Eric Cordingly, Harry Stogden and the Changi Cross

Two of the most moving examples of the ways in which the FEPOW experience affected the inner spiritual lives of the men who had to endure it are those of Army Chaplain Eric Cordingly, and Sgt. Harry Stogden.

Eric Cordingly was a rector from the Cotswolds when the Second World War broke out.  He volunteered as an army chaplain and experienced the Dunkirk retreat before finding himself in Singapore in February 1942, being captured by the Japanese.

Eric Cordingly inside Changi Chapel

Through three and a half years in captivity Eric continued his ministry, creating chapel wherever he was, including by the infamous Thai-Burma Railway. The first of these chapels was in the Changi Barracks and was christened `St George’ after the insignia of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers of which he was a part.  The building had previously been a mosque used by the Indian army when they were stationed at Changi.  Men set to work creating the fixtures and fittings using what tools and materials they could find and created a beautiful space to worship.

The former mosque which became St George Chapel, drawn by POW Eric Stacy

One particularly charming story was told by Eric in Down to Bedrock:-

`…on a wet afternoon a little bearded Indian arrived on the pillion of a motorcycle.  He came straight to me where I was busy giving a talk in Church.  He introduced himself as the Moslem priest whose mosque we were now using.  He had coem for his prayer books, which fortunately I had saved and kept hidden in my cupboard.  He was overjoyed to receive them, and in `pidgin’ English we introduced each other as `padres’ of religion.  He rather surprised me with his broadminded remark that he was glad that I was using his building, and that it was being used for the worship of God.’

Eric also led the `Theological Faculty’ at the `University’ set up in the camp.  He oversaw the education of around thirty men, with no books or teaching aids to help him.  Regular services were held in the chapel, with a daily morning communion, evening prayers, choir practices and instruction for those wishing to be confirmed as Anglicans.  Communion took place using a concoction of raisins, water and sugar as the wine.

Eric wrote:-

I shall hope to be able to convince the reader of what is at present felt by us all, namely a growing religious life centred around our Church of St George.  No priest could wish for a happier “parish” or sphere of work…We seem somehow to ahve back to fundamentals and simple wholesome worship, and we all feel the need for a real religion and all this in spite of the unpleasantness of Captivity, lack of nourishing food, and the tropical heat.  My own life personally is richer by these experiences…Iam sure this experience is something I shall value forever.’

One of the items made for the chapel was a brass altar cross, the base being fashioned from a Howitzer shell case. Eric drew the design and the cross itself was made by Sgt Harry Stogden of the RAOC.  The cross went with Eric up the line to the Thai-Burma railway, back to Changi and eventually to Eric’s mantelpiece during his subsequent career which saw him rise to the position of Bishop of Thetford.  In 1992 Eric’s family returned to cross to Changi where today it adorns the chapel in the museum as a symbol of hope and reconciliation and to remind visitors of the strength of the human spirit when facing the most adverse conditions.

The Changi Cross – from Changi to Kanchanaburi to Changi to Gloucestershire to Norfolk and back to Changi!

Tragically the maker of the cross, Harry Stogden, died in 1945 whilst en route back to England.  However his son, Bernard, was able to attend the ceremony to place the cross on the altar at the museum’s chapel, bringing him closer to the father he never knew.

Staff Sergeant Harry Stogden

This story is moving in so many different ways – the tragedy of the lives lost unnecessarily due to starvation and preventable diseases, including that of Harry Stogden, the strength of character and moral purpose shown by Eric Cordingly and many others under the most unimaginable conditions, and the inspiration which both Eric, Harry and those mentioned in the books are able to carry on providing due to the generosity of their families in bringing their remarkable stories to a wider audience.

The last word is from Eric Cordingly, writing two decades after these experiences in Beyond Hatred (ed. Guthrie Moir, Lutterworth Press, 1967):-

`It was the most wonderful time of my life, in spite of the grim and hungry times. For once, and for three and a half years, the thin veneer of civilization, or reticence, had been stripped from men. We were all down to bedrock. One saw people as they really were…the truly remarkable thing was the way the human spirit rose to magnificent heights. After months of sheer degradation, gradually the spirit to care for one another revived, incredible kindness and self-sacrifice was in evidence’

The full story of Eric Cordingly and the Changi Cross is one of twenty case studies in my new book, Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the Second World War

 

Rev Capt. George De Ville Smith, Barnsley Pals

George De Ville Smith

Whilst researching the Brocklesby family of Conisbrough for my forthcoming book, I was reminded of the story of Rev George De Ville Smith, of the 13th York and Lancaster Regiment, the `Barnsley Pals’, about whom I had read nearly twenty years ago in that fine book, Pals: The 13th and 14th Battalions of the York & Lancaster Regiment by John Cooksey.

A quick internet search and ten minutes later we were in the car making the last of the winter daylight heading the few miles over the St. Thomas Church, Worsbrough to find the war memorial.

St Thomas Church, Worsbrough (c) Dawn Broom

In the chancel of the church there is a plaque in memory of The Revd Capt George De Ville Smith, curate of the parish, who fell in action in France on 1^st July 1916.

 

There does not appear to be much evidence availabe for Smith’s early life.  However the war memorial to the ex-pupils of St David’s College, Lampeter contains his name, although incorrectly ascribes to him the role of Chaplain to the Forces.

Smith had been ordained at St.Anne’s Church Birkenhead and served there before moving to Barnsley where he became curate of Worsbrough Dale from 1^st Sept 1911 to 31^st Dec 1914 under the Revd William Banham. Here he was founding officer of the Church Lads’ Brigade and took a special interest in the work of the Sunday School.

Rev Capt. George De Ville Smith

With the outbreak of the war, he joined up with the Barnsley Pals’ Battalion and became Second Lieutenant of D Company. Like many other chaplains, he decided to enter the regular army rather than wait for a commission into the Army Chaplains Department.  His case also demonstrates that the Pals Battalions drew men from all sections of society and walks of life.

One of the men under him was Tommy Oughton who was 18 in August 1914. Tommy lived at Wombwell and worked at Mitchell’s Main pit at Darfield before volunteering. He was also a teetotal chapel lad and his religious outlook perhaps coloured his opinion of his officer:

“He turned out to be a right rum customer and we weren’t long in giving him a nickname. With being called De Ville Smith we gave him the name ‘Devil Smith.’ He was a chap who was very strict but what hurt us more, he used to come out with a bit of swearing. With us knowing that he had been a parson, we thought that was all wrong, hence his nickname.”

(Taken from the Barnsley Pals book)

July 1 marked the opening of the Battle of The Somme. D company was not the first company to go over but slightly behind. They had filled the trenches vacated by the third and fourth waves of attack and now it was their turn. In Tommy Oughton’s words again:

“… there was shelling, rifle and machine gun fire as we went across. We hadn’t a chance. I can’t really describe what I saw to tell the truth. There you were, you could see bodies dropping here, there and wondering, is it you next? I saw plenty of men I knew drop. No hope at all. Of course we didn’t get far before we were knocked back… As we came back that’s when I saw ‘Devil’ Smith’s body and he looked to have hardly a scratch on his face. It must have been the shock that killed him. There was a shell that landed not far from him, we could see where it had dropped.”

Another witness of Capt Smith’s death was Philip Brocklesby, Second Lieutenant. The following quotation’s are from Philip’s diary.

On the afternoon of June 30 he was leading 13 Platoon which in turn was leading D Company …

“so that I had much of the company of Capt De Ville Smith on the way up. I think he felt the hand of death near. Fortunately for D company we were to assemble in the last of the eight trenches, named Babylon.”

Having gone over the top and been forced into retreat they were in a trench.

“There was a near burst of a 5.9 in (exact figure unclear) and quickly news was passed along the trench that Capt De V. Smith had been badly wounded. Again D Company was ordered to move to the right and two bays further on I had to step across his body as he lay very close to death.”

His death shows how strange shell bursts can be:

“Capt Smith, Capt Normansell and a messenger runner were all in line in a trench traverse. The runner had just handed a message to Capt Smith when the shell burst. Capt Smith was badly wounded and died in half an hour. The runner got a nasty splinter wound in his chest. Normansell who was stood between them wasn’t hit.”

In another memoir where Phil revisits the trenches with some friends some years later he refers to the incident again. Talking about the march to the trenches …

“I had Captain Smith with me for most of the way … Perhaps I am being wise after the event, but his conversation seemed to indicate that he had some premonition that he would be killed. Actually D company had few casualties and it seemed strange that he should be one of them.”

The following report by Lieut. Hions is taken from an obituary to Capt Smith published in the  Barnsley Chronicle soon after his death:

“Captain G. de Ville Smith led his Company in the advance across the open, in face of heavy shell and machine gun fire. His courage and coolness as a leader, helped greatly to inspire his men. We reached our next trench and were held in reserve for some time. The call came for a platoon to reinforce the front line. The Captain ordered me to proceed with the boys, and when I left he was busy sending and receiving reports. I sent back two runners reporting my arrival, and on their return I was informed of his death. He was struck by shrapnel and died instantly. I may say the Company, as a whole feel very much the loss of their commander.”

The obituary states that Capt Smith was a single man whose father died when he was 10 years of age. It describes him as having a tall commanding figure and a charming personality which endeared him to everyone with whom he came into contact.

In a note in the Parish Magazine of August 1916 Mr.Banham describes his former curate as “an acceptable earnest and faithful preacher.” Prior to writing this the Vicar had announced the news of Capt Smith’s death to the congregation at St.Thomas’s. They were moved to tears as he recalled the love and esteem which Mr. Smith had inspired in the people of the parish. They joined in prayer that God would grant him eternal rest.

The Barnsley Chronicle of 15th July of 1916 gave some idea of the carnage influcted on the Barnsley Pals on the first day of the Somme:-

The following week’s edition carried pictures of some of those killed, including De Ville Smith, second from left on the top row:-

Smith was one of nearly 20,000 British men killed on that date. and one of 545 from the two Barnsley Pals Battalions.  He is buried at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, France and commemorated with dozens of others on the memorial outside the church where he was once curate.

 

John Broom is the author of Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the First World War (Pen and Sword, 2015)

http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Fight-the-Good-Fight-Hardback/p/11370

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Father Francis Gleeson and the Battle of Aubers Ridge

There are few more moving and evocative images of the First World War than Fortunino Matania’s painting of The Absolution of the Munsters which first appeared in The Sphere magazine in November 1916.

Commissioned by the wife of Lieutenant-Colonel Rickard who was killed in the battle, it depicts Father Francis Gleeson sitting on his horse giving the absolution a few hours before going into battle.  Much has been written elsewhere about the work of Francis Gleeson, and his full story, based on the diaries he kept and other contemporary accounts, is told in my book, Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the First World War.

However during the course of my research I came across a letter in the Cork Examiner on 9 June 1915, written to a Mrs Barry concerning the death of her son, Christy, during the battle.  It moved me and I wanted to share it on here:-

HEROIC CORK BOY – PRIVATE CHRISTY BARRY’S DEATH – LETTER FROM FR. GLEESON – TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO BRAVE DEED

Rev. Father Francis A. Gleeson, chaplain to the Munsters at the front, writes as follows to Mrs. Barry, 89 Douglas Street, Cork, mother of Private Christy Barry, 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, who was killed in action on May 9th

‘2nd June, 1915 – Dear Mrs. Barry – By this time you will have heard of the death of your heroic boy in the attack of Sunday, 9th May, 1915. The greatest consolation I can offer you is to tell you that your son was well prepared for death, as the battalion received Holy Communion the Sunday before the battle and were given absolution a few hours before the terrible ordeal. You need have no worry regarding your son’s soul, for he was careful and zealous about it, and was one of the best boys in the battalion. I knew him quite well, and to know him was to love him, for he was one of the most cheerful and good-natured young fellows I have met. I buried his body in a little cemetery beside the trenches, and several comrades lie beside him. A little cross marks his grave. He has made an immortal name for the gallantry and unselfishness with which he rescued the body of Captain Hawkes. He had not the faintest idea of what fear was. There could not be greater heroism displayed than that shown by your son.

You may well feel proud of being the mother of such a son. He has, by his thrilling acts of bravery, imprinted his name on all our hearts, and no honour, no matter how high, could be at all adequate to mark the greatness of his action. Out of a battalion of cheerful and daring heroes, Barry stands out supreme and admired of all, and his glorious death has inspired it. He was shot three times during his rescue of Captain Hawkes – still, in spite of loss of blood and a tornado of bullets and shells, he held on to his task till he got the captain in safety over the parapets. Having done this, he fell down exhausted and mortally wounded, into the British lines, where he died a saintly and easy death a few hours afterwards.

You will not grudge the good God such a good boy, and will be compensated for his death by the greatness and glory which marked it. On his pure and saintly soul may Jesus have mercy.

Yours sincerely, Francis A. Gleeson, Chaplain, Munsters

Francis Gleeson is buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin, one of the best historical sites I have ever visited.

The story of Francis Gleeson is one of twenty-three featured in my critically acclaimed book, Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the First World War The book can be purchased from various online retailers, or direct from me, signed and personally dedicated.

A companion book, Fight the Good Fight: Voices of Faith from the Second World War is also available.