Writing of his time as an Anglican chaplain in the British Expeditionary Force during World War One, Robert Keable commented, ‘The [Army Chaplains’] Department is a foolish waste of men, money, and time. The greater part of it should be absorbed by the Young Men’s Christian Association, and the rest should become Roman Catholic’.Footnote 1 He was echoing a view that Catholic chaplains had a clear understanding of what they were expected to do, whereas Anglicans in particular appeared unsure of their role. Keable also believed that in carrying out their ministry, the Catholic chaplains made a more profound impression on the soldiers. Since the YMCA organised worship and provided comfort, they could appear to replicate the work of all other chaplains, and in Keable’s opinion, did it better than most. James Hagerty has produced a more nuanced account of the priestly response to the events of 1914–18. It is also a more complete one. Priests in Uniform considers the Catholic chaplaincy’s response across all the fronts in which the army was involved. It also looks at the struggle to provide a Catholic presence in the Royal Navy whilst it was at sea, as their presence was not officially recognised until 1944, when Catholic priests, together with all other non-Anglican ministers, were granted commissions as chaplains. The provision of Catholic chaplains to the separate Royal Air Force, formed in the final year of the First World War, is the subject of a section of Chapter 15 that dealt with ‘Post-War Developments’.
Whilst much of the basic information about Catholic ministry on the Western Front will be familiar—Fr Francis Glesson and Fr Willie Doyle are as well known to Catholics as Studdert Kennedy and Bayley Hardy are to Anglicans—the details have generally faded into obscurity. In the first five chapters, covering some 140 pages, Hagerty manages to bring the account of that ministry to life. It is when he turns to the series of lesser fronts, some almost forgotten— Gallipoli, Salonika, Mesopotamia, Italy, and East Africa—that he shows the depth of research that lies behind this book. The fortuitous survival of the Catholic Branch War Diary for East Africa Command has allowed him to portray a ministry which was offered in difficult circumstances, and which has been almost entirely forgotten.Footnote 2 His research is also demonstrated in the discussion of the circumstances of the death of Fr William Finn on the first day of the Gallipoli landings. He accompanied the beach assault landing by the 1st Battalion of the Dublin Fusiliers, to which he was attached. All agree that he died of the complications of a series of bullet wounds, the first member of the Army Chaplains’ Department to die because of enemy action. Where accounts differed was in describing the moment that he was hit and what ministry he was able to carry out after he had been wounded. This was important in the debate about the proper location of chaplains during battle. Some accounts told of a heroic ministry lasting a full day before he expired from his wounds. Others believed that he was already too badly wounded when he reached the beach to be able to carry out any duties. Perhaps, though, his willingness to accompany his beloved soldiers into the maelstrom of battle was enough. Hagerty presents the evidence and allows his reader to judge.
If Catholic chaplains were, from the start, a part of the army’s order of battle, the same was not true in the Royal Navy. The official chaplain on board a ship was always an Anglican. Hagerty has shown how the need for Catholic ministry was met, with the co-operation of some officers and in face of fierce obstruction from others. Two priests died; Fr Basil Gwydir in the sinking of the Hospital Ship Rohilla in October 1914 off the Yorkshire coast, and Fr Stewart Phelan, aboard HMS Black Prince, at the battle of Jutland. Their details, together with their army colleagues are in the Roll of Honour which forms Appendix 1 to the Book. It is part of the attention to detail which characterises the book. Appendix 2 is a list of priests who ministered to the Royal Navy and the Royal Naval Division. Appendix 3 shows the administrative chain of command on the Western Front.
The extensive Bibliography shows the number of archives of Dioceses and Religious Orders which Hagerty consulted. The fruits of the research into these and other sources are obvious in the frequent, and often revealing, quotes from letters and diaries of individual chaplains. Most have never been seen in print before. They provide fascinating insights into what these men experienced. Some found the whole thing too awful and either resigned or found solace in alcohol. Hagerty is not afraid to face up to the fact that not all priests were able to cope.
The involvement of the Catholic Church in World War One is a vast subject. Even though Priests in Uniform does not aim to be exhaustive, there is no attempt to do more than sketch the involvement of Catholic priests who served with the Imperial Forces. There is, though, one priest who ought to have been included: Fr Thomas Nangle. Throughout the war, Newfoundland was a British Colony, and its troops were part of the British army and not the Canadian contingent. As is well known, the first battalion of the Newfoundland Regiment suffered catastrophic casualties on the first day of the battle of the Somme. For the latter part of the war the Regiment had Fr Thomas Nangle as its Catholic chaplain.Footnote 3 When the war was over, he remained as the Newfoundland representative on the Imperial War Graves Commission. It is to his vision and planning that we owe the caribou which stand as reminders on the Western Front of where the Newfoundlanders fought and died.
This book will serve as a reference for those studying aspects of World War One or of the Catholic priesthood. It also has an appeal to anyone who wants an insight into what it meant to bring the sacraments to men engaged in scenes of almost unutterable horror.
