28o sportsmen Parsons in Peace and War 



and Father Gwynn was the first to be killed on the Western 

 front. He volunteered and was appointed to the Irish Guards. 

 Several war-correspondents have described how before going 

 into action, before going forward in a charge, the Irish Guards 

 would kneel for a few moments in prayer. This was Father 

 Gwynn's teaching ; they knelt for his absolution. 



His services amongst the men were all too brief. He was 

 wounded in the brickfields near La Bassee on February 1, 

 1915. The wound was not serious ; he had it dressed and was 

 back again amongst the men in half an hour, but a few weeks 

 later he met his death in another attack on German trenches. 



An Irish Guardsman writes, " I saw him just before he died. 

 Shrapnel and bullets were being showered upon us in all direc- 

 tions. Hundreds of our lads dropped. Father Gwynn was 

 quite calm. He seemed to be all over the place, trying to give 

 the last Sacrament to the dying. Once I thought he was buried 

 alive, for a shell exploded within a few yards of where he was 

 and the next moment I saw nothing but a heap of earth. The 

 plight of the wounded concealed beneath was most harrowing. 

 Out of the ground came cries of ' Father, Father ! ' from those 

 who were in their death-agonies. Then as if by a miracle Father 

 Gwynn was seen fighting his way through the earth. He must 

 have been seriously injured, but he went on blessing the wounded 

 and hearing their confessions. The last I saw of him he was 

 kneeling beside a German soldier. I believe he was killed 

 immediately after this act of priestly charity to a fallen 

 opponent." 



In letters from the front both from officers and men there 

 have been many references to Father Gwynn's devoted courage 

 and popularity, not only with his own people and Irish Guards, 

 but with all other denominations. 



An English chaplain, speaking of the Irish Guards during 

 the retreat from Mons, is full of praise of them in a charge that 

 has now become famous ; not entirely on account of its success, 

 but from the action of the men before the advance took place, 

 for it was the subject of enthusiastic comment from one end of 

 the British lines to the other. On receiving the orders to 

 prepare to charge, the men, as if by common impulse, dropped 

 on their knees and for a few moments prayed with bared and 

 bent heads, then rose, made the sign of the Cross, and dashed 



