PHOTO: Rev. John Weir Foote was awarded a Victoria Cross for his valour during the Second World War. The Presbyterian chaplain was on the beach during the attack on Dieppe and, after his capture, he spent about three years in various prisoner of war camps.I have recently been doing some research at the Canadian War Museum. It is obvious that if we Canadian Presbyterians do not tell our own stories it is unlikely anyone else will. It is in that spirit that I offer short stories of two of our Second World War chaplains.
The first of the stories features a man who is probably the best known of all of our Canadian war chaplains.
Rev. John Weir Foote, a Presbyterian chaplain, served both at Port Hope, Ont., and Fort Coulonge, Que., prior to signing up for duty in the war. At the back of Honorary Major Walter Steven’s book, In This Sign, we are given a list of honours and awards for all World War II chaplains. At the top of the list is the Victoria Cross, followed by, “H/Maj. J.W.Foote.” Foote is the only chaplain in Canadian history to be awarded a V.C.
We can be assured of the bravery of many of the 800 chaplains who served our forces in that conflict, and the courage of tens of thousands of women and men who suffered and died in that war.
While serving as the minister of St. Andrew’s, Cobourg, Ont., I got to know Foote rather well and in May 1988 I conducted his funeral, an event made quite spectacular by the extensive military presence in the small town. The military honours at the funeral of a V.C. recipient are the same as those accorded the funeral of a Governor General. It was a memorable and moving sight to see all those soldiers giving honour to one of their own. In fact, Foote talked very little about the war and in his exceedingly few references he insisted that he was not a hero. But clearly he was.
The actual citation includes the following account: “Honorary Captain John Weir Foote … was regimental chaplain … with the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry at Dieppe on the 19th August, 1942. Upon landing on the beach under heavy fire, he attached himself to the Regimental Aid Post … During the subsequent period of approximately eight hours, while action continued, this officer not only assisted the regimental medical officer in ministering to the wounded, but time and again left this shelter to inject morphine, give first aid and carry wounded personnel from the open beach to the Regimental Aid Post. On these occasions with utter disregard for his personal safety Honorary Captain Foote exposed himself to an inferno of fire and saved many lives by his gallant efforts.” We then read that he refused an offer to escape from the beach on one of the boats returning to England, a decision that could well have cost him his life but in fact led to about three years of imprisonment in a German prisoner of war camp.
Actually, he spent time in no less than three camps, often preaching to as many as 1,000 men on a Sunday. His presence there would have been invaluable spiritually and, through leadership, he helped keep up camp morale. In addition to services, Bible studies and pastoral work, he was involved in many other activities. One camp went on to have not only a theatre group, but an orchestra, lectures and educational efforts. Hundreds of men took the University of London matriculation examinations, all conducted under the supervision of the chaplains. Foote was also allowed to visit one day a week at the large prisoner of war hospital in Stargart. In February 1945, as the Russians approached, the camp was evacuated and for 37 days the men marched westward and ended up at Stalag 10B, near Bremen, where they remained until liberated by the British on April 29, 1945.
When Foote was freed he worried that he might be punished for having allowed himself to be captured. Instead, he discovered he was famous, a hero whose actions humble us still. He donated his V.C. to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. Amazingly, we actually have a photo of him and others surrendering to German troops taken on a street in Dieppe; it’s a group of about 25 men with arms raised.
My second story comes from Chaplains in War and Peace, edited by Michael Hadley, and concerns another Presbyterian chaplain, H/Capt. J.M. “Jock” Anderson.
This event occurred about two years after Dieppe at the time of the Normandy invasion. The medical officer was killed and things were desperate. Anderson pitched in and bravely helped with the wounded. As with all chaplains, his work involved burying the dead. The book tells us, “On one occasion he chose a nice-looking church and graveyard on the top of a hill to be the final resting place for one of the unit’s young officers. When the grave was opened he returned to invite the commanding officer to the funeral. The commander was aghast. ‘Padre,’ he said, ‘that hill is still in German hands and usually under machine gun fire!’”
Nonetheless Padre Anderson went ahead and conducted the funeral on that hill. We can imagine the service was on the brief side, but also conducted with courage and dignity.
On another occasion the same padre entered a farmhouse and in his best German shouted, “Is anybody in there?” Ten unarmed German soldiers emerged with their hands high in the air. As the author wrote: “The chaplain had taken his first prisoners.”
As we recall our chaplains from the Second World War it is good to remember that H/Col. J. Logan-Vencta served as principal chaplain from December 1945 until May 1946. He is also warmly remembered today as the former minister of St. Giles, Ottawa. The list of honours and awards for chaplains also includes these Presbyterian names, many whose memory is still very much with us:
V.C. H/Major J.W. Foote
O.B.E. H/Col. J. Logan-Vencta
M.B.E. H/Major G.D.Johnston
H/Major R.C. Creelman
M.C. H/Captain G.M.Jamieson
H/Major J.F.Goforth
H/Capt. D.C.Smith
H/Capt. J.M. Anderson
H/Capt. D.P.Rowland
H/Lt.-Col. J.A.Munro
Bar to the Military Cross
H/Capt. J.M. Anderson
Mentioned in Dispatches
H/Col. J. Logan-Vencta
H/Capt. D. P. Rowland
H/Major P.W. Murray
H/Capt. N.F. Sharkey
H/Lt.-Col. J.A. Munro
H/Capt. F.G.Stewart
H/Capt. C.H. MacLean
In remembering those who died, a grateful nation also remembers all who served and who serve still in our armed forces and, not least of all, our military chaplains.
