7th/9th (Highlanders) Battalion The Royal Scots
(The Royal Regiment)
Eve of Battle: November 1944
by the Rev. James S. Wood
Battalion Chaplain
That night a group of lads, a score maybe,
Came shyly to me with a strange request,
Or was it strange? Well acting for the rest
“Padre” their spokesman said “Think you that we
might of the sacrament partake tonight?”
Could I refuse? So there by candlelight
In a darkened cellar – not an upper room –
We shared communion in the shadowdy gloom
The broken bread was passed from hand to hand
The outpoured wine served in the common cup,
Was drunk in silence by that little band.
And when at last they each did eat and sup
All silently and thoughtfully they went away
Knowing full well within that very day
The sacramental words that I had spoken
And this red wine “My blood is shed for you”
Might well be said of them. Alas! ’Twas true
For ten of them their useful lives did give
I owe to their dying that I live
Those lads I knew and loved – I see them yet
And long as life shall last I’ll ne’er forget
The sacramental service with the men
Who sacrificed their lives on Walcheren.
This unforgettable little service was held very close to the enemy lines,
Flushing, November 2, 1944.
From my dear Friend Joe Brown to publish on my site