Reverend J E G Quinn MC

Seven ms diaries recording his career as a Chaplain in France and Belgium, the UK; the Western Desert, Syria, Tunisia, and Italy, May 1940 - September 1943, including: active service as a padre with the 5th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment in Belgium, May 1940; with British Troops in Northern Ireland in Belfast, April 1941; Embarkation Leave in London during the Blitz, April - May 1940, prior to the voyage to the Middle East, May 1941 - July 1941; in the Western Desert, notably during the siege of Tobruk, August 1941 - May 1942; at Aleppo in Syria, May 1942 - January 1943; with the 3rd Battalion Coldstream Guards in Tunisia and Italy, February 1943 - September 1943, notably at Medinine (March 1943) and the landings at Salerno (September 1943) where he was killed; and commenting on his duties; army life; the conditions; the panic in Brussels (May 1940); his arrest as a spy (May 1940); relations with his seniors, notably the Deputy Chaplain General and the Assistant Chaplain General, and his fellow chaplains; his female correspondents; religious services; morale of the troops and the 'bolshie spirit' of some men. Also included are 3 newspaper cuttings about his experiences as an Army padre (he was awarded the MC and twice wounded).

Unrestricted

The collection consists of seven manuscript diaries written by Quinn while on active service from 1940 until his death in action at Salerno in September 1943. In part the entries are lengthy and detailed, in others they provide only a passing record of the wartime work of a chaplain serving overseas. They reveal the difficulties and isolation of a padre, isolation because he was the only member of his Department serving with a unit or number of units. Fortunately the Rev Gough Quinn was young and found it easy to get on with officers and men alike.