During the First World War, much of the focus within the Englishspeaking Canadian Redemptorists involved the early support of the pioneer foundations of the Toronto Vice-Province. Six months before the end of the war, the Toronto Province was created on May 19, 1918. With its new authority, the Toronto Province assigned Fr. Peter O’Hare as a chaplain.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the circumstances were different with 189 members in 21 foundations. Thus, the 29 confreres, who volunteered and were commissioned as full-time chaplains, received encouragement and understanding from Provincial Superior James Fuller in their war effort. More than half of the chaplains served throughout Canada while 13 were appointed to overseas chaplaincy duties in the United Kingdom and later in Europe following the D-Day invasion. For the Korean War, one confrere served.

WORLD WAR I

Fr. Peter O'Hare, C.Ss.R.

At the end of the First World War when approached about contributing military chaplains, Toronto Provincial Patrick Mulhall offered Fr. O’Hare for service. In September 1918, Fr. O’Hare was accepted as a chaplain, serving in Saskatchewan bases near Regina and was demobilized in the spring of 1919.

WORLD WAR II

Fr. Gerard Campbell, C.Ss.R. (Army)

Commissioned in November 1942, Fr. Campbell was attached to the Basic Training centre in Grande Prairie until April 1944. He proceeded overseas and served with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany from July 1944 until July 1945 when he returned to England and served in a repatriation depot until January 1946. Returning to Canada, he was attached to No 13 District depot in Calgary and was discharged with the rank of captain in September 1946.

Fr. William Cassidy, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In November 1942, Fr. Cassidy joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a chaplain with basic training in Lachine, Quebec and serving in Lethbridge, Calgary and Goose Bay, Labrador. While in Lethbridge, he wrote a report, analyzing the situation of women in the Air Force. He was involved in entertainment, sports and libraries while he was a chaplain and started devotions to Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Labrador, where he was assigned for three years. Fr. Cassidy worked with the First Nations in Labrador, whom he found as the “most abandoned people”. He was demobilized from the military with the rank of flight lieutenant in November 1947.

Fr. Thomas Coyne, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

While assigned as the first superior at Claresholm, Alberta (1941-1942), Fr. Coyne served as a parttime chaplain to the nearby RCAF base before assuming full-time chaplaincy duties in October 1942. Posted to No. 2 Wireless School in Calgary (Feb-Oct 1943), he was subsequently stationed at RCAF headquarters in London, England for two years. Back in Canada in late summer 1945, he served in North West Command in Edmonton and RCAF station in Centralia, Ontario. He was demobilized under the rank of squadron leader in the spring of 1948.

Fr. John Cunningham, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

Fr. Cunningham served as chaplain at the Royal Canadian Air Force bases in Moose Jaw and Caron (1941-1943), receiving the title of an honorary flight lieutenant.

Fr. Hugh Dillon, C.Ss.R. (Army)

Fr. Dillon received his commission as a captain in January 1945 and was stationed in Brockville and Winnipeg before being transferred overseas to England with the Second Canadian Infantry Reinforcements and No. 9 Canadian Repatriation Depot. He served in Germany with the Second Fourth Light Anti-Craft Regiment after VE Day. He was demobilized in March 1946 in the United Kingdom.

Fr. William Enright, C.Ss.R. (Army)

The first chaplain of the armed forces in Canada, Fr. Enright joined in November 1939 and began his service with the Prince Edward Island Highlanders, and later transferred throughout the Maritimes and in Newfoundland. Reaching the rank of honorary major and senior army chaplain, he was discharged from the army in February 1946, continuing to serve as a chaplain in the reserves until 1949 and then supplementary reserves until 1957.

Fr. Raymond Fitzgerald, C.Ss.R. (Army)

Fr. Fitzgerald joined the chaplaincy services of the army, serving in Fredericton and Saint John (1945-1946).

Fr. Frederick Galbraith, C.Ss.R. (Army)

Enlisting as an army chaplain in July 1944, Fr. Galbraith received training in Midland, Ontario and then served in the Halifax region before going overseas in May 1945. From England, he accompanied the troops during the liberation of Europe and was demobilized in September 1946 from the army with the rank of captain.

Fr. Edward Gillen, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In July 1940, Fr. Gillen began as a part-time chaplain at the RCAF base in Saint John and received his commission in February 1941. Posted to Dartmouth, NS (February 1941-April 1942) and Sydney, NS (April-June 1942), he was transferred to RCAF headquarters in London, England (June 1942-December 1943), covering the chaplaincy area of Canadian units in Northern Ireland and Scotland and its islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Orkneys and Shetland. After being stationed in Northern Ireland (December 1943-March 1944) with the flying boat unit of the Sunderland and Catalina airplanes, he was attached as the chief staff chaplain to the Canadian units in the Tactical Air Force in London before D-Day. From the Normandy landing until February 1945, he served in Normandy, Belgium and Holland. Returning to London (February-July 1945) as assistant chief chaplain, he returned to Canada in July 1945 and was discharged from the Air Force in September 1945 as a wing commander .

Fr. Edward Howard, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In 1940, Fr. Howard joined the Special Reserve of the Royal Canadian Air Force as a chaplain, obtaining a commission as an honorary flight lieutenant posted to No. 1 Technical Training School at St. Thomas, Ontario. In May 1941, he was promoted to the rank of honorary squadron leader and was posted to No. 4 Training Command in Regina as a command chaplain for Roman Catholics and later as a wing commander. On leaving Regina for Calgary in 1944, he took a demotion to remain in the Forces. His next postings were in Toronto (1944), Trenton (1945) and Halifax (1945) where he was again promoted to the rank of wing commander. In November 1946, he was transferred to the reserves in Saint John and was released from the RCAF on September 30, 1947. As a chaplain, he had flown over 100,000 miles and recorded 650 hours flying time, travelling in Canada, the United States, Labrador and Newfoundland. He had served as command chaplain, one of the highest-ranking chaplains (1941-1946).

Fr. Lucian Howard, C.Ss.R. (Navy)

Fr. Howard served as a chaplain of the Royal Canadian Navy (1943-1945) in the Maritimes either in military hospitals or on ships in port, including the Prevost, Stadacona, H.M.C.S. Cornwallis, Peregrise, Captor, Brunswicker and York.

Fr. Francis Kearney, C.Ss.R. (Navy)

The 51-year-old Fr. Kearney enlisted in June 1943 as a navy chaplain. For the next three years (1943-1946), Fr. Kearney was posted to provide pastoral care on HMCS York at Toronto and HMS Stadacona and HMCS Donnacona in Halifax.

Fr. Clayton Kramer, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In September 1942, Fr. Kramer was accepted as a chaplain for the Royal Canadian Air Force with the rank of flight lieutenant and was posted across the country. He served briefly in Lachine, Quebec, Brandon, Manitoba (1942-1943), Dafoe Saskatchewan (1943-1945) and ended his service in Gander, Newfoundland (February 1945-May 1946), where he was the remaining chaplain. After Fr. Kramer’s discharge in May 1946, Bishop Joseph O’Neill of Harbour Grace praised Fr. Kramer in a letter: “At Gander the people still speak of Father Kramer, who was with them a long time, and express their appreciation of his zealous efforts for their spiritual welfare.”

Fr. Frederic Lane, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

Recommended as a part-time chaplain in June 1941 for the Crumlin Air School in London, Ontario, eight months later, Fr. Lane joined as a full-time war chaplain for the Royal Canadian Air Force and was stationed at Toronto, Trenton, Ontario and Halifax before going overseas to be stationed at the RCAF headquarters in London in 1942. Entering a nomadic life, moving with Canadian units in southern England, he wrote in January 1944 to Toronto Provincial Superior James Fuller about conditions: “ … The airfield is buzzing with rumours, but they are only the chatter of the young lads, who make up our ground crews. Of course, you know we are a mobile outfit now – our fighter squadrons and can be on the move in quite a short time. With all the talk of a second front, our life is rather exciting – our work gratifying as well as the results.”

On D-Day, Fr. W.V. McCarthy, chief Roman Catholic RCAF chaplain, wrote that Fr. Lane, who rose to the rank of squadron leader, served in the 2nd Tactical Air Force, accompanying “our personnel on ‘D-Day’ on a hazardous and dangerous journey across the channel to what then looked like almost certain death.” With the troops freeing Normandy, France, Belgium and Holland until 1945, Fr. Lane found the experiences of the outmissions of Yorkton and Grand Prairie prepared him well for the constant moves and outdoor living.

Upon returning to Canada in 1945, he worked in staff posts in Lachine, Quebec; Winnipeg; Regina; Edmonton; Vancouver; Rivers, Manitoba and Comox, (Victoria) BC. He retired to the reserves in 1947 and returned to London, Ontario. He kept his reserve standing until 1956.

Fr. John Lockwood, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In 1943, Fr. Lockwood volunteered as a chaplain with the Royal Canadian Navy and was posted in Halifax (1943-1944) and the British Columbia bases of Esquimalt (1944-1945) and Prince Rupert (1945-1946).

Fr. Wallace Mallone, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In 1942, Fr. Malone joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a chaplain, stationed in Brandon, Manitoba, Toronto and Halifax before being posted overseas in September 1942. For the next 17 months, he served at the southwest English bases in Exeter and Devon, visiting 50 RAF stations, where the Canadian airmen were attached. In February 1944 and for the next 14 months, he was transferred to Castle Archdale, Northern Ireland, the coastal command anti-submarine patrol station with two Canadian squadrons. From the base in Warrington, England, he returned to Canada and was posted to the transport training base at Comox, BC, where he was discharged as a honorary squadron leader in March 1946.

Fr. Joseph McGreel, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In May 1942, Fr. McGreel was accepted as a chaplain for the Royal Canadian Air Force. For most of the war, he served at the air field in Alliford Bay on Moresby Island of the coastal Queen Charlotte Islands off the western coast of British Columbia. He was discharged in 1945 from St. Thomas, Ontario.

Fr. William McGuigan, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

In 1942, Fr. McGuigan joined the Royal Canadian Air Force as a part-time chaplain at the flying training school near Yorkton, Saskatchewan for two years while attached at St. Gerard’s parish (1942-1944). Upon becoming a full-time chaplain, he was stationed in British Columbia at the Vancouver repair depot (1944-1945) and Alliford Bay, the operational station in the Queen Charlotte Islands for the final seven months before being discharged in November 1945.

Fr. Austin McGuire, C.Ss.R. (Army)

In February 1941, Fr. McGuire was accepted as a chaplain in the Canadian army while serving in Nelson, BC and was stationed to the Pacific Command Victoria, Esquimalt BC. At the end of that year, he arrived in England in time for Christmas Midnight Mass. For the next three years, he was stationed with the Lorne Scot Regiment, Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, Canadian Forestry Corps and Royal Canadian Engineers. In August 1944, he landed in Normandy with the 13th and 8th British Corps and followed their northwestern European campaign from Bayeux to Berlin as well as documenting it through photographs. He was in Holland on VE day. At Belsen, he attended the war trials. In a letter, he recounted the testimony of a Polish Jewish doctor, who testified that in her opinion 4,000,000 Jews had been killed in the gas chambers. In September 1946, he arrived in Halifax and moved to Calgary, where he was discharged with the rank of captain in November 1946.

Fr. Leonard McGuire, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

Like his brother Austin, Fr. McGuire was accepted as a chaplain and was stationed at the manning depot of Brandon, Manitoba (1941-1942) before being transferred to the base at Dartmouth, NS (1942-1943), Goose Bay, Labrador (1943-1944), and then three-months with a bomber squad in Iceland (1944) before returning to Dartmouth/Halifax (1944-1946). He was discharged in March 1946.

Fr. Michael McIsaac, C.Ss.R. (Navy)

In November 1941, Fr. McIsaac reported to the naval barracks in Halifax as a chaplain for the Royal Canadian Navy, serving at HMCS Stadacona, RCN barracks at Halifax and on the staff of the Commanding Officer Reserve Divisions in Toronto. In January 1944, he was appointed senior chaplain on the staff of the Senior Canadian Naval liaison officer in London, England during the buzz bombing. Later that year, he was named as the Command Roman Catholic Chaplain to the Canadian Naval mission overseas. A year later, he was appointed Command Roman Catholic Chaplain to the flag officer Newfoundland Force in St. John’s. In August 1945, he went to naval headquarters and became the Roman Catholic chaplain of the fleet the following month for 12 years until 1957.

Fr. Cecil Moreau, C.Ss.R. (Navy)

In 1942, Fr. Moreau joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a chaplain. First stationed in Halifax, he went overseas, stationed in the English ports of Southampton and later Portsmouth. In the days approaching D-Day, he was assigned to the 31st mine sweeping flotilla that preceeded the Normandy invasion by intercepting and destroying German E-Boats. Although it was against regulations, Fr. Moreau accompanied the crew to boost their morale on the dangerous mission. Night after night under enemy fire, Fr. Moreau was found encouraging the men and presiding over funerals of the casualties. For this devotion to duty, bravery and meritorious service, Fr. Moreau was awarded the ‘operational’ Order of the British Empire as the only navy chaplain to do so. In the City of Toronto, his name was inscribed in the Honour Roll of Heroes. In a letter to Provincial Superior James Fuller, he commented: “I often think the war is doing God’s work in its own way. Some of these fellows have not been near the Sacraments in years and now they come…” He was discharged in September 1947.

Fr. Thomas Morley, C.Ss.R. (Army)

Just after the outbreak of the Second World War in February 1940, Fr. Morley was appointed as a part-time chaplain for the troops stationed in the Saint John area and was requested as a full-time chaplain in September of that year. He left Saint John in May 1941 and was posted at Camp Borden, Ontario, where he was assigned to the Cape Breton Highlanders, who were part of the 5th Canadian Armoured Division. Shipped overseas in November 1941, Fr. Morley provided pastoral care for the Cape Breton Highlanders until September 1943 when the 41-year-old chaplain decided that the physical demands of accompanying the Highlanders into action were too strenuous. Instead he was assigned to hospital chaplaincy, beginning with No. 7 Canadian General Hospital and moving to various locations, spending a year at No. 1 CACRU. In July 1945, Fr. Morley was appointed in charge of the Canadian Army Retreat House, where he preached, celebrated Mass, presided at Benediction and Stations of the Cross as well as leading the rosary and spiritual readings. Awarded the Canadian Defence medal, he returned to Canada in November 1945 and retired from active duty in January 1946.

Fr. John Naphin, C.Ss.R. (Army)

After the outbreak of the Second World War, Fr. Naphin served as a part-time civilian chaplain at the Canadian Army Basic Training Centre in Grande Prairie. In 1941, the Canadian army requested Fr. Naphin as a full-time chaplain. After further training in Sussex, NB, Fr. Naphin with the rank of captain was sent overseas, arriving in England on June 2, 1942. Assigned to the infantry troops of the Fourth Canadian Division in England, Fr. Naphin on July 23, 1944 accompanied the liberating troops of the First Canadian Army (Fifth Canadian Anti-tank regiment) from Caen into Oldenburg, Germany. He wrote: “I have been both at the front lines and a couple of miles behind. It is noisier behind than at the front.” As the sole chaplain, he needed mobility and travelled by truck to reach men in the division. In October 1944, he replaced a chaplain killed in action with the infantry battalion of the Canadian 4th Division until May 1945. Two months later, Fr. Naphin was transferred to the 2/3 Infantry Division of the Occupation forces and eventually went to Aurick, Germany. Arriving in England on January 7, 1946, he returned to Canada a month later and was discharged to the reserve list on March 29, 1946. In recognition for his service, Fr. Naphin was honoured by the British government as Member of the Order of the British Empire. After the war, he wrote: “There is little confidence in the world. There are so many men who feel that their friends died in vain. The army life could be one of the most noble lives of all, it asks the most of man, the willing giving of his life.”

Fr. Thomas O'Brien, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

At the end of the Second World War, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) with the rank of honourary flight lieutenant as one of the last full-time chaplains. Assigned to the RCAF bases in Claresholm, Alberta (1944-1945) and at Alliford Bay and Patricia Bay, BC (1945), he was discharged in August 1946.

Fr. Robert O'Donnell, C.Ss.R. (Navy)

In May 1943, Fr. O’Donnell served as a chaplain of the Royal Canadian Navy aboard a series of Eastern Canadian ships, including the York, the Avalon, the Peregrine, the Scotian and the Stadacona. Discharged in 1946, he was placed on the retired list as an officer of the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve until 1947.

Fr. John O'Reilly, C.Ss.R. (RCAF)

As part of the war effort, Fr. O’Reilly served as a chaplain (1942-1944) at the southern Ontario Royal Canadian Air Force bases in London, Toronto and Fingal.

Fr. Daniel O'Sullivan, C.Ss.R. (Army)

From Charlottetown, Fr. O’Sullivan enlisted in the army as a chaplain and was commissioned as a captain. For a few months, he was assigned to the Toronto Military Hospital and No. 2 District Depot, Stanley Barracks, Toronto. In December 1940, he was transferred to Newfoundland until May 1942 when he was moved to Military District No. 6 as chaplain at Sydney Barracks, NS (May 1942-March 1943). Returning to Newfoundland, he served as the senior military chaplain in Gander (March-November 1943) and was promoted to the rank of major. Back in Toronto (November 1943-May 1946) in the capacity of District Chaplain, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was discharged in May 1946.

Fr. J. Arthur Ryan, C.Ss.R. (Army)

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Fr. Ryan received permission to volunteer as an army chaplain. Enlisting in the Canadian Chaplain Service in June 1940, he was shipped overseas to England with the Eighth Canadian Army Field Regiment (1940-1942). Reassigned to the Third Medium Regiment (1942-1943), he was promoted to major and senior chaplain in 1943, preaching to the troops over the British Broadcasting Corporation in February of that year. Transferred to the Canadian Base Reinforcement Group (CBRD) in the campaigns (July-December 1943) of North Africa and Italy, he joined the First Canadian Infantry Division (December 1943-April 1944). The 8th British Army was added to his chaplaincy through the Gustav, Hitler and Gothic Lines (April 1944-March 1945) and the final campaign in Holland (April-May 1945). His chaplain’s war diary is part of the holdings of the Archives Canada in Ottawa. Earlier in the war, he suggested a novitiate for himself after the war: “After so much untheological experience, my knowledge of theology is rapidly reducing itself to the Creed and the 10 Commandments and of Canon Law to the Chaplains’ faculties.”

KOREAN WAR

Fr. Walter Mann, C.Ss.R. (Army)

In January 1951, Fr. Mann enlisted as a chaplain of the Canadian army, serving on bases at Whitehorse, Edmonton, Petawawa, Ontario and Wainwright, Alberta. Overseas in Japan and Korea, he was attached to the 3rd battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. From the Korean War, he was awarded the United Nations Service Medal and Korea Medal. Canadian Army Major Paul Dufour of chaplain services praised Fr. Mann as “a Redemptorist Father loved and revered by all.”

This article was first published in the November 2017 edition of "Community Connections", the official newsletter of the former Redemptorist Province of Edmonton-Toronto. To see the photos of these confreres, please download the file below.