The Story of a Chaplain on the Western Front – Kenelm Swallow

In this episode we look at the incredible story of a man who gave up his job as a Rector in a village church to serve on the Western Front. Kenelm Swallow arrived on the Somme battlefield in the mud of November 1916. We follow his journey from the Somme to Arras and discover how he performed various tasks to help the war effort, way beyond his spiritual duties. We find out how he went alone into No Man’s Land at Ypres to ensure dead comrades were properly buried, and how he slipped down the steps of a dugout and landed on a stove, much to his amusement. He also describes what it was like to sleep in a dirty dugout. Kenelm was part of the BEF that liberated Belgium in 1918, and we hear how the civilians reacted to liberation and what he thought of the German enemy.