Notes from an army chaplain
From our UK edition
It happened in Italy a long time ago. The war was still at its height, but winter had set in, the roads were impassable and we were pulled out of the front line. I was chaplain to a regiment which had been through a difficult period and the men welcomed the respite. There was some desultory shelling, but appropriately enough, as it was near Christmas, a measure of peace prevailed. We took over a small village, requisitioned a few houses, and settled down for a couple of weeks. I lived with the doctor and his unit in the Regimental Aid Post. Their home now was a stable and their beds just heaps of straw This, for the time being, was an Italian peasant’s cottage. It was a small dwelling, with a basement, an outside staircase and two rooms upstairs.
