In this week remembering the D-Day Normandy landings, I would like to have heard more about the role played by the Christian chaplains who accompanied the troops. Their stories have often been neglected – although Field Marshal Montgomery thought the presence of a padre was as important as the availability of artillery in any conflict. One person who has done research on the chaplains’ role is Sarah Meyrick, who delved into the history of the army chaplains for her novel The Restless Wave, which features a serving padre. Some 3,500 Allied chaplains served in the Second World War – all voluntarily. Between June and September of 1944, 21 British padres died in the conflict. They were unarmed – except for a Bible and a Communion set – so were unable to defend themselves under fire. Some held D-Day services crossing the Channel to France. Sarah, who is a lay canon at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, did some of her research at the Museum of Army Chaplaincy in Hampshire, drawing on diaries and letters of army padres. (The Museum has memorabilia of Christian chaplains from all denominations, including Catholic.) It seems to me that the chaplains’ work in supporting the troops, spiritually and sometimes physically, was more emphatically highlighted during the First World War, as illustrated by the famous picture of Fr Francis Gleeson of the Royal Munster Fusiliers blessing the troops before going into battle. However, a chaplain does feature in the famous D-Day movie The Longest Day, as my elder son reminds me. John Gregson plays Father Sam, who loses his Communion kit in the invasion melée – but to his great relief, later finds it.