The Royal Air Force Chaplains' Association
Message from The Chaplain-in-Chief
The Venerable (Air Vice-Marshal) Dr Giles Legood QHC MBE RAF
A very warm welcome to this website where you can view the work of the Royal Air Force Chaplains’ Association. Whether you are a member of the Association or just browsing, you will recognise the excellence of the Association’s aims: the valued ties of friendship and support, the communications bridge between serving and retired members and the encouragement of prayer, both for each other and for the continued ministry of chaplaincy within the Royal Air Force community. As Chaplain-in-Chief I very much value the rich resources that lie within the Association and I pray that we can develop these yet further.
I hope that you enjoy reading these pages as together we seek ‘to serve and not to be served’.
Activities
Supporting serving and retired RAF Chaplains
Annual Reunion
Maintaining Fellowship
Prayer and Worship
Supporting Spiritual Life in the RAF
News and Information
Keeping in touch
OFFICERS OF THE RAF CHAPLAINS' ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE 2020
Chairman The Very Revd John Morley
01256 242609
revjmorley@talktalk.net
Secretary The Revd Dr Kevin Maddy
07484 770817
rafchapsassn@outlook.com
Treasurer The Revd Dr Peter Mills
07863 794793
pwmills@live.co.uk
Welfare Officer Mrs Kathie Morley
01256 242609
revjmorley@talktalk.net
Annual Meeting 2024
RAF Cosford
The RAF Chaplains' Association took place at RAF Cosford on 12 October and was based at the Chaplaincy Centre. The day commenced with a visit to the RAF Museum, based at Cosford, and after lunch members were addressed by the Chaplain-in-Chief, who gave an update on the Branch and the RAF, and by the Senior Chaplain at Cosford, who spoke about the contemporary Beliefs and Values Programme. Before an Act of Remembrance that concluded the day, the Annual General Meeting was held at which the Committee was re-elected for another year with the exception of the Welfare Officer who stood down and was replaced by Mrs Kathie Morley. It is hoped that the Annual Meeting next years will take place at the Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre at Beckett House, Shrivenham. The photograph on the right is of the Act of Remembrance held in the Chapel at Cosford.
D DAY 80th ANNIVERSARY
The 80th Anniversary of D Day will be commemorated on 6 June 2024. At first, it may be thought that this is an event that has little to do with the RAF or with the RAF Chaplains’ Branch. However, it should be remembered that, in the weeks leading up to D Day the RAF lost almost 300 aircraft and 2000 men (1500 killed) attacking invasion targets. By the end of the campaign in Normandy, the RAF, of Fighter, Bomber, Coastal and Transport Commands, had flown 225000 sorties, at the cost of over 2000 aircraft and 8000 aircrew. RAF Chaplains on home bases would have provided ministry to these returning, often bereaved air crew. On D Day itself 11590 Allied aircraft of all types were involved, 5656 of these were RAF – from RAF bases in the UK served by RAF Chaplains. Also, 1800 RAF personnel landed on the beaches on D Day, a number that increased to 3500 by 9 June, these were involved in airfield construction, aircraft servicing and forward controlling. It’s known that there were two RAF Chaplains on the beaches at the beginning of the invasion, there may have been more. Press the button to read more details of RAF Chaplains involved with D Day and the 1944 campaign in Normandy.
Peter Lee was a member of the Chaplains' Branch from 2001 until 2008 and is a member of the Chaplains' Association. Since leaving the Branch he has become an eminent academic and is currently Professor of Applied Ethics and Director of Security and Risk Research and Innovation at the University of Portsmouth. From 2008 to 2017 he taught Ethics and Laws of War at the RAF College, Cranwell. He is an expert on drone warfare and an Expert Adviser to the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Drones. He has written several books that may be of interest to Association members, all of these are listed on the Bibliography page. His most recent is Reaper, on the use of drones in warfare. Pete has had his own experience of psychological trauma as a consequence of warfare; push the button to see an article that he has written addressing this issue. He and a group of colleagues are about to embark upon a research project considering Moral Injury in relation to military Chaplains.
Padre Dennis Clark and his Family
Padre Dennis Clark served in the RAF Chaplains' Branch in the 1960s and 1970s during which time he had many postings both overseas and at home, including as Resident Chaplains at St Clement Danes. At the Chaplains' Association meeting in 2023 two of his children, Phil and Judith, gave an illustrated presentation on their family life. Push the button to view this. The photograph is of Padre Dennis Clark (left) with Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris (centre) and General James H Doolittle, USArmy Air Corps (right) outside St Clement Danes.
Biographies
The RAF Chaplains' Branch has existed for just over 100 years and during that time hundreds of Chaplains have served in its rank, some for two decades and more, others for a very few years. In an attempt to preserve the stories of the lives of as many of these Chaplains as possible, information is being sought from wherever it may be available and posted on this web-site. Clicking the header will reveal some of these biographies and allow access to them. Others follow on subsequent pages. If anyone has any information that would assist with this search, please contact the Website Administrator on rafassn@btinternet.com. The painting is of an unknown Second World War RAF Chaplain; as he is without a clerical collar he's likely to be from the Church of Scotland and Free Church section of the Chaplains' Branch.
The Padre and the Dance Girl
The Chaplain who shocked the Daily Mirror
Royal Air Force Chaplains are not quite the stereotype of a "Vicar". One such was Frank Cocks, the son of a clergyman, and a Cambridge Rugby Blue, who joined the RAFVR as a Chaplain on the outbreak of war in 1939. In 1940 he made the news when he proposed back stage at the Paradise Club in Regent Street in London's West End to a Dance Girl, Barbara Thompson, who he married against the advice of his father and his training incumbent. Against all expectations, the marriage was to last from 1940 until Barbara's death in 1989. They had two children. Frank served for 26 years in the RAF Chaplains' Branch, as Chaplain-in-Chief from1959 to 1965. After his RAF career he was Bishop of Shrewsbury for ten years. To read the story, press the buttons. The photograph is inside The Paradise Club, but there is no record of the date, possibly 1930s/40s?
St Clement Danes
The Central Church of the RAF
St Clement Danes, the beautiful Church in The Strand in London, was adopted by the RAF as its central church in 1958. As it had been severely bombed in May 1941, there was much renovation and re-building required before it could be brought back into use. Unfortunately, some of the effects of the bombing are beginning to make themselves apparent again in the structure of the church, especially the very fine spire. As a consequence, St Clement Danes has launched an appeal to attempt to raise the funds necessary to keep this magnificent church functioning as the central church of the RAF. Press the button below for more details about this appeal.
Presentation of a New King's Colour to the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force was presented with a new King's Colour by HM King Charles at Buckingham Palace on 27 April 2023. Before the Presentation the Colour was dedicated by the Chaplain-in-Chief. New King's Colours were presented to the King's Company, Grenadier Guards and the Royal Navy on the same occasion.
Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III
The Coronation of HM King Charles III took place at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May 2023. Some 4000 members of the British and Commonwealth Armed Forces participated in the procession that accompanied the King and Queen back to Buckingham Palace after the service. The Chaplain-in-Chief and the other Heads of Chaplancy (in the photograph on the left) participated in this procession. In the photograph on the right Padre Ashley Mitchell is about to board a train to London with personnel from RAF Halton who participated in the Coronation parade. Padre Mitchell was there to assist with the support of the personnel.
The Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
The Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizbeth II took place at Westminster Abbey on 19 September 2022. It was followed by a procession to Wellington Arch that featured approximately 3000 military personnel. Included in the procession were the Chaplain-in-Chief, The Venerable Giles Legood, the Church of Scotland and Free Church Principal Chaplain, The Revd Paul Mellor and the Roman Catholic Principal Chaplain, The Revd David Skillen. They can be seen in the photograph above following the representatives of Commonwealth Armed Forces and preceding the Senior Chaplains of the Royal Navy and Army.
The Chaplain-in-Chief at HM The Queen's Funeral
Remembrance
The photographs below are of two Chaplains who gave their lives whilst on active service. On the left is The Revd Cecil Pugh who died when he insisted on being lowered into the hold of the troop ship, SS Anselm, on which he was travelling in 1941, so that he could be with the men trapped there as the ship sank after being torpedoed in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross. On the right is The Revd John Wanless. He was a Methodist RAF Chaplain who was evacuated from Singapore when the Japanese attacked in 1941. Subsequently he was captured in Java. He was part of a "Death March" from Sandakhan to Ranau in Borneo in 1945. Although he survived this, he died in arrival in Ranau from Acute Entiritis, starvation and mistreatment. Like Cecil Pugh, he has no known grave.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Press the button to see a list of Chaplains who have died whilst serving in the RAF Chaplains' Branch.
The Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain Day is 15 September, the day when the Battle of Britain is commemorated. This is the day in 1940 when the Battle reached its climax and Hitler hoped that by carrying out a large day time raid on London, the RAF would be drawn into the air to be finally defeated by the Luftwaffe. This did not happen and 15 September could be claimed as the day that the RAF won the Battle - and saved Britain from invasion.
Press the button for resources to help with the commemoration of the Battle. Press the other button to read the story of one "The Few" who, despite being no less brave or prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice, is perhaps not so well known.
Reflections and Articles
Some reflections by Association Members, Chaplains and others
Brian McAvoy
In this article, written in 1984, Brian McAvoy, a member of the Chaplains' Association, reflects on the perennial issue of the tension, for the military Chaplain, of being both a priest and a member of an armed force. The photograph is of Brian early in his RAF career conducting a sick communion service in an RAF Hospital.
Teilhard de Chardin
In this piece the great spiritual writer Teilhard de Chardin reflects on his experiences as an Army Chaplain serving French forces in France during the First World War. This piece was translated by Lady Prue Gingell.
Anglicans and Aviators
The First World War and the Forgotten Origins of Royal Air Force Chaplaincy
Eleanor Rance, a former Chaplain, and Mike Snape have recently had published in The Journal of Religious History an article exploring the origins of RAF Chaplaincy when the RAF was formed in 1918. The article can be accessed at
https://onlinelibrary,wiley,com/doi/10.1111/1467-9809.12731
History
Unlike the Army and the Royal Navy a history of the Royal Air Force Chaplains' Branch has never been published. Work is ongoing and sources are being identified and information collated in the hope that a publication will one day be available. In the meantime, if you press the button you'll find a Pictorial History of the Chaplains' Branch compiled by the The Revd, Stephen Ware, a former RAF Chaplain. Press the other button for short history of the Branch written by The Revd Eleanor Rance, also a former Chaplain. If you have any relevant material please send it to the Website Administrator at rafassn@btinternet.com.
The Falkland Islands War 1982
The deployment of a Tactical Vicar
The operation to re-take the Falkland Islands after the invasion by Argentinian forces in 1982 was a massive undertaking. The piece available when the button is clicked describes the small but significant part played by the RAF Chaplains' Branch, in the form of Padre Phil Mortimer, in the months following the Islands' re-capture.
