The Fernhurst Society
Tales from the Archives - 37
A Day In The Life Of An Army Chaplain
The vicar of Fernhurst, Rev George Ranking, volunteered as an army chaplain in March 1917 and was sent to France. In April 1917 he sent a report to Fernhurst Parish Magazine to tell his parishioners about his experiences conducting Easter Day services for as many as possible for his new ‘parish’ of some 3,000.
He started with a service in the camp at 6.30am amid the ruins of some farm buildings. Directly that was over, he saddled up and, with robes, prayer and hymn books, the accoutrements for administering Holy Communion in his haversack and saddlebags, and rode off to take another service at 7.30am. He arrived at his next stop for a third service at 8.30am but as the Batteries there had been in action all night, nothing was prepared. However, the men knelt on empty sandbags on the mud and he made a makeshift altar out of an old packing case. Alas the clean white cloth and his surplice became very muddy!
By galloping most of the way he got to his next service at 10am and another gallop of some three or four miles got him to his final morning stop at 11.30.
The services planned for the afternoon had to be cancelled because of the heavy shelling, but he managed to hold three burial services and was pleased to note how well the graves were maintained. He could see a German cemetery not far away and saw that there were graves of British soldiers also buried there, with equally nice crosses put up for German and British alike.
If you would like to know more about this story, or research other local topics, the Archive is open on Tuesdays, 2.30-5pm in the Village Hall. Other times by arrangement.
Christine Maynard
Fernhurst ArchiveOne of a series of short articles bringing you some of the incidents from our rich village history. Collated by Christine Maynard, based on documents preserved at the Fernhurst Archives, these originally were published in the monthly Fernhurst News.
The Fernhurst Archives
Fernhurst History
