Priests in Uniform

PRIESTS IN UNIFORM DIOCESAN MILITARY CHAPLAINS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR As the nation commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Fr Nicholas Hird and Dr James Hagerty remind us that in the conflict over 900 Catholic priests served as chaplains to the armed forces. Some of our diocesan priests were among them. Read More >> PRIESTS IN UNIFORM DIOCESAN MILITARY CHAPLAINS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR As the nation commemorates the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, Fr Nicholas Hird and Dr James Hagerty remind us that in the conflict over 900 Catholic priests served as chaplains to the armed forces. Some of our diocesan priests were among them. In 1939, the Diocese of Leeds, which then included parts of the Middlesbrough and Hallam Dioceses, had 237 priests excluding those from religious orders. Bishops informally agreed that only priests ordained for at least five years would be allowed to become chaplains but Bishop Poskitt of Leeds did not always adhere to this agreement. Some priests of regular orders who also served as chaplains were either born in the diocese, had served in the diocese, or were serving in the diocese during the war. After the war, a number of European priests settled in the diocese in order to serve displaced Polish, Lithuanian and German Catholic communities. They had lived out their wartime ministry in dangerous circumstances and desperate conditions. Some had served as chaplains in concentration camps, some as conscripted chaplains, while others were conscripted combatants. Priests who served as chaplains with British forces from 1939 to 1945 followed in the brave and honourable tradition of those who had ministered in the Crimean War, the Boer War and the First World War. They came from British, Irish and overseas dioceses. Many were from religious orders. Some were parish priests, some were teachers; some were recently ordained while others had been either chaplains or combatants in the Great War of 1914-1918. Padres as they were called, served all branches of the armed forces in all theatres of war. Many were decorated for bravery. Many were wounded; some lost their lives and were buried alongside those they served. Chaplains to the Royal Navy had the post-nominal ‘RN’; army chaplains - chaplains to the forces - had the post-nominal ‘CF’ and were members of the Royal Army Chaplains’ Department (RAChD); Royal Air Force chaplains had the post-nominal ‘RAF’. Fr Rudesind Brookes OSB celebrates Requiem Mass after the Battle of Monte Cassino, Italy ******************* THE CHAPLAINS Fr Bernard Benson CF was a curate at St. Patrick’s, Sheffield, when he joined the RAChD on 16 October 1941. He served in North Africa, Sicily and Italy and was with 1st British Airborne Division which landed in Holland as part of Operation Market Garden in September 1944. With British and Polish chaplains, Fr Benson ministered among fierce fighting. He died of wounds at Arnhem on 27 September 1944. Fr Bernard Benson Fr Richard Catterall CF was born in Wakefield in 1913 and was ordained on 6 June 1937. He was a curate at St. Joseph’s, Handsworth, Sheffield, when he was commissioned into the RAChD in 1941. He served in the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean and was demobilized in 1946. From 1946 until 1950, Fr Catterall was on loan to a German diocese. Fr Richard Catterall Fr John Cairns CF was ordained by Bishop Poskitt in 1940. His first appointment was as a curate at St. Bede’s Rotherham. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 12 October 1943. He served in Greece and the Middle East and remained in the regular army after the war. He served in Singapore, Malaya and Gibraltar and was demobilised on 12 October 1954. Fr John Connelly CF was curate at St. William’s, Bradford, when he was commissioned into the RAChD in May 1940. His army service was spent mainly in the Middle East ministering to multi-national Allied forces. Following a tedious sea voyage to the Middle East and his time in the desert, his two hates were sea and sand. Fr Connelly was demobilized in December 1946. Fr John Connelly Fr Owen Evans CF was born in 1913 and studied at Mount Melleray, Leeds Seminary, and Ushaw College. He was ordained in 1940 and appointed as a curate at St. Patrick’s, Bradford. Fr Evans was commissioned into the RAChD on 3 November 1943 and was with the British Liberation Army as it entered Germany in 1945. He was demobilized in December 1946. Fr Owen Evans Fr Matthew Malone CF was born in Dublin in 1917 and was ordained on 22 June, 1941. For three years he was curate at the Holy Rosary, Leeds, but on 14 June 1944 he became Chaplain to the Forces and served with the Fourteenth Army in Burma and the Far East. He remained an army chaplain until 1955. Fr Matthew Malone Fr Gerard Palframan CF was ordained in 1935 and was a curate at St. Marie’s, Sheffield, when war broke out in September 1939. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 9 October 1939 and was with the British Expeditionary Force when it was evacuated from Dunkirk in May 1940. He served in North Africa and in Italy and was demobilized in November 1945. Fr Gerard Palframan Fr Austin Roddy CF was ordained in 1939 and was a curate at St. Patrick’s, Bradford, when he became an army chaplain on 19 July 1944. Fr Roddy served in Italy where, towards the end of hostilities, he was seriously wounded. Fr Roddy remained in the army after the war and was demobilized in 1949. Fr Austin Roddy Fr Francis Sole CF was born in 1901and ordained in 1929 and in 1939 was curate at St. Patrick’s, Bradford. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 1 November 1939. After service with commands in the United Kingdom, Fr Sole served in the Middle East from 1943. He returned to Bulford Camp in 1945 and was demobilized in 1946. Fr Francis Sole Fr Joseph Telford CF was ordained at St. Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds, on 31 March 1940 and was appointed curate at St. Joseph’s, Pontefract. Commissioned into the RAChD in October 1943, he served until June 1947. Fr Telford was chaplain in Burma and celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving in Bangkok Cathedral for Allied prisoners released from Japanese POW camps. Fr Joseph Telford Fr Michael Thorp CF was one of the earliest priests to become a temporary army chaplain when he was commissioned on 3 September 1939. He had been a priest for ten years and was serving as a curate at St. Anne’s Cathedral, Leeds. After ministering in the Middle East and other theatres of war, Fr Thorp was demobilized on 4 December 1945. Fr Michael Thorp Fr Philip Wallis CF was ordained in 1934 and was a curate at St. Patrick’s, Leeds, when war was declared in September 1939. He became an army chaplain on 16 May 1940 and served for most of the war in the Middle East. He was demobilized in October 1945. Fr Philip Wallis Fr Edward Ward CF was ordained in 1928. He was at the Holy Rosary Church, Leeds, when he was commissioned into the RAChD on 16 May 1940. Fr Ward spent the next 14 years as an army chaplain serving with the Guards Division in Southern Command and with 11th Infantry Division in North Africa and Italy. He remained in the army and served in UK Commands. Fr Edward Ward Fr Edward Wilcock, RAF, was ordained in 1935 and was at St. Theresa’s, Woodlands, Doncaster, before joining the RAF on 19 November 1941. He was appointed Principal of the RAF Catholic Leadership School in Rome and other postings included Malta, North Africa and Jerusalem. He became Senior Catholic RAF Chaplain in the Levant and left the RAF in 1947. Fr Edward Wilcock Fr John Brannigan OMI CF was born in Belfast and before an appointment at Corpus Christi, Leeds, had served at OMI houses London, Liverpool and Leith. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 9 December 1942 and served until 30 July 1946. Fr Edward Conran CM CF had served with the Vincentian community at St Vincent’s, Sheffield, before the war. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 11 November 1941 and served on United Kingdom commands before embarking with 34 Tank Brigade to North Western Europe in September 1944. He relinquished his commission on 22 March 1946. Fr Edward Conran CM Fr Robert Cormican OMI CF was born in Belfast in 1896. He was ordained in 1925 and in 1937 he was transferred to the Oblate parish of Mount St. Mary’s, Richmond Hill, Leeds, where was he based at the outbreak of war. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 18 February 1941, served with the Royal Norfolk Regiment, and was demobilized on 7 August 1945. Fr Michael Devlin CM CF was attached to the Vincentian community in Sheffield in September 1939. He was commissioned into the RAChD on and 6 December 1939 and was sent to Northern Ireland, returning to England in October 1942. He served in Palestine from 1944 to1947 and then served on Home Commands until he left the army on 29 January 1951. Fr Henry Dominic Drumm CP CF attended St Bede’s Grammar School, Bradford. He entered the Passionist Order and was ordained in 1933. He was commissioned into the RAChD on 12 February 1940 and was attached to 34 Casualty Clearing Station with the British Liberation Army as it entered Germany in 1945.

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