THE OUTBACK HISTORIAN
  • Home
  • About
  • Stories
    • Share Your Story
  • Buy the Book
  • Contact
  • RESOURCES
    • Free Christian Resources page

The Champion Chaplain

11/11/2021

0 Comments

 
I remember being gripped when I first read Trooper Ion Idriess’ first hand accounts of the Light Horse in the Sinai desert in World War One. You can feel the breath of bullets sheering the emu feathers from his slouch hat as he and his mates galloped away under the rifle fire of the Turks. It was stirring stuff for a young bloke to absorb!
 
But there were mentions of something intriguing that happened to those young Australians on the long draining rides between battles. The hooves of their horses were kicking up the centuries of dust that covered adventures recorded in the Bible – in a very real sense they felt they were riding with the ghosts of Moses, Joshua and Caleb. The chaplains alongside the men became the storytellers bringing that history to life. Events that had remained locked inside a leather-bound book with gold-edging that belonged in church, suddenly became real.
 
Idriess told a very Australian story that happened when, led by amateur archaeologist Padre Maitland-Woods, the troopers carefully dug up the mosaic floor of an ancient church to ship back to Australia as a prize of war! The padre enthusiastically reported to the Army Records Division they’d also found the bones of a saint and got a request back asking for Trooper A. Saint’s dog tag as they had no record of him!
 
The She​llal mosaic is on display in the War Memorial in Canberra. It contains Jesus’ words ‘I am the True Vine’. I like to think of it as a tribute to the chaplains who brought the life of the True Vine to the young ANZAC’s. Chaplain David Garland was one of them and this is his story.
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

Video: An Anzac Relection

4/26/2020

0 Comments

 
A few thoughts from The Outback Historian   Paul Roe    Anzac Day 2020
Picture

Read More
0 Comments

    Author

    Join The Outback Historian, Paul Roe, on an unforgettable journey into Australia's Past as he follows the footprints of the Master Storyteller and uncovers unknown treasures of the nation.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    April 2020

    Categories

    All
    Anzac Day
    Bourke
    Christmas
    Colin Buchanan
    Concert
    Dubbo
    History
    Indigenous
    Listen
    Media
    Medical Story
    Newspaper Article
    New Year
    NSW
    Pilgrimage
    Podcast
    Radio
    Read
    Story
    Storytelling Lesson
    Sydney
    The Outback
    Tours
    Video
    Watch

    RSS Feed

Picture
Sponsored by
Picture
Contact Us
Privacy Policy
Multimedia Centre
Media Assets
Copyright 2020 by The Outback Historian
Site powered by ABRACADABRA Learning
  • Home
  • About
  • Stories
    • Share Your Story
  • Buy the Book
  • Contact
  • RESOURCES
    • Free Christian Resources page