Revs. Peel, Gooderham and Beresford, D.S.O. 237 



seriousness. I love the picture painted to me of the late Maurice 

 Peel, chaplain to a battalion of a great Welsh Regiment. As 

 they stood in the trenches waiting for the attack, that peerless 

 man sent messages along the line giving them the great courage 

 of purpose . . . his last message, ' The Padre says, Jesus said, 

 " I am with you always," ' and then over the top to death or 

 glory, and among the dead was the gallant Padre." 



One of the nicest things I ever heard said of Mr. Peel was that 

 he had the purity of heart and purity of life of a good woman. 



The Rev. I. J. R. Briggs Gooderham is yet another name to 

 add to the list of the younger clergy who in the face of opposition 

 carried out what they believed to be their duty in enlisting in 

 the combatant ranks. From the commencement of hostilities 

 Mr. Gooderham v/ished to take his share of the fighting, and 

 embraced the first opportunity that offered. He afterwards 

 received a commission and was in charge of a machine-gun 

 section at the time of his death. Before the war he was a 

 curate at Christ Church, Crouch End. The young men of his 

 congregation were fired by his example and many also enlisted. 



Mr. Gooderham's life was a very brief flight through the 

 world. He was left an orphan when quite a small boy, and was 

 brought up by relations. His first school was at Alnmouth, a 

 small seaside village near Alnwick. Later he went to Durham 

 School and then on to Caius College, Cambridge, followed by 

 the Ripon Theological College, and was ordained in 1912. His 

 first and last curacy was at Crouch End in the North of London, 

 where he worked until November, 1914, when he enlisted. In 

 1915 he was given a commission in the 3rd Royal Irish Regiment 

 and later joined a Machine Gun Company, and in October, 

 1916, went to France, but was only granted a very little while 

 to serve his country, being called to Higher Service on December 

 12, 1916. 



His sister says he was not a sporting parson in the usual 

 acceptance of the term, but was most sporting in the best sense 

 of the word, as he gave up his position in the Church, his home, 

 everything to join the army. He could not bear to sit at home 

 and let others fight for him. 



His end is described by his Commanding Officer to the aunt 

 who brought him up. 



