The vicar who went ‘over the top’ with just a Bible Story of ‘bravest man in the Army’ whose only defence was his faith
HE was the First World War chaplain dubbed “the bravest man in the army” by The Times.
Captain the Reverend the Honourable Maurice Berkeley Peel snubbed the rules of engagement by going over the top.
And he walked into No Man’s Land clutching only a walking cane – and a Bible.
But the heroics eventually cost him his life. Peel, from Tamworth and the grandson of Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, was killed by a sniper’s bullet at Bullecourt on May 14.
His remarkable story has been uncovered by historian Richard Pursehouse while researching Lacking Life’s Necessities, a book about Brocton PoW Camp on Cannock Chase.
Peel, son of House of Commons speaker Viscount Peel, was born on April 23, 1873 and educated at Winchester College. He gained an honours degree from New College, Oxford in 1895 and was ordained four years later. His ministries included stints as vicar of Wrestlingworth and Eyeworth, Bedfordshire, and he was rector of St Paul’s, Beckenham.
He may have been deeply religious, but Peel was a tough, steely action man who volunteered his services as a chaplain as soon as war broke out. During his time in the trenches, the cleric was honoured with two Military Crosses.
The Rev Peel was sent to France with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in October 1914, and soon earned respect for standing next to them in battle.
No wonder The Times, in its obituary, stated: “The death of the Rev. the Hon. Maurice Berkeley Peel was a surprise to no-one who knew the outstanding courage of a chaplain who was often called by his ‘immortal’ division ‘the bravest man in the Army’.
“It will none the less be bitterly mourned by those who knew his energy, sympathy, and power as a priest.”
Unarmed Peel would go over the top with the third wave of troops so he could provide comfort to those who had already fallen.
He came to the fore at the Battle of Festubert on May 15, 1915. As the Tommies nervously waited for the dreaded whistle – the signal to send them into No Man’s Land – the cleric passed a message along the line: “Remember this, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son”.
The 50-year-old, clutching his beloved Bible, went over with the first wave and was immediately hit.
Peel was shot four times, but refused to be helped until all the other men had been looked after.
Badly injured, he was sent back to England and, in the summer of 1915, was appointed Vicar of Tamworth, the very town his grandfather had represented in Parliament.
As he himself said a few days after his institution, he felt in coming to Tamworth that he was coming home.
Tamworth vicar, Rev J Reaney said of Peel’s time in the Staffordshire town: “All who heard him in public and private must have detected a just pride in his heritage. His mind often dwelt on the great members of his family.
“He drew inspiration from their deeds, was fired by their triumphs, and sought to be a worthy successor of the worthiest of them.”
The incumbency of this remarkable man would be tragically short.
Eager to do his bit, Peel again volunteered in 1917 and was sent to his old battalion. While in France he received a Bar to the Military Cross he gained at Festubert for his service to the wounded.
The citation stated: “He went out to the advanced patrols with two stretcher-bearers and succeeded in bringing in several wounded men.
“Later he worked for 36 hours in front of the captured position and rescued many wounded under very heavy fire.”
As The Times pointed out, the cleric’s apparent total disregard for his own safety meant he was des- tined to be a casualty of the bloody conflict.
At dawn on May 14, 1917, his brigade was put into a village called Bullcourt for 24 hours.
During that time the Germans made three desperate counterattacks, gaining a little ground each time. It was some of the hardest fighting of the war.
At some point Peel got out of his trench to visit a wounded man on an isolated post. Although he had opportunities to get back, he refused to do so until the last of the wounded had been cleared.
Standing up in broad daylight to bring in a wounded man, he was shot through the stomach.
Peel bled to death in No Man’s Land, a Royal Welsh Fusilier crawling out and staying with him till the end.
A few hours later, the Reverend’s body was buried a yard or two from the spot where he fell.
In Tamworth, they mourned the clergyman’s death.
Rev J Reaney said: “His willingness to face the ordeal of the war, after a previous experience in which he was severely wounded, and forced to return to this country; his presence with the men in the trenches; his search for the suffering when shells were falling around – these tell what stuff he was made of.”
A memorial window was put in the parish church of St Editha, where Rev Peel had so briefly served.
The bravest of the brave was married and had two children. He now rests in grave VA 31 of Queant Road Cemetery, Buissy.