William Campling's War, 1918 William Charles Campling
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WILLIAM CAMPLING’S WAR, 1918 WILLIAM CHARLES CAMPLING 1887-1973 (Trinity 1909) Note by his son Michael Campling (Trinity 1948) Chaplain to the Forces, he served in the front lines with the Essex regiment during the last few months of the Great War. He kept a diary from the time he was posted from England on September 3 rd 1918, with daily entries up to Armistice Day (Nov. 11 th ) and the four or five days following, and with few entries up to the beginning of December. One needs the transcript made by my brother Christopher Campling to decipher the writing (my father’s writing was always very difficult to read, and he never used a typewriter), but I am sure that everyone who reads these firsthand daily entries, brief and baffling as some of them are, will find them enthralling in their immediacy and the account they give, not only of the events but of the man, my father. To give the reader some further, fairly minimal information, I append some facts, figures and dates. I may say that to my knowledge my father never, ever talked about his Army Service or of life in the trenches. When he talked about “the old days” to me, it was either about Trinity College Cambridge (also my College), or his life in Australia. I don’t believe that any of the family knew about these diaries till after his death. He never referred to them. William Charles Campling grew up in Brentwood, he had two brothers and a sister, his father worked at the Head Office of one of the major Railway Companies, and was a keen cyclist; his mother was a full six foot tall, a formidable lady, and he himself stood only half an inch short of 6ft 6ins. He went to school locally, and it must have been very good schooling as he became Senior Scholar, gaining a First in Natural Sciences and then Theological Exhibitioner. The story is that his generous uncle who was financing him at Cambridge was delighted with his nephew for getting a First, but so angry that he was switching to Theology that he “cut him off” and after that never had anything to do with him. However, he survived, went on to Bishops College Cheshunt and was ordained Deacon in 1914, Priested a year later and served his Curacy at Wimbledon, from 1914 to 1918, when he enlisted as a Chaplain. The diaries take up the story from the moment he embarked: “September 3 rd . Left England” He was now in his 30 th year, having been born in July 1887. Very tall, he was a keen games player, playing golf all his life up to within 6 months of his death, and you will see he managed a game of golf at Wimereux the very next day after arriving at Boulogne and before going up to the Front. He played cricket for Trinity. He bought at great expense a fine Bechstein Grand, and loved playing the piano, especially Chopin’s Nocturnes. No doubt he ably played the piano at the various concert parties he organised. He also played chess, though not apparently at the Front. Significantly, an early entry reads; “After dinner had a long talk with Dave about married life.” He had met Phyllis Russell Webb at Wimbledon, and he married her less that year after being demobbed, and their honeymoon was the (six weeks) journey out to Brisbane. He went from the Army to be Tutor and Lecturer at Knutsford Theological College, but only for a term or two, for he had by now received the appointment as Principal of St Francis Theological College, Nundah and Canon of Brisbane Cathedral. Both my brothers, John and Christopher, were born out there. One of the main tasks at St Francis was the training of men to be “Bush Brothers”, a band of celibate Anglican Priests who ministered to the tiny scattered hamlets and households way out in the Bush. Of these days my Father often spoke. On returning to England he was successively Vicar of St Augustine’s, Honor Oak Park (Forest Hill), Vicar of St Andrew’s Coulsdon (1930-40) (where my sister Mary was born), Rector of St Luke’s Charlton throughout the rest of the War, which being close to Woolwich Arsenal was very much ‘bomb alley’, and where he would pay nightly visits to the Air Raid Shelters; then 1945-1959 Vicar of Roehampton. He was made Honorary Canon of Southwark Cathedral in ’44, and Proctor in Convocation (i.e representative of his fellow-clergy); and was Rural Dean of Richmond and Barnes for 13 years till his retirement. He and my mother retired first to Rousham near Steeple Aston, then to Pershore where my brother Christopher was Vicar. I myself served for two years as his Curate in Roehampton, which I believe was a unique arrangement. As a Parish Priest he was great on the pastoral and visiting work. At Roehampton in the 50’s and 60’s, families were moving into the Parish in unprecedented numbers. The whole project was the biggest-ever rehousing scheme, and the LCC’s greatest housing achievement. My Father organised and encouraged a band of about 60 lay members of the Congregation, so that the aim (and result) was that every single family that moved in was visited and given information, not only about the Churches but about other local facilities. All the results of these visits were ably tabulated and the information passed on to the Clergy. At the same time Canon Campling was much involved with an organisation known as the Village Evangelists, who were mainly laypeople keen to share in the Church’s work of Mission, not abroad but here in ordinary parishes in England. Father was chairman and as such the key figure in the whole enterprise. His other main ecclesiastical activity was that of conducting and encouraging Prayer Groups, Retreats and Quiet Days; and many people came to him for spiritual advice, counsel and comfort. He was a fine preacher, and a man of deep spirituality. He faithfully continued to say the daily ‘offices’ (Morning & Evening Prayer) and often read the New Testament lessons in the original Greek. He was always very much a family man, and followed all that his three sons and one daughter did with the greatest interest. Family holidays were very important to us all, and a day out with Father usually meant a long country walk, maybe at Leith Hill or Box Hill. He and my mother were very devoted to one another and loved having us around. They celebrated their Golden Wedding at Pershore in 1969 and he continued to keep well and fit for his walks and his golf. In retirement he was much in demand in the local churches, most Sundays of the year. Then he was poorly for a few months and died in February 1973, the funeral being on St David’s day. God bless him. EDITORIAL NOTE Acronyms and Abbreviations in Campling’s Diary A.C.G. Assistant Chaplain General (probably) Asst Adj. Assistant Adjutant B.H.Q. Battalion Headquarters Brig. Brigade or Brigadier C.O. Commanding Officer Coy Company (four in an infantry battalion) D.C.G. Deputy Chaplain General Div Division (normally 12 battalions) D.L.I. Durham Light Infantry H.C. Holy Communion H.Q. Headquarters I.O. Intelligence Officer K.R.R. King’s Royal Rifles L.G.O. Lewis Gun Officer M.G. Machine gun M.G.C. Machine Gun Corps M.O. Medical Officer O.P. Observation Post P.R.M. President of the Regimental Mess Q.M. Quartermaster R.A.M.C. Royal Army Medical Corps R.A.P. Regimental Aid Post R.C. Roman Catholic R.Q.M.S. Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant R.R. Recreation Room R.S.C. Probably ASC in original diary, or Army Service Corps R.S.F. Royal Scots Fusiliers S.C.F. Senior Chaplain to the Forces S.L.I. Somerset Light Infantry T.M. Trench Mortar Y.M.C.A. Young Men’s Christian Association A brief guide to William Campling’s two months of war Campling was chaplain to the 15 th battalion the Essex Regiment and the 11 th Somerset Light Infantry, brigaded together. He joined them in northern France during the fast- moving ‘Hundred Days Offensive’ that sometimes ruined his pastoral plans (Damn!) but ended the war. One can follow his progress on any map. His 11th Corps HQ at Busnes was north-west of Béthune. He joined his two units on the south bank of the river Lys, 18 miles west of Lille. On October 16 th and 17 th he was billeted within a mile of what is now the Eurostar route, first south, then north of the line. His war ended over the Belgian border on the banks of the river Scheldt or Escaut, north of Tournai. This edition of his diary is taken from a typescript—kindly lent to Trinity by Michael Campling—which had been copied by his brother Christopher from their father’s barely legible original. I have corrected several place names. Unidentified names are followed by [?]. Some initials remain unexplained. Spaces and question marks signify illegibility. Riddle was Campling’s batman or officer’s servant. JML MAP THE DIARY OF THE REVD WILLIAM CHARLES CAMPLING 1918 September 3 Left England. Charing Cross 12.25. Boulogne about 5.00. Stayed at Louvre Hotel. Very dirty and crowded, expensive. Dined with Ullerton, Leake and [unreadable]. September 4 Reported at St Martin’s Camp 9.15.