ExtremeThrillseekers or Heroic Idealists Pt 2 (Reverend T Hardy)

The Reverend Theodore Bayley Hardy

Theodore Bayley Hardy was born on the 20th October, 1863 in Exeter. He was educated at home, then went on to the City of London School at nine, also London University.He was ordained a Deacon in the Church of England in December 1898, at the age of thirty-five, and ordained as Priest in St George's Church, Nottingham in 1899.

At the advent of WW1 , Hardy tried several times to join the Army Chaplain's Dept and was unsuccessful until 1916, when he was finally accepted as a Temporary Chaplain 4th Class (Captain) and was posted to France where in September and October 1917 he was firstly awarded the Distinguished Service Order and then the Military Cross for his gallant conduct in going out into the open to bring in wounded men. He later was awarded the Victoria Cross at the battle of Boucqoy, which was personally presented to him by King George V.

So what? Well, Hardy was a Non-Combatant, being an Army Chaplain and most importantly, he was a pacifist. It is said, that he hated war and conflict in its entirety- going against everything he genuinely believed as a Clergyman. Why join the Army? Well, difficult to say, but it is said that Hardy genuinely believed that those that needed conversion and indeed his Ministration were men who were about to die or indeed that were going to kill. He also believed genuinely in the cause of the Army he was part of, being the victim, not the aggressor- as such he felt the battle was God's battle, since the War was fought in defence not in attack. Any Military Historian will tell you the mindset of a Soldier tends to differ in the two instances (see "Case Studies in Motivation" and which is why Politicians are best advised to think long and hard before invading other people's countries.

Hardy would regularly go out into the Battle front, ministering and praying with the men, in the most horrendous conditions, literally with bombs exploding around him and on many occasions, he had to be dug out of a mound of earth after an explosion, usually with a cheeky grin on his face and a mouth full of mud (creative licence admitted) . He was constantly calm under fire and the men in battle genuinely believed he was charmed in that men would be literally dropping dead around him and he would calmly walk through without flinching, praying with the wounded/dying and encouraging the fighters and mostly recovering wounded soldiers and handing them over to the Medics. He would usually announce himself as he calmly walked to a section of men in intense combat, sometimes in pitch darkness, with a soft spoken "Its only me". It is said that he genuinely had no fear of death in that he believed that when God wanted him he would go as and when.

One of his most notable actions- whilst with the 8th Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, being to walk 400 yards into no-man's land to recover wounded soldiers (three times) on one occasion, personally digging out a wounded man and another dead soldier, buried under a heap of mud, raised by Shellfire- whilst under intense fire himslf. He then covered the wounded s0ldier's body with his own whilst waiting for a lull in the fire, praying constantly with the soldier and encouraging him. This continued over a number of days and he remained at his task doing what he did best. For the avoidance of doubt it must be said that Hardy did not fire a single shot at an enemy- even in self defence.

This situation continued for several days and Hardy was constant in his efforts, it is impossible to count how many wounded men,he dragged to safety at this battle. Neither is it possible to recount the number of lives he saved or acts of bravery that he exhibited. Always with a gentle manner and always soft-spoken, he was regarded by his men as super-human, not by any display of macho bravado but by consistent displays of unambiguous, cold, clear courage.

There have been many recipients of the Victoria Cross, many deserving, many secretly regarded by Mlitary historians as political and un-merited, being for acts which a Soldier is ordinarily paid to do i.e fight and stay alive. There have been many displays of Courage in war, however a number of authors would define courage in two ways- Hot Courage- an act of bravery or foolishness, at times done in the heat of the moment, at which the person responsible looks back and wonders how come. Then there are acts of cold courage by men and women in battle or in everyday life, consisting of consistent acts of exceptional bravery, selflessness and sacrifice. Hardy's acts were of the latter, over a period of two long hard years, day in day out.

Hardy did not survive the war, dying of Pneumonia after being hospitalised for a bullet in the thigh. The bullet did not kill him, rather the unsanitary conditions in the Hospital did- on October 18th 1918.

The paradox, is that a peacenik and Vicar, proved to be one of the most courageous and respected Soldiers in modern warfare (alongside the better known- Dr Noel Chavasse). A man who would probably be vilified in many circles, by the armchair soldiers who send other peoples children off to war. Thrillseeker or Idealist, the fact is its difficult to say. A man who tried for two years unsuccessfully to go to War and who rejected the option of demobilisation -offered by the King no less- whilst totally abhorring War and who often did things that might have been regarded as insane could be termed under each head, but I personally regard this mild-mannered Vicar as a true Idealist, naive he might be regarded by some, but he lived and died by the courage of his convictions, I'm not sure I could do that.

A word or two must be said about two other Army Chaplains who receivd the VC, Revd Noel Mellish and Rev William Addison, whose acts were of the same character as Hardy's and which had a profound effect on their men- whatever your view is on Religion. Here's a quote from an article about Mellish

"Another story worth relating is that of a cockney soldier who was one of those brought in by the padre. This man was well known for his anti religious views yet when settled in a base hospital after the fighting enquired "What religion is 'e".? When told he replied- "Well I'm the same as 'im now and the bloke as sez a word agen our church will 'ave 'is ****** 'ead bashed in."

I end this post by pointing out that Its noteworthy that no woman has ever received the Victoria Cross, inspite of the uncountable acts of bravery by Female members of the Medical Corps, who displayed the same level of cold courage and selflessness over the years that Hardy displayed. In addition, no woman has ever been given a medal for going through 12 hours of labour and childbirth (or for that matter bringing up children in a council estate or remote African/Asian Village- without support and holding down two jobs at the same time). I recommend a simulated version of pregnancy, Labour/Childbirth as part of Special Forces Training- now that would take cold courage.