272 Sportsmen Parsons in Peace and War 



are amazingly and deplorably apathetic. One Bishop I wrote 

 to asking some questions concerning the chaplains who had left 

 his diocese, replied saying he knew nothing about the branch 

 to which I referred ; another, after a few more or less meaning- 

 less sentences, thought that when all had done so well it would 

 not do to mention any one in particular ; while a third, whose 

 son is a chaplain and has been decorated, said his son had told 

 him he had " done nothing." 



The Catholics, from the Cardinal Archbishop downwards, 

 have been most helpful, and evidently know every detail of the 

 splendid work done by their priests. The helpfulness of the 

 latter makes me wish I had been brought up in the Catholic 

 Faith. 



For many years there were no Roman Catholic priests 

 allowed to serve in the British Army. The first was appointed 

 as chaplain during the Crimea, and sent to the hospitals at 

 Scutari and Malta. After that campaign they became a 

 permanent part of the establishment, but in a very limited 

 number, usually one Catholic chaplain to every expeditionary 

 force. When military operations were on a very large scale 

 additional temporary chaplains were appointed, and they 

 received the same pay and relative rank as the Anglican and 

 Presbyterian chaplains, rising according to length of service to 

 the grade of chaplain of the First Class, with the rank of Colonel. 



From the Revolution of 1688, for about a hundred years, if a 

 Roman Catholic wished to enlist in the British Army he was 

 obliged to attend the Protestant services at the Church Parades. 

 In those days I believe the Catholics who felt attracted to a 

 military career served in the Irish Brigades of the French army 

 or entered the Austrian or Spanish service. In these armies 

 many Catholics, mostly from Ireland but a few from Great 

 Britain, rose to high rank. 



Under the stress of the conflict with the American colonies 

 and the war with France, Catholics were at last allowed to 

 enlist, the higher ranks of the army being closed to them. A 

 few years after Waterloo this rule was relaxed. 



At the beginning of the war in 1914 there were not enough 

 Catholic priests for the needs of the army, and the War Office 

 had to ask for more. Even then there have been complaints 

 that there are not enough. The War Office, in spite of Lord 



