Richard Griffiths served as Chaplain to the Forces in the Boer War and then in France with the 24th Field Ambulance Division from 1914 to 1916 and as Chaplain to the Navy in Northern Ireland from 1916 to 1919. The letters he wrote to his wife almost every day reveal an intelligent, compassionate man, steadfast in his religious faith and his belief that the war was just. Stationed only a few miles behind the trenches he worked tirelessly; searching for the wounded and bringing them to the field hospitals; praying with the injured and burying the dead; finding deserted buildings in which to set up bathing houses and run church services, on occasion preaching to over 500 men. He was continually thinking of ways to ease the lives of the soldiers around him, for whom he had such admiration. As a fluent French speaker, he was much in demand as a translator. There are many remarkable descriptions in these letters, including visits from King George V, the Prince of Wales, Field Marshall Sir John French, Winston Churchill and the Archbishop of Canterbury; the battles of Nueve Chapelle and Aubers Ridge as they unfolded, an operation to save a young French boy's sight and the execution of a deserter.
- ISBN13 9781785452253
- Publish Date 22 March 2018
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 11 May 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Brown Dog Books
- Format Paperback
- Pages 440
- Language English