Through the Hitler Line: Memoirs of an Infantry Chaplain (review)

Reviewed by: Through the Hitler Line: Memoirs of an Infantry Chaplain Geoffrey Hayes (bio) Laurence F. Wilmot, MC. Through the Hitler Line: Memoirs of an Infantry Chaplain Wilfrid Laurier University Press. xvi, 152. $34.95 In September 1939, Laurence Wilmot was a thirty-five-year-old Anglican minister and father of three serving parishes in northern Manitoba. He was also a trained militia officer, but his bishop's objections kept him from joining the Canadian Chaplain Service until June 1942. Overseas in September 1943, by Christmas he was in Italy where he soon became the 'Padre' for the West Nova Scotia Regiment. He remained with the West Novas until war's end. Wilmot's memoir is a story of remarkable faith, discipline, and determination. Through the winter and spring of 1944, Wilmot visited the wounded, counselled the troubled, conducted services when and where he could, and held regular Padre's Hours. It took several months, but the padre's regular reports on unit morale finally won over a commanding officer who was sceptical of church parades. As the battles for the Hitler Line loomed in May 1944, Wilmot worried about his proper place. When casualties began to mount, Wilmot decided to go forward under fire to find the missing, dress wounds, retrieve casualties, and console the dying. That action earned him a hole in his helmet and a bandaged ear. In August, after two companies were decimated at the Foglia River, Wilmot twice led a carrying party into a minefield to retrieve the wounded. That action earned him a Military Cross. As the fighting continued through the fall of 1944, Wilmot admits that the strain of battle began to tell. Burying the dead was especially troubling. 'This task was distressing me more and more, since many of the dead were [End Page 496] men with whom I had worked for the best part of a year. [Private Alex] Vingar, for example had gone through the Hitler Line battles, where he had distinguished himself. ... Here was but one of the many who had fought bravely in the face of personal family disintegration resulting from his long absence from home. At this point the ghastly contradictions of war were wearing me down.' Wilmot's journals from the time allow us a detailed and honest view into regimental life. His soldiers are real people who complain, get drunk, question and sometimes find their faith. Wilmot responded with both spiritual and practical counsel. Faced with an alarming rise in the VD rate in July 1944, Wilmot spoke to the men on the 'Christian standard of morals' they needed to resist temptation. 'They listened intently' he concluded optimistically, 'and I think my message struck home.' In cases in which men had simply been away from home for too long, Wilmot and his fellow chaplains argued for more compassionate leaves. His account of the divisional chaplains berating Major-General Chris Vokes on this issue is wonderful. This work is also a valuable study in military leadership. Most gripping is his assessment of the Foglia River 'tragedy' when Lieutenant-Colonel Waterman insisted that the regiment attack in daylight without artillery or tank support. Unable to change the plan, the company commanders faced a deadly dilemma. If they refused to lead, other officers would have to go in their place. Almost all of the officers leading the attack were killed or wounded. Waterman lost his command, and Wilmot ponders at length why such a good officer made such a costly decision. There are no easy answers. In the end this work is a powerful testament of faith. In our more secular world, it seems jarring to read how Wilmot, amid the carnage, continued his daily ritual of prayer, meditation, and Bible study. But his clear, honest prose reflects a moral certainty that is very moving. Few wartime memoirs are better. Geoffrey Hayes Geoffrey Hayes, Department of History, University of Waterloo Copyright © 2005 University of Toronto Press Incorporated

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