Will the Church support a War? This is a combined RE and History Enquiry Unit looking particularly at the role of clergy and churches in World War One. There is also an opportunity to extend this by taking the opportunity to find out about chaplains in the modern British Army and to think about the annual services of Remembrance which take place on the Sunday nearest to November 11 th. This unit presupposes that pupils are learning about World War One or already know something about it, and is not intended as the first or only enquiry they tackle on this subject. There are several additional pieces of support materials available to accompany this unit: A powerpoint of WW1 photographs of chaplains at work and other slides related to religious subjects (not intended to be used all in one session or even consecutively select the slides which best support the developing enquiry) A leaflet of contemporary quotations relating to the enquiry questions (as these are all the words of the adults involved in the conflict, some pupils may struggle with understanding these use judiciously as stimuli for discussion) A leaflet summarising what happened in one parish in Cheshire over the War (apologies that it is not a Norfolk parish, but can you create a similar list for your community, using local resources?) As the commemorations of the centenary of World War One take place more resources will become available to schools both on the internet and through other educational sources the websites recommended in the schemes below were those available in June 2014. You will not wish to take on the whole unit (it is deliberately huge and packed with alternative suggestions on how to tackle the enquiry questions!), but if you are cutting down and fitting the materials into a larger WW1 project, we recommend looking particularly at the two enquiry questions What use are clergy in War? and Whose side is God on?. The enquiry How is the war remembered? is designed to link up with Remembrance Sunday and you may like to tackle the different suggestions over the four years of the centenary commemorations. The Bible Society had produced a micro-website on the Bible in WW1 which has a number of helpful contemporary resources for you to use see http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible-society/our-work/world-war-1/ there is also a printed resource Hear My Cry and schools can apply for three free copies of this. Barnabas in Schools has also produced a themed book What Price Peace? which engages with difficult questions you would expect such as Is fighting always wrong? and How do we deal with fear, pain and suffering? which is also particularly useful http://www.barnabasinschools.org.uk/9781841016917/ and which has accompanying online materials. This book links the big themes of the War to the Bible and includes ideas for History, Literacy, and PSHCE as well as RE.
Historical and Religious Background for the Teacher As the Twentieth Century opened, Western Christianity perceived itself to be a major force within European countries; the Churches were internationalist in their outlook and English Christians were in dialogue and union with fellow Christians in Germany. As a result, the Churches, like everyone else it seems, did not see the War coming. However, despite the fact that the Churches preached that Christianity was a faith of peace, once the War began, the vast majority of churchmen immediately supported it. In 1914, at least 30 million people (approximately 90% of the total population) professed a Christian religion in the British Isles, yet church leaders fully endorsed the government s declaration of war against a fellow Christian country. As soldiers enlisted to fight they were asked their religion to put on their enlistment form, and those who did not specify otherwise were recorded as Church of England as this was the Established Church as a result approximately 75% of the English troops are shown as CofE. In reality the Church of England was out of touch with the working class and only about 5%, not 75%, of the ordinary soldiers would have actually been communicant members of the Church of England (i.e. had been confirmed and took Holy Communion). However, as the Established Church, the Anglican clergy would have seen themselves as responsible for all those who lived within the boundaries of their parish as is the case still today. Between 25 and 29 per cent of people attended church every Sunday, two-fifths went at least once a month. Ninety per cent of children went to Sunday School and just one per cent of the population actually called themselves atheists. Many of the soldiers would have only a most basic, inarticulate, knowledge of the Christian Faith, which they had acquired when they were at Sunday School or being educated at a Church School, and they would often have appreciated the Church more for its social work than its religious teaching. Thus, although many soldiers were open to the ministrations of chaplains, especially at times of distress, as the War progressed many became hardened and sceptical asking why God didn t just stop the War. However, When war broke out in 1914, every member of the British Armed Forces was given a New Testament as an essential part of their standard kit, and there are many moving stories of bodies being recovered of men who had died with their New Testament in their hands; alone, badly wounded and dying, they held on to it as a promise and a hope. 5,700,000 New Testaments were distributed in this way. There were 117 chaplains (called padres by the troops) in the pre-war army. By 1918 there were 1,985 Church of England chaplains, 649 Roman Catholic and about another thousand from the smaller Wesleyan, Baptist, Methodist, Congregationalist, Presbyterian and Salvation Army denominations, plus sixteen from the Jewish faith. At first the chaplains were not allowed to go anywhere near the Front and this was a great disservice to them, as they were seen as cowards and skivers. Once the regulations changed (and even before) the chaplains were in the frontline with the units they supported and, although they did not carry weapons, some earned military awards for their valour under fire
and in support of their wounded men ( e.g. the Reverends Theodore Bayley Hardy V DSO, MC, Noel Mellish VC, MC and William R F Addison VC). 179 Chaplains died during the War. In recognition of their devoted work since 1914, King George V conferred the prefix 'Royal' on the Army Chaplains' Department once the War had ended. Most of the clergy who became chaplains were from the upper classes and this sometimes hampered their relationships with the ordinary soldiers. Evidence suggests that their spiritual role consisted chiefly of leading large services and praying with individuals who were wounded or dying, as well, of course, as conducting funerals and writing to the bereaved. Otherwise they were known mainly for their social work, bringing comfort, and for being a good sort, particularly in distributing free cigarettes to the troops (the cancerous effects of smoking were not recognised at this time), to the extent that one famous chaplain was known for ever thereafter as Woodbine Willie because of all the cigarettes he gave out after services ( Woodbines being a brand of cheap cigarettes). The chaplain Tubby Clayton started a social club at Poperinge that became known as Toc H, though it was more formally Talbot House. Here rank counted for nothing as officers and soldiers were treated as equal. Men could read in peace or generally just socialise just a few miles from the battles that surrounded Ypres. Toc H is still in existence today. Padres were key in maintaining the morale of those at the Front. In the conditions found at the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele etc this must have been a difficult task. Conditions in the trenches must have pushed to the limit those who were religious. However, only a relative few spurned the advice/role of the padres. One of these was the war poet Siegfried Sassoon who was hostile to the part played by the Church in its efforts to boost patriotism by using God and right as a lever to get men to join up. The chaplains and other Christians themselves had to wrestle with the whole idea of a loving God permitting the War to go on, and this was especially true for those actually in the frontline. Woodbine Willie wrote: Does God will War? Is it part of His mysterious plan? Are the Militarist historians right? I answer: If God wills War, then I am morally mad, and I don t know good from evil. War is the most obviously wicked thing I know. If God wills War then I am not an atheist, I am an anti-theist. I am against God. I hate Him. Does God hate War? Does He will its abolition? Does He will Peace on earth? Does God will that the Bible s broken dreams come true? That to me is an obvious Truth the first one. Why doesn t He make them come True then? Because He can t without our willing co-operation that is to me another obvious Truth, the second one. Whatever God does for us must be done through us. Many people found that their views about God were changing the God who they thought protected the good seemed to have abandoned them on the battlefield or in the hospitals and they abandoned Him. Others felt that their faith actually made sense of things for them and gave them hope for the future their suffering mirrored Jesus suffering on the cross and they felt Jesus to be with them in a more personal way. So how did the Church as a whole justify supporting war rather than peace? The idea of service was a very popular one, combined with the message of John chapter 15 verse 13 that a man, like Jesus, could show no better love than laying down his life for his friends. There was also a conviction that Germany was a wicked and evil nation for invading Belgium and precipitating the War. Many believed that the crusade
against the evils of German militarism would be endorsed by God: the Bishop of London Arthur Winnington-Ingram (who was also the chaplain of the London Rifle Brigade) said it was a a great crusade we cannot deny it to kill Germans. To kill them, not for the sake of killing but to save the world Some other Christians held the view that the War was God s punishment on Britain because of its own sins in the past (e.g. drunkenness, people not going to church on Sundays), but this idea was not widely spread. The religious also hoped and believed that the conflict would revitalise the spiritual life of the nation. In reality the brief upsurge in religious practice seen during the War did not long outlive it. It is worth remembering that exactly the same things as were being said and done by the Churches of the British forces and their Allies on one side of the conflict were taking place under the German, Austro-Hungarian and Turkish Alliance where you could find chaplains in the field from the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Protestant Lutherans and Calvinist Churches plus Muslim clerics and Jewish rabbis. These men echoed the patriotic ethos of their nation, as remembered by Lt General Sandor Pavai: the good old army chaplains were always there to strengthen soldiers spirit, before and during the fight, in the trenches, in the attacks. Approximately 16,000 British men refused the call to join the Armed Forces after the Military Service Act in January 1916 brought in conscription to reinforce the depleted battalions at the Front. Some of these conscientious objectors simply felt that Germany wasn t their enemy, but others, mostly Quakers, refused to fight on religious grounds. Around 4,500 were sent to do work of national importance, such as farming and some 7,000 more were given non-combatant roles at the Front e.g. in the Medical Corps. Approximately 7,000 conscientious objectors were sent to prison where they were harshly treated. Thirty five were sentenced to death for refusing to fight, but had their sentences commuted and were released after the War was over. Most ordinary British people, especially those who lost relatives in the War, regarded these people as cowards, whereas many of them suffered physically for their beliefs as much as did the soldiers themselves. 9% of the men of Great Britain who were under the age of 45 died in the War. The Churches had, and still have, a key role as a focus for remembrance and supporting the bereaved during warfare. After the War it was a padre, David Railton, who came up with the idea for a tomb for an unknown soldier as he, along with many others, was well aware of the many thousands of men who had been killed on the Western Front but who had no known grave. The creation of cenotaphs and war memorials across the country after the War was actually preceded by the springing up of popular memorial street shrines as the War progressed (similar to the public response to the death of Princess Diana). Now every village has a memorial in a public place or in the local church itself, and you may like to think about the role these have had in focusing grief and remembering over almost a century.
Should Christians fight in a war? If asked, Christians would say that Christianity was a faith based on peace and love of one s neighbour. The question is asking how Christians at both a national and a personal level could reconcile these beliefs with the call to fight on behalf of their country. Was their faith an inspiration for them to fight, or did it bring comfort to them despite the horrors they lived through? What happened to those who truly believed in Christian non-violence? Why did men sign up to fight in a war? Look together at WW1 recruitment posters to talk about the messages they give through their clever phrasing and graphics (patriotism, comradeship, service, duty). Are there any posters which have a religious reason for fighting (not really- after much looking we only discovered one Irish one)? Are you able to suggest different audiences for different posters? ( A really obvious one is What did you do in the War Daddy? ) Which posters might particularly speak to Christians? You could try linking the messages to Christian values. And /Or - What does the Bible say about war or hurting others? Look together at some of the suggested verses (see right) e.g. Exodus chapter 20 verse 13 (Ten Commandments) and John chapter 15 verse 13. Does one verse contradict the other? Which one do you think vicars would preach about in war time? Why? And /Or - A lot of popular hymns of the time were about good fighting against evil, and the soldiers were encouraged to apply these to themselves. You could look at one of the most famous such as Onward Christian Soldiers or Fight the Good Fight and find out if these are still popular in churches today (ask your vicar!). Would they help soldiers to feel their fight was a good fight? How can fighting be good? Discuss how you might feel if you went to a church service on a Sunday and the vicar preached a sermon trying to make you support the War. So should Christians fight in a war? Know that 75% of those who signed up to fight in WW1 in England were registered as Church of England and the majority of the rest named other churches on their enlistment forms. Why did they fight? The stories of some of these soldiers and their government issued New Testaments can be found at http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible-society/our-work/world-war-1/stories/soldiers/ including some stories of miraculous escapes where the Bible rather than the soldier took the bullet. And /Or - You may like to look at the famous story of how the ordinary soldiers held an Resources Recruitment posters use Google Images or http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/0/ww1/25332968 http://www.iwm.org.uk/history/11-amazing-firstworld-war-recruitment-posters Possible Bible verses: Exodus chp 20 vs 13, John chp 15 vs 13, Psalm 23, Isaiah chp 2vss 3f, Matthew chp 26 vs 52, Judges chp 6 vs 12, Psalm 55 vs 22 (you can also look at other Psalms if you have a copy of Hear My Cry as recommended above). Onward Christian Soldiers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg78m7g9 wro Fight the Good Fight https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooo8jrsvo 9w Booklet of quotations accompanying this unit Christmas truce soldiers write about it and photos http://digitalcollections.mcmaster.ca/casestudy/gerald-blake-english-participant-christmastruce-1914 https://dianaoverbey.wordpress.com/tag/german
unofficial truce to celebrate Christmas in 1914, but were forced to fight again by their commanders who were furious with the soldiers actions. The ordinary British soldiers didn t really hate the ordinary German soldiers! Celebrating a Christian festival and special family time of year meant more than killing. And /Or - To bring this up to date, there is a story about how a Bible carried by a soldier in WW1 brought comfort to one of his descendants fighting in Afghanistan at http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/news/ww1-bible-offers-comfort-after-tragic-death-inafghanistan2/ which will allow you to discuss together the inner conflict soldiers go through. And /Or - There were certainly those whose Christian faith told them they must NOT fight in any war you can find stories of two of these online at http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible-society/our-work/world-war- 1/stories/conscientious-objectors/ and may like to discuss together what you would have done if you believed in anything as strongly as these men. You may even like to try out an exercise in which pupils experience being a minority opposed to a vociferous majority e.g. a handful of the class shouting peace, peace, and the rest shouting war, war (or if that feels too violent oranges versus lemons) and talk about how that feels. -troops/ What are we looking for with this question? Answer: a realisation that not all people answer the question about fighting in the same way and that most Christians fought in WW1 but many refused. Jesus message of peace and service was interpreted to fit to circumstances.
What use are clergy in a war? A few clergy, or clergy in training, did join the armed forces as combatants, but the role played by clergy in WW1 revolved around spiritual and social support and comfort for the troops. Their input was significant, but might not be immediately discerned by pupils in all cases as religious it may help to link their actions with Christian values with which pupils are already familiar. Would you expect vicars to fight in a war? Why? Why not? (Link back to previous question) Take time to share and question the photographs and descriptions of chaplains at work on the Front, particularly on the powerpoint. You may like to particularly concentrate on finding out more about Woodbine Willie (Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy) or Toc H. And /Or - Was it as dangerous being a chaplain as it was being a soldier? Local chaplains who died in the War included: The Rev George Edward CRAVEN died on 7 December 1918 in 43 General Hospital, Salonika, Greece. He was 27. He was the son of the Vicar of Middleton, King's Lynn, Norfolk. The Rev Charles Ivo Sinclair HOOD died from the wounds he had previously received on 15 April 1918. He was 31. He was Rector of Sidestrand and had been formerly Head of the Magdalen College Mission, Euston, London He had served in France, Gallipoli and Egypt The Rev Eric Oswald READ was killed on the battlefield on 3 October 1918. He was 30 and was born in Thetford. The Rev Richard William DUGDALE (who won the Military Cross) was attached to 1st Battalion, The Norfolk Regiment. He was killed on the battlefield on 24 October 1918. He was 29 and was originally from Salisbury. And /Or - Field Marshal Haig said a good chaplain is as important as a good general what did he mean? And /Or - There are several photographs on the powerpoint of chaplains assisting enemy prisoners you could link this with the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke chp 10 vss 25ff. And /Or - Are there still chaplains in the army today? (You may find someone locally who can talk to you about this e.g. someone in the Territorial Army or a chaplain from a local cadet corps or air base.) Resources Powerpoint of WW1 photos and booklet of quotations accompanying this unit. About army chaplains: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christiani ty/priests/armychaplains_1.shtml Jewish chaplains: http://sarahfairhurstjmm.wordpress.com/2013/1 0/15/a-chaplain-in-the-trenches/ Toc H http://www.worldwar1.com/sftoch.htm http://www.1914-1918.net/ymca.htm Woodbine Willie http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/herefordandworceste r/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8339000/ 8339671.stm http://www.assemblies.org.uk/sec/1905/woodbin e-willie For personal stories of five army chaplains, including Woodbine Willie, see http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-biblesociety/our-work/world-war-1/stories/chaplains/
Chaplains who died in WW1 http://www.theygavetheirtoday.com/armychaplains-ww1.html What are we looking for with this question? Answer: a realisation that army chaplains played (and still play) an important role in supporting soldiers and their families in many different ways and through difficult times, and because of their faith were even prepared to assist the enemy
Do Christians at home support those who fight? Those Christians left at home women, elderly, infirm, those in essential trades supported their menfolk with prayers and personal resources and letters. The post to and from the Home Front and the Forces in France and Belgium was actually extremely effective so that things such as foodstuffs would still be fresh when they were received by the soldiers. (Of course, it would be easy to argue at this point that those at home supported the troops out of patriotism and human concern as much as out of faith.) The role of clergy in supporting bereaved families and encouraging charitable work back in Britain was as important for communities as was the role of chaplains at the Front, and churches became a focus for those who were troubled in exactly the same way as can be seen today in times of tragedy. Almost every soldier must have had family and friends at home who were praying /hoping for his safe return. Many also did practical things such as send food parcels, letters or make comforts for men they didn t even know. The booklet about what was happening in the church community at Asager would have its counterparts across the country, as churches raised money, comforted the bereaved and prayed.. You may like to follow up one of the different items mentioned in the Asager booklet and find out more about an organisation or an initiative. Even better, are there 1914-1918 copies of the parish magazine from your own community available where you can read what your own predecessors were doing? Alternatively, read letters and telegrams sent to tell families about a soldier s death. Talk together about how you think the local church people might be able to help these families (spiritually and physically). Or you may like to find photographs of street shrines or wayside tributes (which were created from 1916 onwards by the general public) and decide how you would design your own street memorial. Compare this to what you may have seen happening today e.g. flowers at the site of a traffic accident. Resources Booklet and powerpoint accompanying this unit Letters and telegrams at http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/defaultfeared.html (make sure you look at the whole slideshow, not just the first picture) Queen Mary visiting the East End shrines at http://blog.maryevans.com/2013/07/ (near bottom of page) What are we looking for with this question? Answer: an understanding that people can turn to the Church in times of trouble.
Whose side is God on? This is actually the most difficult of the questions in the whole of this unit because up until this point the underlying questions have related to how Christians reconciled the role they took in WW1 with how they understood their faith, but those on every side of the conflict would expect God to be on their side were they wrong? Which was God s side in the conflict? The Germans even had the message on their belt buckles that God was with them (a motto which had been used on their uniforms since the previous century.) There are three different suggestions below on how to go about answering the question. This is an enormous question to think about If Christian nations are at war with each other and the Churches (and chaplains) of those countries support the war, believing right to be on their side, then whose side is GOD on? Does God actually take sides? Does God want war at all? This could be set up as a class debate with pupils being asked to represent the British Army, the German Army, and those who believe God is above sides. Alternatively, discuss the cartoon below (also shown on the powerpoint on the deserter slide). This is a contemporary cartoon (1916) in which Jesus is being executed by a firing squad which includes a soldier from every nation represented in the War (a keen eye will be able to distinguish the differences in their uniforms). There are various possible interpretations of this cartoon it was probably intended to show that the nations had abandoned God s ways of peace and were killing Jesus to keep him quiet, but the fact that Jesus is being shot as a deserter could mean that the nations felt they had been deserted by God probably both (and more) interpretations are right. What do the pupils believe the message to be? How does it answer the question? An alternative stimulus to the image can be found in a contemporary novel by Henri Barbusse where a pilot observes Sunday services taking place on both sides of the frontline (see the booklet of Christian voices ). The two sides pray the same prayers to God.. so is God listening to both sides? Is he going to pick one side above the other? We are back to the question of what God wants for people and the answer is not war but peace. How would the pupils answer Barbusse s question at the end of the excerpt? And /Or - A myth from the Western Front is the story of the Angels of Mons which was a piece of fiction that people wanted to believe was true. Discuss why this might be. The myth convinced the Allied soldiers and their families that God and his angels were on their side and saving them from the Germans.. Resources Booklet and powerpoint accompanying this unit Isaiah chapter 2 verse 4 John chapter 3 verse 16f God doesn t take sides he asks us to choose His side! There are a lot of websites which will tell you about the Angels of Mons and many paintings but the best version to use with pupils comes from the book What Price Peace? from Barnabas in Schools you can download it from http://www.barnabasinschools.org.uk/extraresources/#whatpricepeace?
What are we looking for with this question? Answer: an understanding that people like to think God is on their side and hates their enemies, but that God doesn t actually take sides He wants everyone on His side!
How is the War remembered? The intention of this last question is to bring the unit into the present day and your own community. Every local history society will be doing something relating to your local community in WW1 and the war memorial, so this is an opportunity to team up with them in some way, as well as with your local church on Remembrance Sunday / 11 th November. When they were in France the soldiers had been very impressed by the number of wayside crosses, and immediately after the War designs began to be put forward for memorials in every English community in churchyards, on village greens, at crossroads although not all of these were crosses. What shape is your local memorial? Compare it to other war memorials and discuss what shape you would have chosen for your community if you had been asked, and why. (You may like to compare it to Christian values such as the brave knight in armour serving the nation.) You may like to find out how the Unknown Warrior came to be buried in Westminster Abbey as a national memorial, and talk about how this may have helped families who did not know where their loved one had died. (Note that in some communities the village memorial may incorporate something that would be of practical use to the soldiers who returned e.g. in Hanworth in Norfolk where a Memorial Hall was built for the village is your community hall a WW1 memorial hall?) And /Or - Find out what happens at a Remembrance Service today, thinking particularly about the silence and poppies (remembrance) and the last post and reveille (symbolising death and then resurrection using military bugle calls). Are these services just for the dead of WW1? How do you think these services help people who have lost loved ones or friends? And /Or - If you have not yet done so, make a list of all the men from your community who died in WW1 from your local memorial (these will probably be names and initials). See if you can find their full names and where and when they died. (Did any of them attend your school? Check old log books if you can.) When you next take part in a Remembrance service why not spend time sharing some information about each man, so that everyone remembers they were real people And /Or -Create your own war memorial display in the classroom perhaps with a map of your village marking the homes which lost men. Resources Powerpoint accompanying this unit. Recordings of Last Post and Reveille with pictures of WW1 New Zealand Forces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tam3tu6wey8 Why we wear a poppy http://resources.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/customs/remembrance/poppy.htm How the body of the soldier who became the Unknown Warrior of Westminster Abbey was chosen http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/about-bible- society/our-work/world-war- 1/stories/chaplains/bible-was-the-rock-for-unknownwarrior-chaplain/ Identifying the local dead of WW1: http://www.roll-of-honour.com/norfolk/ http://www.cwgc.org/ http://www.freebmd.org.uk/ (births and marriages) http://www.ctbi.org.uk/233 Remembrance Sunday service from Churches Together in England also a lovely powerpoint of poppies which could be used for reflection. What are we looking for with this question? Answer: an understanding why Remembrance Services are important for people to remember those whom they have lost
Suggestions for activities Throughout the unit a lot of discussion questions have been raised below are suggestions for written activities which may be used to summarise different elements of these discussions and which have the potential to be used as assessment activities. Design and Comment (the comment rather than the artwork will be the RE focus) Design a recruitment poster which a vicar would be happy to put on a You are looking for the poster to match as closely as possible with Christian values church noticeboard e.g. fighting evil, saving people, and not glorifying war for its own sake Design a prayer card (postcard size) for a child at home to send to There are two prayer cards from wives (or sweethearts) on the powerpoint, one their father at the Front would expect the ones from children to their father to be similar Design a war memorial to be placed in your school for previous pupils War memorials are rich in symbolism what message does the memorial convey? who fought in WW1 and WW2. Do you want to include the names of There is no right answer to the second question both types of memorial have been made but it is interesting if a pupil wants to honour the bravery of all men, not all those who have fought, or just those who have died? just those who died. Is there any link to the Remembrance service? Make a list or comparison chart (including an explanation of the result) Make a for and against list for a Christian who is trying to decide whether to enlist in the Army and fight, or become a conscientious objector Imagine you were a chaplain going to the Frontline with his battalion what will you put in your kit bag that the soldiers will not be carrying? What will the soldiers be carrying that you will not? This is an opportunity to balance different Bible teachings against each other and to empathise with the inner struggle of devout Christians. Pupils may or may not want to identify themselves with one side rather than the other. The chaplain needs his kit for taking communion services and would probably be carrying medical supplies as well as writing materials and cigarettes to give out. The ordinary soldiers might, like the chaplain, be carrying a Bible, but only the soldiers would carry arms. Write a letter Write a letter home as a soldier on the Front who took part in the Christmas Truce of 1914. Assume that you are writing something which will be printed in the church magazine. You have realised that cigarettes cause cancer write a letter to the chaplain Woodbine Willie to tell him this and make suggestions about other things he could do to help the troops. The letter would probably include a surprised comment that the Germans were ordinary people and Christians too maybe even questioning why the War was being fought. (Not that such comments would have got past the censor!) Comments about the specialness of Christmas are important. Did the pupils think to address the chaplain by his proper name (Revd Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy) rather than the over familiar nickname? Did they recognise the chaplains gave out cigarettes in order to comfort the troops in appalling conditions? What did they understand the role of chaplain to be?
Twenty year old Percy Adkins has been executed as a deserter. You are the chaplain who has to write to his mother to tell her Percy is dead. Will you tell her the truth? This is the most challenging of the suggestions in the chart! Does the letter show sensitivity for the bereaved mother? How is truth weighed against compassion? Is there a comforting Christian message in the letter as one might expect from a chaplain? Role Play Role play a Christian conscientious objector trying to explain to a draft board why they do not wish to fight in the Great War. Did the conscientious objector give Biblical / faith reasons for their argument? Were the draft board members convinced? Did the conscientious objector offer to play an alternative role such as stretcher bearer which would show they had a concern to support their fellow men? If you are preparing an act of collective worship You may be taking part in a Remembrance Day commemoration at your own local war memorial if one is happening on 11 th November (why not ask your vicar if there can be one especially for the school?) but if not could the class lead an act of collective worship? You might like to use the Poppies powerpoint for reflection http://www.ctbi.org.uk/233 And on a grander scale. Become a poppy..it was probably easier for Alconbury Church of England School to do this as they have a red uniform but you get the gist from the photograph Make poppies http://www.ictbin.com/poppy/royal-canadian-legion-tchrs-guidep38.pdf