PHOTO: Honorary Captain Robert Seaborn, Anglican chaplain of the 1st Battalion, Canadian Scottish Regiment, prays over a soldier of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division near Caen, France.
The padre scrambled over the stony beach dodging machine gun and mortar fire. It seemed like every few feet he came across another Canadian soldier lying wounded. With total disregard for his own safety, Honorary Captain John Foote spent hours dragging these men back behind Tank Landing Craft 5, where Captain Wes Clare, the medical officer, had established a makeshift Regimental Aid Post. When the Canadians retreated off the beach at Dieppe, their padre jumped back in the water, resolved to serve his men as a fellow prisoner of war. When he arrived in Germany days later, his feet were bloodied and bruised because he had given his boots to another soldier. For the remainder of the war he served his fellow POWs in Offlag 7B, where he co – ordinated the prison chapel and visited the men in solitary confinement. For his bravery and selfless devotion, Foote was awarded the Victoria Cross—the only Canadian military chaplain to be so honoured during the Second World War.
Foote’s VC was well deserved, but he was only one of the hundreds of Canadian ministers and priests who voluntarily left the relative safety of a civilian congregation to don a uniform and serve during the Second World War. In all, 1,253 Canadian clergy served as full – time Canadian military chaplains in the navy (Naval Chaplaincy Service), army (the Canadian Chaplain Service), and air force (Chaplain Service). Each chaplain service was divided into separate branches for Roman Catholics and Protestants. The Protestant chaplain branches represented clergy from the Church of England in Canada, the United Church of Canada, Canadian Baptists, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada, but also included Salvation Army, Lutheran, and Jewish padres as the war progressed.
On Oct. 5, 1939, the Chaplaincy Service Committee was established to represent Presbyterian clergy who wanted to serve as padres. While it eventually comprised as many as 13 members, at its core was the commitment and seemingly endless energy provided by its conveners, firstly Dr. Stuart Parker, followed by Dr. William Barclay, as well as its secretary Dr. J.W. MacNamara. The CSC acted as a liaison between the PCC (on behalf of clergy, presbyteries and the General Assembly) and the Department of National Defence represented by Honorary Lieutenant – Colonel (later H/Brigadier) George A. Wells.
Wells was a dominating presence as the Army’s Principal Chaplain and then as the Navy’s Chaplain of the Fleet. A veteran of the First World War and the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of Cariboo in Kamloops, B.C., Wells was well versed in the military and religious requirements of chaplains. There were, however, several instances throughout the war when tension developed between the Presbyterian CSC and Wells. The CSC protested, for instance, senior appointments they believed should have been awarded to Presbyterians but were given to chaplains from other denominations. One particular incident occurred over the appointment of the air force’s first director of Chaplain Services. Since March 23, 1940, Honorary Squadron Leader John McNab (a Presbyterian) had worked as Command Chaplain of No. 1 Training Centre. Despite accolades from McNab’s superiors, Wells believed the appointment should go to an Anglican or United Churchman.
Perhaps part of the issue stemmed from the fact that McNab raised the apparent anomaly of 262 air force members on the Trenton Base who had been listed as “miscellaneous” on the first religious census, but only a few months later a revised religious census recorded the 262 as Church of England.
On behalf of the CSC, Parker, Barclay and MacNamara petitioned Ottawa for McNab’s appointment. No doubt the diligent work of the Principal Chaplain’s staff chaplain, H/Major J. Logan – Vencta (a Presbyterian who had earned Wells’ trust) also helped to resolve some of these difficulties. Within months, McNab was appointed as the highest ranking air force chaplain. This is but one example of the success of the CSC and its vital work behind the scenes.
Ninety – nine Presbyterian clergy served full – time as military chaplains during the war, including eight in the navy, 65 in the army, and 26 in the air force. Presbyterian chaplains served in every military district in Canada and overseas. Besides McNab, other Presbyterians who occupied senior chaplain appointments included: H/Col. J. Logan – Vencta, Principal Chaplain of the CCS in 1945 and 1946, and Rev. E.G.B. (Ernest) Foote, Chaplain of the Fleet, RCN from 1945 to 1962. Some Presbyterian padres also received formal recognition of their service: one was awarded the OBE, two received the MBE, six were given the Military Cross, and seven were “mentioned in dispatches.”
The role of a chaplain was to primarily seek “the spiritual and moral welfare of the men.” In his official role the chaplain acted as minister/priest responsible for church parade, the sacraments, prayers, baptisms, marriages, funerals, and for contacting and providing solace to next of kin. Unofficially, chaplains frequently found themselves as sports instructor/referee, entertainment officer, education co – ordinator and instructor in Padre’s Hours, as well as counselor, impromptu tour guide, newspaper editor, and a wide variety of other actions which frequently helped boost morale.
During battle, navy and air force chaplains maintained a steadfast vigil waiting for their airmen or sailors to return. Army chaplains were supposed to remain in the rear echelons during battle, but frequently they went up the line to help drag wounded from the battlefields or assist the medical officer at the RAP.
For H/Capt. David Rowland, his work at the RAP even drew him into the direct line of fire. As recounted in The Padre, one of the soldiers in his unit remembered: “He was always at the RAP intercepting the wounded and dying. He did a wonderful job. I remember a lad with a serious sucking wound. He was in bad shape. They were patching him up in a thick barn and Jerry was shelling us pretty heavily. At one point a shell landed on the roof. Everything was falling in. The Padre threw himself on top of that lad to protect him with no thought for himself. He took some great risks but … there was no fuss … he just went ahead and did what had to be done.”
Such scenes of courage involved actions rarely, if ever, encountered in civilian congregations. As told in Black Yesterdays, Lt. Alan Earp was amazed at the depth of personal sacrifice and dedication H/Capt. Charlie Maclean brought to his ministry at his RAP: “I remember going to the RAP and seeing Maclean, Charlie Maclean, the Padre … and seeing how hard they were working and how covered in blood they were.”
Some of the greatest respect accorded to padres occurred as they tried to give Canadian soldiers the final dignity of proper burials. In praise of Rowland, an anonymous soldier remembered this incident after the breakthrough on the Gothic Line in Italy:
“He spent endless hours under a hot sun, searching out our fallen lads and preparing them for burial … There was the Padre before us, sweating and near physical and mental exhaustion, still with that Irish smile for us and the proud word that not one of our men was then unaccounted for. After a couple of words on their magnificent work that day, he turned away and carried on with the preparation of the cemetery and an appropriate service.”
The spiritual influence of Presbyterian padres during the Second World War was unmistakable. Although many military personnel served with little thought of God, the war was also a time of religious awakening.
According to Presbyterian padre, H/Flight – Lieutenant D.N. MacMillan, “the evangel, the good news that God was in Christ, becoming incarnate to reveal God to us and dying upon the cross to win our salvation, is at the heart of the message of the Christian Church.”
Hundreds of Canadians in uniform became members of the Presbyterian Church during the war, and many connections have been drawn between the work of Canada’s chaplains and the intense growth of churches following the Second World War. Some service personnel remained spiritually indifferent, others embraced faith, yet few disputed the importance of a hardworking and compassionate padre.
Despite their own struggles with living in the field, sleeping night after night in slit trenches, battle exhaustion including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and dearly missing their families back home, Presbyterian padres provided a measure of spiritual consistency and physical courage which was noticed and respected. In the post – war years, the influence of their padre was keenly felt by many veterans. Captain Douglas Beale became a devout Christian believer because of his experiences in the war and the faithful example of Padre Maclean: “You know, he’s your spiritual advisor and friend … I have a high personal regard for him and his integrity, his low key conduct of his office, and yet you knew who he represented …”
In the aftermath of the tragic Dieppe raid, as the wounded and demoralized Canadians struggled back to England, one of those waiting on the docks was H/Major G. Deane Johnston. He assisted by walking the wounded into trucks and distributing cigarettes. He then spent the night going from hut to hut, talking to the men, assisting in bandaging slight wounds and praying with many at their request. Over and over again he heard words of praise for John Foote. In his war diaries kept in the National Archives, Johnston noted, “all said freely that they had engaged for themselves in prayer and spoke of one craft in which they had sung hymns when under fire … The comment of a Sgt. Major was typical: there was no such thing as an atheist on the beach at Dieppe.” Commenting on Johnston’s role as a padre, one of his soldiers noted, “were it possible to have such printed I could attach a list of signatures to this letter which would consist of approximately a thousand names evidencing the splendid relationship existing between the Padre and the boys.”
Similar words have been used to describe the work and ministry of many of the 99 Canadian padres from the Presbyterian Church in Canada who served during the Second World War. Many Canadian veterans remembered them. We should, too.
