The Army’s chaplains

Press, 24 September 1983, Page 18

The Army’s chaplains

Men of Faith and Courage. By J. Bryant Haigh. The Word Publishers, Ltd, 1983. 216 pp. $lB. (Reviewed by Michael Wicksteed) Nestling among an attractive stand of trees, not far south of Christchurch, is a small cedar-tiled building. It was built in 1864 by Richard Bethell as the chapel on his property which he had named after his father’s estate in England — Bumham. Little did Bethell know that the area near his property would become one of the country’s largest Army camps, or that his modest chapel would, in turn, become the spiritual home of that organisation. All Saints’ Garrison Church is the multi-denominational physical presence of that branch of the Army often overlooked in peacetime, but welcomed in time of war — the Royal New Zealand Chaplains’ Department.

The presence of padres in the Army is too often confused with apparent support by the Churches of the diplomatic policies of the government of the day. Not so. New Zealand soldiers are, and always have been, part of our national community and its varieties of beliefs — they are not mere automations.

Soldiers on active service often suffer privations and hardship, physical and emotional, that are incomprehensible to those lucky enough not to have had to experience them. In this arena of hardship, the padre is a vital individual for the soldier to turn to for spiritual and emotional help. Christchurch author J. Bryant

Haigh’s “Men of Faith and Courage” is a well-researched volume which has been written as the official history of the Army’s Royal New Zealand Chaplains’ Department. He traces clerical participation in New Zealand military campaigns back to March, 1845, when the Reverend Henry Williams buried soldiers of the 96th Regiment at Pahia, after they had been killed in fighting at Kororareka. Through the remaining New Zealand wars, the South African War, the two World Wars and the post-World War II conflicts in Asia, as well as in peacetime, padres have played an important role in providing support for our countrymen at war. The book is not a glorification of those wars; it is a matter-of-fact record of some very impressive individuals, not all of whom could be considered “saints” in their own right

— one was court-martialled for brawling. While such a volume is of somewhat limited appeal, it is an important work in the New Zealand historical context and, as such, should be on the shelves of all libraries and educational establishments. It is a volume that would be of interest to soldiers and

returned servicemen and women. “Men of Faith and Courage” is an apt title for a book that has been wellproduced by The Word Publishers of Auckland and it contains a good selection of photographs. A minor criticism — the book has been printed in sepia rather than black ink: different, but somewhat tiring on the eyes.