest display of any maudlin sympathy; but they worked hard and long and one never heard the least complaint from their lips. It was a common occurrence at No. 7 to see a nurse being ordered away for a complete rest, made necessary by the terrific strain of her work. The Catholic nurses were, on the whole, very faithful in the practice of their religious duties, many being we
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXVI More Orders
Chapter XXXVI More Orders
December came. During the first week of that month I prepared my hut to stand the cold of the winter months and began to look forward to a time of relative repose after the past five months of strenuous work. The fighting was not to be so intense during the winter, therefore there would not be so many casualties. I had been given a fine little coal stove, and I was beginning to enjoy coming into the hut at night to be greeted by its cheerful red glow. There were worse places to dwell in, I told
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXVII Held For Orders
Chapter XXXVII Held For Orders
I remained a week with the Seventy-fifth before any further orders came. The battalion was resting after the terrible fighting at Paschendale. After dinner in the evenings we would gather before the little open coal fire in our mess: the second in command, who was a lieutenant-colonel, the doctor, the quartermaster, transport officer, and chat pleasantly. They were very friendly, though at times experiences were related; I think, for no other end than—in the language of the army—to put my “wind
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXVIII The Front at Last
Chapter XXXVIII The Front at Last
I had been with the Seventy-fifth Battalion about six days when one evening the adjutant gave me a letter which contained orders to proceed the following morning to Camblain L’Abbey. It was well on towards evening when the large motor lorry, on the seat of which I sat next the driver, pulled into the village of Camblain L’Abbey. The old stone church stood on a hill, looking down over the town, and at the base of the hill in a long, level field stood row upon row of one-story Nissen huts, in whic
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XXXIX A Strafe and a Quartet
Chapter XXXIX A Strafe and a Quartet
My room was a partitioned off portion at the end of the cellar in which was headquarters: there was no fire in it and the month was December. Through cracks in the portion of the building that was above ground, blew the cold, wintry wind. That night at dinner in “the mess,” which was in the portion of the cellar adjoining my billet, I met a number of the officers—though the majority were still in the line—and they were among the finest men I had ever met. The commanding officer, Colonel Peck, on
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XL The Valley of the Dead
Chapter XL The Valley of the Dead
When I reëntered my hut I found that the young soldier had opened my bed-roll and removed the few little articles that were in it. The bed-roll was arranged for the night on the burlap berth. “You haven’t enough blankets, sir,” he said. Then he was gone; but in about five minutes he was back again with two thick brown army blankets. After I had thanked him, he looked around to see if he could improve anything before leaving for the night. Not seeing anything, he was just about to open the door w
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLI New Friends
Chapter XLI New Friends
Shortly after the young soldier left there was another knock on my door, and as I stood up to go to open it I heard outside the voice of a man speaking as if to a child. When I opened the door, there stood a kilted officer over six feet in height, with the pleasant face of a boy. He was accompanied by a billy-goat, the mascot of the battalion. The officer greeted me warmly and then looked at the goat, saying: “Shake hands, Billy, shake hands with the new Padre.” So Billy and I shook hands, or ra
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLII A Little Burlap Room
Chapter XLII A Little Burlap Room
The following day was Saturday and I began to think of my duties for the morrow. I had learned that the Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth battalions would remain in the trenches till Monday. I called at the orderly room of the Fourteenth only to learn that they would be moving Sunday. When I returned to my billet I found a letter from Father MacDonnell, telling me to call to see him at the Transport Section of the Seventy-second Battalion. I did, and found a little man, dressed in Scotch milit
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLIII Christmas at the Front
Chapter XLIII Christmas at the Front
We had planned to have midnight Mass in one of the large moving-picture huts at Chateau de la Haie, for here in reserve were four full battalions: one belonging to Father MacDonnell, one to Father Murray, a young chaplain whom I met just before Christmas, and two, the Fourteenth and Sixteenth, belonging to me. My other battalions were only about two miles beyond these, the Thirteenth at Petit Servans and the Fifteenth at Grand Servans. But First Divisional Headquarters, which was then at Chateau
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLIV Back to Rest
Chapter XLIV Back to Rest
Every morning for a week or two I was in the little church where I had said Mass on Christmas Day, and every evening while I was there men came to confession. Then one morning the young soldier who had been so attentive to my wants, and whose name I had learned was George, came into the burlap room in a state of evident excitement and said: “We’re going back to rest, sir.” I did not know exactly what “back to rest” really meant, but I judged from George’s sparkling eyes that it was something ver
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLV Bruay
Chapter XLV Bruay
Our destination was Bruay, a mining town of about twelve thousand souls in the department of Calais, or, as the French write it, “Pas de Calais.” We marched into the town at about two o’clock and fell out at the square. My billet was in a miner’s house. It was a very nice room with a stove in it, and as there was a coal mine just across the road, I did not want for fuel. The transport mess, which was composed of the transport officer, quartermaster, paymaster and chaplain, was billeted in a larg
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLVI Fosse-Dix
Chapter XLVI Fosse-Dix
We were in rest nearly two weeks when orders came to go back again to the line. We left one morning immediately after breakfast and were reviewed on the march by General Sir Arthur Currie, commander of the Canadians. Along the way we were greeted by the same outspoken admiration as on our passing out. On a veranda in front of a little estaminet an old Frenchman, wearing the glazed, peaked yachting cap which was the most common head-gear among men in this part of France, tried to dance the “Highl
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLVII The Little Curé of Fosse-Dix
Chapter XLVII The Little Curé of Fosse-Dix
Every evening at 4:30 the curé of Fosse-dix gave Benediction in his little church for the school children and any of the village people who could attend. After Benediction he usually said the beads, the Litany and a few other prayers, and before he finished my boys used to arrive for confession. As the confessional was in the rear of the church, facing the altar, I often saw the children coming down the aisle. First, an old Sister of Charity, her wide white coronet flapping on either side like t
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLVIII Into the Line
Chapter XLVIII Into the Line
The following Sunday at Fosse-dix I gave the men a general absolution and then Holy Communion, for they were going in the line immediately; after the service was over I asked them to leave me the addresses of their next of kin. Both Sundays, while at Fosse-dix, a young lieutenant served my Mass. The address that he gave me was that of a Mrs. Maxwell-Scott, London, England. I asked him if this was his mother’s address and he said it was. Then I said, by way of a passing remark, “I suppose you are
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XLIX Called Up
Chapter XLIX Called Up
Although the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Battalions were in the line, the Thirteenth and Fourteenth were still in reserve and support, and every evening I was on duty at Bully-Grenay or Bracquemont to hear the confessions of these troops. I remember one evening while on my way from Fosse-dix to Bracquemont, where the Thirteenth was now quartered, hearing the strains of an accordion, and a number of male voices singing some French song. I stopped and looked back. Down the little street came a strange
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter L Bully Les Mines
Chapter L Bully Les Mines
The following week the Thirteenth and Fourteenth moved up to the front line from reserve and we went to Mazingarbe, only about four miles distant from Fosse-dix. Here, again, I was billeted with a curé; a comparatively young man, who was very distant in manner, though most kind in helping me with my work and seeing that I had everything I needed. His church had been hit several times and part of the sacristy had been blown off; the parish was being shelled periodically. Mazingarbe was the name o
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LI The One That Was Lost
Chapter LI The One That Was Lost
The winter passed quietly, each battalion of my brigade moving from reserve to support, from support into the line, then back to reserve again. And always in those little churches up near the line, whenever there was a chaplain, confessions were heard from five o’clock every evening. Here the work was most consoling, for my soldiers, moving about the village in the evening time, used to find their way to the church and there make a little visit or go to confession and Holy Communion. Often some
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LII A Vague Unrest
Chapter LII A Vague Unrest
The spring was drawing near, and a certain vague feeling of unrest was over the troops. Word was being passed about that old Fritz was preparing for something. On our side there were no visible preparations for a spring offensive. And so the lads were restless. Very often, when the wind was favorable, large enemy toy-balloons floated high over our lines, and as the long piece of smouldering hemp attached to each balloon burned up to a knotted cord, a package of propaganda articles was released a
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LIII The Great Offensive
Chapter LIII The Great Offensive
“Old Fritz” had struck at a vital part of the Allied front, planning nothing less than a separation of the French and British armies. He was attacking on a sixty-three mile front. He had “opened up” with a terrific bombardment; it was no ordinary barrage, but one he had been preparing for weeks. He had begun the bombardment at five o’clock, a. m., and before noon had broken through the British line in many places. For four or five days we waited in Mazingarbe; the whole First Canadian Division w
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LIV Agnez-lez-Duisans
Chapter LIV Agnez-lez-Duisans
I did not walk back to the Arras front. I went in a lorry. As we drew near our destination I was surprised to see so much traffic—but it was all coming towards us. At every cross-road we were stopped by the traffic police, just as one might be stopped in a large city. It was the first time I had ever witnessed a retreat. Great stores were in Arras belonging to the military and the British Expeditionary Force canteens. Most of these stores were being removed, and the city of Arras, as well as the
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LV The Refugees
Chapter LV The Refugees
Father Sheehan, opening the door of the class-room, stood back for me to enter. I did, and then fell back in surprise, for the little class-room was almost filled with French civilians and piles of bedding. The seven or eight little children looked wide-eyed at me, but they smiled brightly when they saw Father Sheehan. The older people greeted me simply, as is the way of the French peasant with the stranger. They were refugees from Dainville and were stopping at the convent over night. Tomorrow,
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LVI Arras
Chapter LVI Arras
That afternoon, accompanied by Father Sheehan, I went up to Arras to visit my brigade, for most of the soldiers were billeted in the city. Arras was being heavily shelled by the enemy. Long before we reached the suburbs we could see the sudden spurts of black smoke rising in many places from large buildings; and as we drew nearer we could hear the dull, quick-echoing crash as shell after shell shrieked its way into the great chalk buildings and exploded. Our own field artillery was busy on the o
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LVII Easter Sunday
Chapter LVII Easter Sunday
Since I could not have a parade of my men at Arras I decided to do what good I could at Agnez-lez-Duisans. We had early Mass for the civil population, and as their curé was serving in the army I acted as parish priest that morning. Following my ordination to the priesthood I had been sent, as assistant priest, to a parish where French only was spoken. For three years I ministered to these people and when I had left them I felt that I had a fair working knowledge of their language, though when I
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LVIII The Ronville Caves
Chapter LVIII The Ronville Caves
On Wednesday morning while I was taking my breakfast in the mess of the Sixteenth Battalion, George came in with a cup of tea and some good news. All the battalions of the brigade were quartered in the Ronville caves—over three thousand men underground. This was, indeed, good news, for now I could do some work among the men, which I had been longing to do. The Ronville caves were just beyond the railway station, under the outskirts of Arras. Nearly all the buildings of the city, including the Ca
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LIX The Banquet Hall
Chapter LIX The Banquet Hall
The following morning after breakfast Father Sheehan and I went down on our bicycles to the parish church. Then each of us, wearing a white stole over our uniform, went to the little tabernacle and after genuflecting silently, took from it one small military ciborium full of consecrated Hosts. Then silently we left the church bearing our precious burden. When we entered Arras, which was now known as the “City of the Dead,” we found, as usual, empty streets and the contour of many sections of the
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LX The Sheehans
Chapter LX The Sheehans
We waited at Agnez-lez-Duisans a few days longer, but “old Fritz” did not strike on the Arras front, though all the world knows that he continued to gain elsewhere. Two or three times during the week, Father Sheehan went up to Arras with a quantity of provisions to two Poor Clare Sisters who lived on in the basement of their ruined convent in order to pay court to their King. In the evening we were kept busy hearing confessions and giving Holy Communion to soldiers in the parish church. One even
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXI Ecoivres
Chapter LXI Ecoivres
April was passing quickly. Very early in the morning, from the old trees about the convent, one heard the sweet, clear call of many birds; the leaves were unfolding; the fresh, revivifying odors of new grass and early spring flowers were in the air. All around us were signs of destruction by the ingenuity of man; yet nature was steadfastly following her laws, restoring, expanding, and quickening to new life—and cheering wonderfully many tired and war-weary men. On all sides Fritz was making adva
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXII Ecurie Wood
Chapter LXII Ecurie Wood
I had expected to stay at Ecoivres for Sunday, and I had arranged with the curé for the soldiers’ Mass, but on Saturday orders came for us to move to Ecurie Wood. It was not very far away, about three miles. My billet here was a corrugated iron hut, barricaded without on all sides with sand-bags piled about three feet high and two wide. There was no floor other than the natural earth. The seat of a general service wagon, that very likely had succumbed to Fritz’s shelling, had been converted into
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXIII The Different Dispensers
Chapter LXIII The Different Dispensers
The Thirteenth and Fifteenth Battalions were at Anzin, a small village about three kilometers distant from Ecurie Wood. There was a little brick church here with a great hole through the base of its tower. I used to go down there on my bicycle early Sunday mornings and hear confessions while Father Pickett, of the First Divisional Artillery, said Mass for my lads. Then I would ride back to Ecurie Wood and say Mass at half-past ten for the Fourteenth and Sixteenth. There were now three other prie
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXIV Incapacitated
Chapter LXIV Incapacitated
The work at Ecurie Wood was most consoling, but the shelling was incessant and we were having many funerals in the military cemetery down the hill at Roclincourt. The Fourteenth Battalion suffered most. Early one morning a shell burst in the headquarters hut, wounding the colonel, killing the second in command and the adjutant, and disabling other officers and privates. The whole camp was under observation and Fritz was doing deadly work. One Sunday morning, as I prepared for the Holy Sacrifice,
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXV Anzin and Monchy Breton
Chapter LXV Anzin and Monchy Breton
The Fifty-first “took over” from us and we went to Anzin. Here it was much quieter and the battalion prepared to rest. I took charge of the village church, for I was the only chaplain in the area. The first day I swept it out and dusted the altar and sanctuary rail. The next morning I said Mass, and after Mass a little sanctuary lamp twinkled softly before the altar. The Guest had come! There was a beautiful statue of Our Lady in the church, and as it was her month I decorated it as well as I co
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXVI A New Sheep
Chapter LXVI A New Sheep
I awoke the next morning to the sweet sounds of singing birds; to the glorious view of fresh green fields and peaceful lanes. I rode about three miles on my bicycle to a hamlet called Bailleul-aux-Cornailles where I said Mass at nine o’clock for the Thirteenth Battalion, which was quartered here, and a great number of the French civilian population. The curé of the parish was a soldier in the French army and was on duty in a large military hospital at St. Paul, about fifteen miles away. I made a
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXVII Notre Dame d’Ardennes
Chapter LXVII Notre Dame d’Ardennes
The soldiers greatly enjoyed the rest in this lovely district. It was very pleasant to bicycle through the country lanes to quaint churches where Catholic lads waited in the evening to go to confession. When I heard confessions for the Thirteenth at Bailleul-aux-Cornailles, I often stopped in the presbytery for tea. The mother and father of the curé lived there. Perhaps I should not say tea, for it was always milk and bread and honey that the kind old people gave me. They had their own apiary in
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXVIII The Procession
Chapter LXVIII The Procession
Sunday within the octave of Corpus Christi was a beautiful day. Just before I began Mass for the Thirteenth at Bailleul-aux-Cornailles the father of M. le Curé came in to see me. The usual great procession of the Blessed Sacrament had been planned, but word had come from the parish priest that he could not be present for Mass, and that very likely he would not be able to reach the church in time for the procession, which was to start at half-past three in the afternoon. If M. le Curé could not c
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXIX On Leave
Chapter LXIX On Leave
I had now been in France about one year and had had no “leave.” During this period of the war officers were entitled to leave every six months. I had not applied when the first six months were up, as I was too busy at the time. Now I had applied and daily I was awaiting my warrant. The Sunday following the procession I had just returned home after Mass when a runner from headquarters arrived to tell me that my warrant had come from brigade headquarters and that if I would call at the battalion o
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXX St. Michael’s Club
Chapter LXX St. Michael’s Club
St. Michael’s Club, 38 Grosvenor Gardens, London, was an ideal hostel for priests, as it was open only to men in Holy Orders. Before the war it had been the city residence of Lady Lovat. But shortly after the commencement of hostilities it had been rented from her by the Duchess of Norfolk and very kindly given over as a club for priests. Though there were many chaplains in the building when I arrived, I was lucky enough to secure an airy room. I actually felt like a boy as I took off my haversa
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXI Parkminster Again
Chapter LXXI Parkminster Again
Father Knox returned to Bramshott the following morning and in the afternoon I left for Parkminster. The life at the front had been one of such excitement and turmoil and frequent changes that I longed for quiet and peace. The very day I left for Parkminster Bishop Fallon and party left by auto for Oxford University. They had invited me to accompany them, but I had already made arrangements to revisit Parkminster and did not wish to change my program. I shall always feel sorry, however, not only
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXII Another Surprise
Chapter LXXII Another Surprise
From Parkminster I went to Hindhead and I was delighted with the cordial reception given me by Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Castle. Their home, almost hidden from the road, looked down into a valley, and then away across a moor that stretched up and over a long, high hill. I was not the only guest in the house. There was a private chapel upstairs, and they had been given the rare privilege of having the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the little tabernacle. Here I said Mass each morning for the household
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXIII Back to the Battalion
Chapter LXXIII Back to the Battalion
The men were never told on coming back from leave where they might find their battalion; and when the troops were on the move often a soldier was put to very great inconvenience trying to reach his unit. I, however, was in great good luck, for just at the base of Mount St. Eloi, while the train stopped, I noticed some of the soldiers of the Sixteenth standing near by. I called one of them and asked the whereabouts of the battalion. “Just over here in Ecoivres, sir,” he said. I stepped out of the
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXIV No Man’s Land Again
Chapter LXXIV No Man’s Land Again
I was billeted in a little hut with the billeting officer. It was a very tiny hut, with two berths in it, one above the other. As I was on leave when the battalion came to Ecoivres, no provision had been made for me, so I was obliged to share the billeting officer’s hut which he so kindly offered. He was a genial companion, but he used to sit up very late at night puzzling over a chess-board. He was playing a game of chess with a partner who was actually residing in England, and every night, aft
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXV No Man’s Land
Chapter LXXV No Man’s Land
The following day we took over the line just before Monchy. The quartermaster, transport officer and I had a nice little mess at Berneville, near Arras. I was billeted with the curé of Berneville and he proved a friendly old man. His old sister was housekeeper for him. She was very kind, and George received many cups of hot coffee. It did not happen very often that battalion headquarters were in the front line trench; yet it so happened when we were at Monchy. Indeed, the first night, on going u
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXVI Cambligneul
Chapter LXXVI Cambligneul
Here we came for a week’s rest after our turn in the line. We little knew then what strenuous days were before us, nor what terrible toll was to be taken of our ranks before we would rest again. It was a very pretty countryside, though not so open as the area we had occupied in June. It was now the end of July, and although my troops were scattered over very wide areas I managed to do good work with the Thirteenth and Fourteenth. Indeed, one evening I found one hundred and twenty-five lads of th
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXVII A New Front
Chapter LXXVII A New Front
It was half-past three Sunday morning when I awoke. I dressed quickly, went down to the little church and said Mass. When I left the church the road was filled with soldiers moving in different directions, carrying mess tins of steaming porridge, across the top of which was placed some bread and butter with a strip of fried bacon; in the other hand was the cover of the mess tin filled with hot tea. They were all joking and in excellent spirits; yet before the following Sunday— We entrained betwe
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXVIII Boves
Chapter LXXVIII Boves
I returned to the Sixteenth and succeeded in giving Holy Communion to a few soldiers, among whom was the solicitor whom I had baptized at Monchy Breton. But I was by no means pleased with my day’s work, for I had not gotten all the Catholics in each battalion. At six o’clock we left this area, and towards morning, after marching continuously, were met by a long line of busses that brought us through the city of Amiens to within three or four miles of Boves. We marched for nearly two hours and ab
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXIX The Battle of Amiens
Chapter LXXIX The Battle of Amiens
It was a wonderful sight that met the eye as George and I left Boves that evening and turned our steps towards the battle-ground. The artillery had assembled, and on all sides were great guns in cuttings of embankments or hidden in woods, or camouflaged in the open. At times the roads were blocked with the heavy lines of traffic, but as we drew nearer the line the movement was not so great; yet coming through fields and woods were the huge, clanking tanks. There must have been at least one hundr
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXX At the Wayside
Chapter LXXX At the Wayside
Early in the morning George and I left to find the Sixteenth which had passed through in the evening. We anticipated some trouble, for to find one’s battalion after an attack is not the easiest thing in the world. However, we saw the Sixteenth Battalion water cart in the great procession that filled the road before us, so, keeping our eyes on it, we slipped in behind a transport wagon and followed along on the right side of the road. We went slowly, and at times halted for five and sometimes ten
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXI In An Apple Orchard
Chapter LXXXI In An Apple Orchard
We remained on the Amiens front nearly three weeks, and we were lucky enough not to have much rain, for we were in trenches where there were no dugouts. The transport mess was in an apple orchard, one of the great old orchards of Picardy where in days before the war, happy peasants picked the apples to make the golden cider. There were many troops quartered in this orchard, as the trees offered shade and screened us fairly well from the ever baleful eye of enemy airplanes. Yet almost every eveni
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXII A Strange Interruption
Chapter LXXXII A Strange Interruption
Every morning I said Mass in the part of the trench where I slept, which was covered overhead with a piece of camouflaged burlap, spread across pieces of scantling. The trench was so low that I was obliged to dig a hole in the ground, so that I could stand upright at my little portable altar. One morning while I was saying Mass, a little fox-terrier, belonging to George and the transport cook, began walking on the burlap above my head. As the burlap was taut, the small paws made a kind of drummi
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXIII Boves Again
Chapter LXXXIII Boves Again
The first Sunday on the Amiens front we had no church parade. But the second Sunday we managed to have one for the lads out of the trenches. We had Mass on a wooded hill that had been heavily shelled during the week by the Germans, though they left us quiet on Sunday. There was a huge crippled tank on the hill, and workmen were busy repairing it. I found a rough table placed against the tank, and on the table a portable altar already set up for Mass; grouped about this were some men from other b
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXIV The Battle of Arras
Chapter LXXXIV The Battle of Arras
Our journey was uneventful, save that we were derailed at St. Paul; no one, however, was killed. All along our journey we spoke of the Battle of Amiens, “the greatest isolated victory to the credit of Canadian arms.” It had taken but five days to free Amiens and its railway. The allied troops engaged in the battle were one American division, five Australian divisions, four Canadian divisions and four English divisions. There were also four hundred tanks and three British cavalry divisions. These
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXV Berneville Again
Chapter LXXXV Berneville Again
“When they had a day or two of good sleep, regular meals and rest, they seemed quickly to forget all they had suffered, even their mental torture. Of course, for this purpose the rest had to be real rest, undisturbed by enemy shells and bombs, and, if possible, somewhere where the thunder of the guns could not be heard.” I quote these words from the second volume of “Out of My Life” by Von Hindenburg, for they apply to all soldiers. The Germans had retreated to the opposite bank of the Canal du
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXVI Letters of Sympathy
Chapter LXXXVI Letters of Sympathy
During these days of rest I devoted a large portion of every morning to writing letters of sympathy to relatives of those who had fallen in the recent attacks. I had many of these letters to write, and I always went to work with a heavy heart; but it was always very consoling to receive the wonderful replies that came. I quote from a few that I managed to keep, although the reader will learn later that I lost nearly all my possessions before the end of the campaign. This one comes from Morningsi
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXVII A Little Bit of Shamrock
Chapter LXXXVII A Little Bit of Shamrock
Although I had many letters to write, this did not keep me from having a little enjoyment. We had not been very long in rest billets when it was announced that the Sixteenth Canadian Battalion concert party was to put on soon the play entitled “A Little Bit of Shamrock.” This was the play the soldiers were practising while we were at Monchy Breton, and because of the fact that one of the characters was a priest I was very anxious to see the play. The concert party was to be with us three nights,
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXVIII Left Behind
Chapter LXXXVIII Left Behind
I was well satisfied with my work among the soldiers during these evenings and we were all benefiting very much by our rest. But we did not know just how soon we would be going into action. One evening towards seven o’clock, on coming back to Berneville after having attended a meeting at corps headquarters, I found men of the Fourth Division walking up and down the street. I was somewhat surprised at this, for when I had left in the morning the village had been occupied only by First Division tr
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter LXXXIX With the Fourteenth
Chapter LXXXIX With the Fourteenth
Early the following morning after Mass I said “au revoir” to the old priest and his sister, who walked down to the gate to see me off. On the way, fearing it might be evening before I would find my battalion, I bought an ordinary three-ounce tin of sardines and paid sixty-five cents for it; but I never ate it. I had the great good fortune to meet a lorry, going towards the front, which brought me to within a few hundred yards of the Sixteenth Battalion, which was camped in a wide green valley. I
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XC Telegraph Hill
Chapter XC Telegraph Hill
The following Sunday I said Mass on Telegraph Hill. It was a very high elevation and on all sides we could see, far below, the great green valley. I counted as many as six light railway trains steaming their way from different points towards the front. I think we were then about seven or eight miles from the Canal du Nord, where the next big battle was to take place. Some of the men came early and I stood talking to them till all the soldiers, excepting the Thirteenth Battalion, had come up. Thi
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCI Canal Du Nord
Chapter XCI Canal Du Nord
On the night of September 26th we moved up to the trenches just before the Canal du Nord. It was a rainy night and quite dark. We marched a long time, for our guides had lost their way. Finally, as we approached the trenches, Verey lights hissed a trail of light through the sky and as they broke to descend we stood very still. Every little while orders came for us to fall on our faces, and we lay motionless on the ground listening to that strange, sweeping sound of machine-gun bullets as they to
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCII The Most Terrible Day
Chapter XCII The Most Terrible Day
On Sunday I could not have a church parade, but I said Mass in a bell tent near the Canal du Nord. That morning I joined the First Field Ambulance in a little village not very far from Cambrai. I think the name of the village was Raillencourt. As I approached its outskirts, I saw that it was under fire. Shell after shell was whistling over from the enemy lines, bursting in black clouds of smoke and yellow clouds of gas that mingled with red clouds of dust rising from the ruined brick buildings.
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCIII In Reserve
Chapter XCIII In Reserve
During the night we marched back to Inchy. Very early in the morning I found the transport of the Fourteenth and, later in the day, the remnants of the battalion. They were in reserve, some miles from the firing line, yet in a very hard-shelled area; to make matters worse, we were in an ammunition dump, one of the largest I had ever seen. It was a very poor place to bring men to rest after battle! There was a little Catholic chapel-tent here, similar to the one we had had at Ecurie Wood. In the
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCIV Frequent Moves
Chapter XCIV Frequent Moves
It was afternoon when we came into our area, and it was Saturday. The doctor and I had been given a hut almost filled with German high explosives—barrels of cordite, rolls of gun-cotton and boxes of amenol were on all sides. There was just room for us to spread two bed-rolls on the floor. Woe unto any one who smoked in this powder magazine! The cook-house was almost touching us, and sparks flew from the short stove-pipe that pierced the low roof. If a spark or two should happen to fall on our li
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCV Somaine
Chapter XCV Somaine
On October 17th word was brought that the Germans were falling back. The following day we crossed the Canal de la Sensee. Cyclists, cavalry and motor machine-guns were in immediate pursuit of the enemy. I shall never forget Saturday, October 19th, on which day word was brought to us by runners that there was a thickly populated city not far away called Somaine, from which the enemy were marching out. In a little while we would be marching in. It was evening when the draft I was accompanying marc
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCVI The End Draws Near
Chapter XCVI The End Draws Near
Every day for about a week troops were almost continuously passing through Somaine and all the heavy guns were being brought up. Soon railway communications were established and some of the people of the city were making visits to Paris. Every evening I used to sit with the curé in his little kitchen before the fire and tell him stories of the war. The old priest was kept very busy; his assistant, a young priest, had been taken, together with all the men of military age, by the Germans in their
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCVII November Eleventh
Chapter XCVII November Eleventh
November came, and I helped the parish priest of Somaine to give Holy Communion to the vast crowds of his people who received on All Saints Day. In return, he helped me with the confessions of my men, for now nearly all the members of the Fourteenth Battalion and very many of the Thirteenth were French-speaking soldiers. I was beginning to feel that all were ready spiritually for more battles when November 11th arrived and we learned that hostilities had ceased. If this were fiction, I might wri
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCVIII Through Belgium
Chapter XCVIII Through Belgium
The evening of the Armistice I was sitting with the old curé of Somaine when the Englishman came up to tell me that orders had come for the brigade to march in the morning. We were to follow the retiring Germans, who had promised as one of the conditions of the Armistice to withdraw to a certain number of miles on the opposite side of the Rhine. I looked at the old curé; I had just been telling him that I expected a long rest now. And here we were to traverse all Belgium on foot, and continue th
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter XCIX Through the Rhineland
Chapter XCIX Through the Rhineland
Shortly before we reached the frontier one of the officers came into the mess and said to me: “It may be a little exciting crossing the line, Padre. I hear there are some revolutionists who are going to snipe at us.” I did not care for this kind of excitement. I felt I had seen all I wanted of shooting for the rest of my life. There was no need to worry, however, for our march into Germany was a very peaceful one. But nobody cheered us; no flags waved; everything was silent in the land as our kh
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Chapter C L’Envoi
Chapter C L’Envoi
It is all over now, yet often I think of those wonderful days; of long night marches; of long days of weary waiting; of quiet resting-places, with their rows and rows of “little green tents” and small white crosses, landmarks of our warfare in France and Flanders. Sometimes I think of all those lads who answered so quickly the final roll-call; and my thoughts go back to those nights in France where such great numbers knelt to ask pardon of God, and to become fortified with the Bread of the Stron
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter