Letter from Fr Joseph Wrafter SJ to his Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 6 July 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Fr Joseph Wrafter

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Letter from Fr Joseph Wrafter SJ (1865-1934) to his Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ (1867-1941) in which he describes the conditions of his work as a chaplain at the Front to the 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers, B.E.F. 'I have never been away from these horrible guns except one day' (6 July 1916). He writes about the work of his battalion and the Leinsters.Fr. Joseph Wrafter SJ, M.C. was born 9 August 1865, Rosenallis, Queens County (Laois) and died 5 September 1934, Dublin. He schooled at St. Stanislaus, College, Tullabeg. He entered the Society in 1883 and Fr. Wrafter taught in Clongowes Wood College for a number of years before going to Louvain for philosophy in 1893 and returning in 1896. From 1900-03, he was Minister at University College, St. Stephen’s Green. On returning from the war, he was Minister in Leeson Street, Clongowes Wood College and University Hall. Fr. Wrafter served as chaplain in France and Belgium and to interned prisoners in Holland (1915-1919).

 Irish Jesuit Archives IE IJA/CHP1/63/10, IE IJA/CHP1/63/10 https://letters1916.ie/item/702 English Fr Joseph Wrafter 1916-07-06 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers, B.E.F., France Thomas V Nolan St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin Male World War I (1914-1918)

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 8th R. Munster Fus. B. E. F. July 6/16 My dear Fr. Provincial, P.C. I am a very bad correspondent & the atmosphere we live in out here is not conducive to letter writing. Since I came back on Holy Thursday I have never been away from these horrible guns except one day for a few hours when I took a ride a few miles back into the country for the sake of feeling I was out of range. We are back 'resting' now for eight days, but we are not in a very restful place. The Huns shell it several times every day & there are frequent casualties. Before we came here on Tuesday I had been 16 days in the front line & during that time I never had my clothes off. The Battalions relieve one another every four days, but the Leinsters had no chaplains of their own so I stayed on with them & so was in the whole 16 days. I have now been appointed officially to the two battalions & as they always relieve each other I expect I shall get as much of the game as I want. It is a very terrible thing where a show is on & no one I know wants any more of it than he has seen if he has been in it at all. But of course all have to see it through & the men are really splendid. The last sixteen days was the worst turn we had. There was a constant strain the whole time. Between killed & wounded we lost in that period quite a fourth of our Battalions & the Leinsters nearly as many. But they did good work & the enemy got a good deal more than they gave. It is dreadful to see the way the poor fellows are broken & mangled sometimes out of all recognition. When they are killed it does not seem so bad, but it is terrible to see the horrible wounds & the way the poor fellows suffer. Their sufferings are added to by the inconvenience of the trenches, where it is often difficult for two men to pass. It often takes hours to get them as far as the regimental aid post which is by no means a luxurious place — often only a very small dug-out & the wounded can only be sent down to the clearing stations by night when it is dark, so that they are often 18 or 20 hours waiting. It can't be helped but it causes much suffering to the poor men. Well, there is no use telling you about war as you have had so much of it in Dublin that you know all its phases. I suppose Visitations are all over by this & the villas in full swing. I hope you & all in the Province are very well. You are, I am sure busy with retreats just now. I hope we shall also soon be engaged in that way — the retreat of the Huns. With very kind regards to all & asking a remembrance in your Holy Sacrifices Believe me, my dear Fr. Provincial. Yours most sincerely in XT J Wrafter S.J. 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers, B.E.F., France Letter from Fr Joseph Wrafter SJ to his Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 6 July 1916 St Francis Xavier's, Upper Gardiner Street, Dublin Letter from Fr Francis M Browne SJ to Fr Thomas V Nolan SJ, 21 August 1916Letter from Fr Henry Gill SJ to Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 11 July 1916Letter from Fr Patrick Morris SJ to Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 24 September 1916Letter from Fr Jerome O'Mahony SJ to his Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 25 May 1916Letter from Fr Daniel Roche SJ to his Father Provincial, Thomas V Nolan SJ,, May 1916Letter from Fr Joseph Wrafter SJ to his Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 6 July 1916Letter from Mr Henry A. Johnston SJ to Fr Thomas V Nolan SJ, 17 February 1916Letter from Fr Nicholas J Tomkin SJ to Fr Thomas V Nolan SJ, 7 June 1916Letter from Fr James Brennan SJ to Fr Thomas V Nolan SJ, 21 August 1916Letter from Fr Henry Gill SJ to Fr Thomas V Nolan SJ, 3 May 1916 Fr Joseph Wrafter Letter from Fr Joseph Wrafter SJ to his Father Provincial Thomas V Nolan SJ, 6 July 1916