"Besides the work of the hospitals there are pressing day duties to be performed. Burials must receive attention. Regiments must be visited. Many calls are received from anxious and troubled men. Even the firing line claims attention at times in the performance of duty. Wherever the men are standing to their duty and where the greatest service could be rendered there I have striven to be. Identification with the men is the key-note of a chaplain's work. He shares in the recreations, pleasures, dangers, and sorrows of his men, and is looked upon as the soldier's best friend.
"The strain is incessant, but the work is most encouraging and filled with unequalled opportunities.
"The men prove responsive to the spiritual touch and take full advantage of the means of grace and communion afforded.
"The circumstances of the front bring one into closest touch with the men in such a way as is not possible at home, and it is indeed a joy and a reward to feel that one is helping to keep the men in touch with the faith and spirit of their fathers."
The public imagination has been touched by the part the Salvation Army has played in this great struggle. Its contribution to the fighting line and to organised works of mercy has been striking. I am grateful, therefore, to General Booth for the opportunity of including in this volume an authorised account of the Salvation Army's war work, prepared by Brigadier Carpenter.
"It is impossible to give in the brief space available anything approaching a comprehensive idea of the work the Salvation Army is accomplishing in the various new situations created by the war. The more outstanding features of its activities can be summarised, but such a statement appears—as do statistics to a lay mind—cold, lifeless, uninteresting, whereas the tangible facts which they represent glow with life and beauty and inestimable worth.
"On the outbreak of hostilities General Booth held conferences with his chief officers at headquarters in London, to determine upon what lines of action Salvationists would be of most service to the authorities and the people in the national crisis.
"Our naval and military homes at Harwich, Chatham, Plymouth, and Dover, and as many of our social institutions and halls as might be found necessary, were placed at the disposal of the government; those not taken for military requirements were offered to local governments for use as relief and industrial centres.
"With the formation of the Expeditionary Forces, General Booth dispatched to the continent a contingent of officers to minister to the troops in any way that might be found possible. These officers were placed under the direction of Brigadier Mary Murray, Secretary of our Naval and Military League. It might be mentioned that the Brigadier is a daughter of the late General Sir John Murray. Miss Murray went through the South African war at the head of a Salvation Army Red Cross contingent, and for her services was awarded the South African medal.