HISTORY OF THE ROYAL ARMY CHAPLAINS’ DEPARTMENT

Some Regiments and Corps are able to give a precise date on which they came into existence. This is not possible with the RAChD -due largely to the fact that Armies have had men of the Church within their ranks for a very long time. When William, Duke of Normandy, invaded Britain in 1066 he had some priests on his staff. His brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux led his own hundred and twenty Knights into battle but because the Church objected to priests shedding blood with the sword, he used a mace as a weapon.

Society in the 2000’s differs greatly from society in 1066 so it is not surprising that the role of the clergyman in the Army has changed too.

ORIGINS

By the fourteenth Century clergymen in the Army were fulfilling a priestly role. At Crecy in 1346 three grades of Chaplain were mentioned. In the reign of Edward III, while he was in France, the Scots invaded England. Among the formation Commanders of the Army which defeated these invaders were the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and the Bishops of Durham and Carlisle. So the evolution of the role of the Chaplain in the Army did not always go in the same direction. By the time of Henry VIII Chaplains had become more established and in 1621 Regimental Chaplains were mentioned in Standing Orders. Oliver Cromwell took things a stage further so that in the New Model Army of 1645 the status of Chaplains was regularised and most Regiments had their own Chaplain.

1660 saw the establishment of the ‘Regular Army in Britain and the Articles of War of 1662 specify the duties of Chaplains.

During the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Marlborough had a Chaplain on his staff and each Regiment was supposed to have a Chaplain but this was not always the case in practice. It was not uncommon at that time for Regimental Officers to be away from their Regiments and some Chaplains did the same.

FOUNDATION OF THE DEPARTMENT

Matters came to a head in 1795 when Sir Ralph Abercromby was preparing to take an expeditionary force to the West Indies. No Chaplains were available so the system of Regimental Chaplains, appointed by the Commanding Officer, was abolished and the Army Chaplains’ Department was formed under a Chaplain General - the Reverend John Gamble (1796).

‘The qualities required of a Chaplain were:

‘Zeal in his profession and good sense, gentle manners; a distinctive and impressive manner of reading Divine Service; a firm constitution of body as well as of mind.

Unhappily there was a shortage of applicants who were willing to face the hardships and dangers for the small financial return. Indeed in 1811 Wellington complained that he had only one active Chaplain - the Reverend Samuel Briscall - for his whole Army. Officiating Chaplains were introduced for Military camps in Britain. This was not very satisfactory because the clergymen were seldom sufficiently in touch with the soldiers but this system continued during the first half of the 19th Century.When the Crimean War began in 1854 there was only one Chaplain available to go with the Army of 26,000 men. This was the Reverend Henry Press Wright.

THE CRIMEAN WAR

William Russell’s reports to The Times caused the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel to help finance additional clergymen for the hospitals in Scutari and the camps in the Crimea. Eventually sixty Chaplains went to the Crimea - twelve of whom died. These where commemorated by a plaque in the oak choir stalls in the Garrison Church of the Domus Dei at Portsmouth.

After the Crimean War, the Chaplain General of the period, the Reverend G R Gleig, strove hard to organise the Chaplains’ Department on efficient lines. The Army List of list October 1856 shows the Chaplain General, twenty Chaplains and thirty-five Assistant Chaplains.

THE INDIAN MUTINY

The Indian Mutiny, following soon after the Crimean War, provided further examples of Chaplains being closely involved with British troops in action. Some of those had been engaged by the East India Company and posted to specific geographical area. One of these was the Reverend Henry Poleharnpton, Chaplain of Lucknow, who kept a diary of his experiences. Unfortunately, he died of cholera in July 1857.

Chaplains also served with the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment, and one Chaplain, The Reverend James William Adams, serving with the Bengal Ecclesiastical Establishment, became the first clergyman to have the Victoria Cross conferred on him. The action took place at Killa Kazi on 11th December 1879 and at the time he was attached to the 9th Lancers. As the VC was then restricted to Serving members of the Navy or Army, Queen Victoria directed, by Royal Warrant, that the VC should in future be conferred on members of the Indian Ecclesiastical Establishments.

BROADENING THE DEPARTMENT

When the Army Chaplain’s Department was formed it consisted solely of clergymen of the Church of England, but pressure developed for Chaplains of other denominations to be admitted. The first group to succeed in this were the Roman Catholics in 1836. They were followed by the Presbyterians in 1858, Wesleyans in 1881 and Jews in 1892.

WORLD WAR I

The Great War of 1914-18, with its long periods of intense discomfort and its terrible casualties, inevitably provided opportunities for Chaplains to bring comfort to those in mental as well as physical pain. Although, in the early days the Department was unable to meet all the demands which were made upon it, many Chaplains distinguished themselves on the field of battle as well as in the hospitals to which they were initially bound. Two well known names are Woodbine Willie -The Reverend G A Studdert- Kennedy and ‘Tubby’ Clayton -the founder of Toc H. The contribution which they and many others made to the morale of the units with which they came into contact would be difficult to measure. There is no doubt that many Chaplains did a very great deal to keep up the spirits of thousands of soldiers when life was ‘nasty, brutish and short’.

Less widely known but distinguished in a different way was the Reverend Theodore Bayley Hardy who won the DSO, MC, and the VC before dying of his wounds a few weeks before the end of the War and two days before his 55th birthday. His repeated acts of bravery , helping wounded men under fire, were an inspiration to everyone in his vicinity; as were those of the Reverend Noel Mellish, VC, MC and The Reverend W R F Addison VC.

At the beginning of the War some senior officers had forbidden Chaplains to go too near the front, thinking that their particular role was best carried out at Advanced Dressing Stations. Although their presence at the latter was important, there is no doubt that by sharing .the dangers and hardships at the front, they made more impact upon the soldiers, Altogether 179 Chaplains of all denominations died during the War. In February 1919, in recognition of their devoted work since 1914, King George V conferred the prefix Royal on the Army Chaplains’ Department. In 1920 the various Protestant denominations came together to form a unified department. The Roman Catholics, unfortunately felt unable to participate in this and were administered separately by the Principal Roman Catholic Chaplain until 2004.

WORLD WAR II

The conduct of the Second World War differed in several respects from the First. There were hardly any examples of futile trench warfare. The developments in aircraft and armoured vehicles made for greater mobility of action and, senior Commanders like Wavell, Slim, Alexander and Montgomery were determined to avoid the appalling casualties of the First War. Another difference was that large numbers of men became Prisoners of War in Europe and in the Far East. The loss of freedom, boredom and shortage of food imposed a severe strain on most men. Those in the Far East in particular were often subjected to brutal treatment by their captors who had been brought up to despise prisoners of war. It is not surprising therefore that the role of the Chaplains differed from that undertaken in World War I.

EUROPE AND AFRICA

Some thirty padres were captured about the time of Dunkirk. The Reverend G F Miller, a Baptist, was the senior padre and despite promises of early repatriation under the Geneva Convention he was not released until April 1945. He described his experiences in the RAChD Journal in January 1951. It is an interesting story of courage and perseverance in the face of considerable hardship and frustration. He called it “ A most fruitful ministry.”

The campaign in the Western Desert, with its vast expanses of open land, produced a strong corporate spirit amongst the soldiers. It also saw the development of a powerful feeling of brotherhood among the Chaplains who served there. This was due largely to the dynamic personality of the Assistant Chaplain General 8th Army - The Reverend F Llewelyn Hughes. A Territorial Army Chaplain, Hughes made such an impression on Montgomery that he took him as part of his team when he became Commander-in-Chief, 1st Army Group in Europe. Hughes subsequently became Chaplain General in 1944 and held the appointment until 1951.

An interesting feature of the War was the establishment of Church Houses where Chaplains could recharge their spiritual batteries. Such places had been found invaluable during the Great War and were, in a sense, forerunners of Bagshot Park.

A Roman Catholic Chaplain who was highly respected was the Reverend “Dolly” Brookes. A Platoon Commander in the Irish Guards in World War I, he studied for the priesthood at Downside Abbey and stayed on there until 1939 as a House-master. He had served under General Alexander in the First War and did so again in North Africa and Italy. They were great friends and when Field Marshal Alexander had the first official audience with the Pope in May 1945 he took Dolly Brookes with him.

Several specialist formations were created during World War II. Airborne Forces were an example. It was not long before Chaplains were required for the new formation and it was obviously necessary for them to train as parachutists in the same way as everyone else. It was an Airborne Padre, The Reverend J J A Hodgins, who launched the Padre’s Hour in which the Chaplain had a regular period within the training programme and, using the experiences of the group, taught some of the rudiments of the Christian Faith. And Chaplains went by air to battle with the various airborne formations. One such was the Reverend J Fraser McLuskey MC who parachuted into central France with the Special Air Service. They worked with the Maquis in disrupting German communications miles behind the German Lines.

FAR EAST

The disastrous campaign in Malaya, the surrender of Singapore, the fall of Hong Kong and defeat in Burma resulted in 100,000 British, Australian and Indian troops becoming prisoners of the Japanese. There were a number of Chaplains amongst them. The Japanese were suspicious of the Padres and confiscated all religious tracts, hymn books etc. Services were strictly limited and full details had to be submitted in advance. An Australian Padre, Harry Thorpe, being unable to enlist as a Chaplain had joined up as a private soldier. When 5000 British and Australian prisoners left Changi for an unknown destination few Chaplains were allowed to go. Thorpe went with them and found himself on the notorious Burma -Siam Railway. As previously arranged, he then began to work as a Chaplain. Despite the lack of adequate food and medicine, the hard physical work and the cruelty of the Japanese, he held services whenever he could. One day 1000 men attended. It is alleged that a prisoner died for every sleeper of the 350 miles of track. There is no doubt that in the most appalling conditions imaginable, many men were sustained by the devoted work of Chaplains like “Happy Harry” Thorpe and Padre Davies.

The Reverend H L O Davies became a prisoner of war in Hong Kong in December 1941. He was one of 5,000 Officers and men imprisoned in Shamshuipo Camp. It was grossly overcrowded, the sanitation was primitive in the extreme, they received small quantities of oriental food and were denied medical supplies although plenty were available on the island. Morale soon dropped, many men lost the will to live, others died from beri beri and later from diphtheria. This became an epidemic and Padre Davies, as well as holding services each day was burying eight or nine men daily. The situation was only saved by a Japanese man who was a Lutheran minister being employed in the camp as an interpreter. He was persuaded to smuggle some serum into the camp thus enabling the doctors to halt the epidemic. Padre Davies claims that survival was largely a matter of determination to hold on, a belief in God and the ability to say a prayer .

During World War II, 96 British Army Chaplains of all denominations lost their lives. A further 38 Commonwealth Padres died. The Chapel at Bagshot Park was a Memorial to them, and this memorial is now in the chapel at the Armed Forces’ Chaplaincy Centre, Amport House.

THE POST WAR SCENE

Since 1945 Army Chaplains have continued to serve wherever British soldiers have been sent. In Korea, the Reverend S J Davies was captured, when Chaplain to the Gloucesters, and endured two years as a prisoner of war.

In December 1946 the Department had the good fortune to acquire Bagshot Park on a long lease from the Crown. For the first time the RAChD had a proper base which could combine the functions of Depot, Training Centre and Spiritual Home. The first course was in January 1947, and since then hundreds of Army Chaplains have come to regard it with real affection, while many thousands of soldiers, benefited greatly from a short course in basic Christianity in charming surroundings.

1957 saw the Reverend W H H McClelland parachute into action with 3 Para at Suez. Ten years later the Reverend Robin Roe was awarded the Military Cross for outstanding gallantry in Aden.

During the unhappy years in Northern Ireland Chaplains have played their part in the maintenance of morale of British Soldiers, by providing for their spiritual wellbeing.

In 1982 five Padres sailed with, and served with, the troops in the Falklands Campaign.

Again, in 1990-91, thirty five Chaplains served in the Gulf War, with Regiments, Corps, and Field Hospitals -providing welfare for the officers and troops, and spiritual care, holding Christian Services despite opposition from the Foreign Office, for fear of causing diplomatic problems, with Saudi Arabia being a Muslim country.

At the present time, Army Chaplains are serving with all Regiments and Corps of the British element of the UN peace-keeping force in the former Yugoslavia.

They were also sent to Afghanistan to assist the American forces in trying to defeat the Taliban and Al Qaeda troops, holes up in the mountains of that very unforgiving terrain; as well as performing a peace- keeping role in the capital Kabul.

Their latest overseas service is once again, in the Gulf, deploying on operations in Iraq.