The June meeting will be an on-line Zoom meeting with Linda Parker talking about “Woodbine Willie”. Details of how to join the meeting will be given in Andy Thompson’s June email. This will be sent out to everyone on our email list. If you don’t receive Andy’s emails contact him at andy.ewt@gmail.com
Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy became one of the most famous army chaplains of the First World War, earning the nickname Woodbine Willie' because of his habit of giving out both cigarettes and bibles to the men at the front. During the war he also earned the reputation of an unconventional preacher, who kept men spellbound with his passionate oratory. He believed that the place of the army chaplain in battle was near the action, with his troops, and earned a Military Cross for bravery at the Battle of Messines. It was during the war that he began writing the prose and poetry that were to make him famous.
Linda Parker is the author of the recent biography – “A Seeker After Truths: The Life and Times of G. A. Studdert Kennedy ('Woodbine Willie') 1883-1929”.