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November 11 – Lest We Forget
TWO FRIENDS ON THE BATTLEFIELD
n October 1915 a young student at St. Bonaventure's College, P.J. Kennedy, who was later to become a priest in the Archdiocese of St. John’s, Newfoundland , observed:
"On Thursday, October 1, the Catholic members (of the First Newfoundland Regiment) went in a body to Confession and Communion. It was an impressive sight to see this touching portrayal of Catholic faith shown forth in that hour of trial and excitement... [Two days later] on October 3... the line of march to the Florizel [the ship that was to take them to the battlefields of Europe] was lined by thousands of spectators. Heartbroken parents said a fond goodbye to sons whom they had looked forward to as support and comfort in old age..." 
Having trained for war together they also died together. It must not be forgotten that these boys (and many were in their teens) had been friends for life, they had grown up in the same neighbourhoods, gone to the same schools, played on the same sports teams. When death knocked it was not impersonal.
An obituary for a 17 year old Private Gordon A. Mullings tells of the friendship and bonds that developed between these young men. The obituary published in the Adelphian, the school journal of St. Bonaventure’s College reads:
"Amongst the gallant young soldiers (that served with Gordon A. Mullings) was his school chum, Jack Oliphant. The boys' attachment ripened under the associations of barrack, camp, trench and battle, into a romantic soldierly friendship. The two young men set sail together from St. John's.
They fought side by side in France and were wounded about the same time. On the very day that Gordon arrived in Scotland from hospital he found that Jack had already recovered from his wounds and had been picked in the draft to return to France. He immediately begged the O.C. for permission to accompany his chum and on December 30 the two young St. Bon's Boys found themselves once again in the war zone surrounded by the grim realities of the modern battlefield.
Just three weeks later the golden cord which bound the two friends were parted for on January 20, Gordon made the supreme sacrifice of his life for the cause of the Empire, but love ceases not with the grave, Christian hope whispers of a reunion which will know nothing of separation.." (St. Bonaventure’s College, Adelphian, St. John’s, NL. March 1917 page 46)
For more information on this and other related subjects contact the Archives of the R.C. Archdiocese.
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Larry Dohey
Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. John’s
P.O. Box 1363
St. John’s, NL
A1C 5M3
709-726-3660
E-mail: archives@nf.aibn.com
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