As with many other aspects of the British army the outbreak of World
War One started a process of change that was to result in a radically
different provision of chaplaincy care once the war was over. Nothing
was ever simple with army chaplaincy. The war saw an increase in the
number of churches becoming involved with the army. The structure had
already been under pressure in the first decade of the century with
the Catholic Church insisting on new rules for its chaplains. The
creation of the Territorial Force added a new dimension after 1907,
bringing new players into the mix including the Jewish community.
These chaplains challenged the traditional Garrison Church based
ministry of the regulars. The book examines the muddled state of
chaplaincy in August 1914 and looks at how chaplains were mobilized.
It then reviews how organizational changes were often the result of
pressure from the different churches. The unilateral decision of the
Church of England, in July 1915, to leave the unified administration
in France that had existed since August 1914 is examined in the light
of the availability of the relevant volume of the diaries of Bishop
Gwynne, a key participant in the change. Chapters also look at the
experience of other Imperial forces and of the casualties suffered by
chaplains. These all provide evidence of the expectations that various
groups had of army chaplains. It is often forgotten that two chaplains
were captured during the retreat from Mons in 1914. They were never
far from the fighting throughout the war. The experiences of the war
meant that the pre-war structure needed reform. The final chapter
looks at the structure that was created in 1920 and then survived
virtually unchanged until 2004. Army chaplaincy has always been a mix
of Church, Army and State. Such a coming together inevitably lead to
confusion. Not surprisingly one of the themes was the muddle that
resulted. Even so army chaplaincy ended the war with a much higher
profile than the one it had in 1914. This was recognised by the
addition of 'Royal' creating the RAChD. Anglicans, Catholics,
Presbyterians, Methodists, and other faith groups, as well as military
historians will find this book of interest as it overturns a number of
myths and puts chaplaincy in its wider context
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The Organisation of British Army Chaplaincy in World War One
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781909982482
Publisert
2014
Utgiver
Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, LLC
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter