The army or navy chaplain was usually known as “the padre,” and the use of the familiar name (which means “the father”) shows how these brave men had won the hearts of the soldiers. This is not surprising for the chaplains were not only to be found at “the back of the front,” but shared many of the dangers faced so bravely by the fighting men of the first line.

“We have a chaplain,” wrote one, “who comes up into the front line every day no matter how dangerous and rough things may be; in fact he always makes for the most dangerous places on principle.

“One day, during a very hot bombardment, instead of leaving the trenches, the ‘padre,’ as he is called, strode up and down the line, cheering and helping.... All the men worship him. I shall try to find out his name, but at present he is ‘the padre,’ the simplest, finest gentleman I have ever met, and he has stood the test.”

The presence of a man whose religion made him absolutely fearless must have been very helpful to those whose duty it was to do the fighting. One of the chaplains, at least, laid down his life while engaged in this work of encouragement. He was in the danger zone for some time doing all he could to cheer his men. Then he made his way to the ambulance car and sat down near to it to say good-bye to some of his comrades, for he was going home for a time on leave. Suddenly a great shell burst close by and he was so badly wounded that he died shortly afterwards.

Another chaplain, the Reverend Edward Noel Mellish of Deptford, won the V.C. for deeds of great heroism. Our men had made a push and had captured a portion of the German front trench. But the German fire made the space between the two lines a very field of death. For three days there was heavy fighting in this quarter, and there were many casualties among the British soldiers.

The chaplain took upon himself a duty which was not part of his regular work. He had watched man after man fall wounded in that fire-swept belt of land, and he made it his business to go out to help them. During the first day he brought in no less than ten men who had been wounded. As soon as he reached them he did what he could to dress their awful wounds and to revive them. Three men were killed as he tended them. But he brought in the others to a place of safety.

That night the company to which he was attached was relieved and another took its place. But the chaplain did not leave his post. During the next day he went on with his work and brought in no less than twelve men! When night had fallen on the third day, he got together a party of volunteers and led them out to rescue the wounded. Many poor fellows were brought into a place of safety.

Chaplain Parham won the Military Cross for work of a similar character in Gallipoli during August 1915. He was attached to a brigade which took part in an attack on the Turks at Suvla during which the shrubs on the battlefield were fired by shells. With the help of his servant he rescued many wounded men and carried them to a place of safety beyond reach of the flames. On the next day he got together from his own brigade a party of volunteers to act as stretcher bearers; and the devoted little band did excellent work in bringing in the wounded under heavy fire.

Another chaplain, Father Finn, lost his life at the Battle of the Landing on the 25th of April 1915.

“Father Finn,” wrote a correspondent, “was one of the first to give his life in the landing at Sedd-ul-Bahr. In answer to the appeals that were made to him not to leave the ship (the River Clyde), he replied, ‘A priest’s place is beside the dying soldier,’ whereupon he stepped on to the gangway, immediately receiving a bullet through the chest.

“Undeterred, he made his way across the lighters, receiving another bullet in the thigh, and still another in the leg. By the time he reached the beach he was riddled with bullets, but in spite of the great pain he must have been suffering he went about his duties speaking words of consolation to the dying men. It was while in the act of helping one of his men that he was killed by the bursting of a shell.”7