CORRESPONDENCE.
THE LATE REV.
H. J. FLEMING.
The Ypres Times.
143
The proceeds will [go to the Ypres Church
Memorial Fund, which has been inaugurated by
the Ypres League to build a suitable memorial
in memory of those who fell in the salient. It
was the wish of the late Earl of Ypres, Lord
French, that a church should be erected there, in
view of the fact that hundreds of Britishers make
a pilgrimage to the salient every year. The sum
of £10,000 will be required to erect the memorial,
of which £4,000 has already been raised.
The Rev. P. B. Clayton writes
Your columns on Friday contained the news of
Herbert Fleming's sudden death, and the bio
graphical note tabulates the course of his quiet,
distinguished career. Let me add a glimpse into
the life that lay behind the frail spectacled figure,
who stood so shyly a few weeks back on the upper
steps of the Guards Memorial. In the things of
the spirit, the Guards had been his sons more
than any man'she was with them during a great
part of the War, and is surely now with them
once more. And not with them alone, for his
long years as padre to the R.M.A. gave him oppor
tunities he never missed of friendship and guid
ance to hundreds of R.A. and R.E. officers who
came within the moulding of those delicate, un-
deviating hands. Not a little of the upright
Christianity of the old Army was due, under God,
to Herbert Fleming and when the temporary
C.F.'s went out, wise soldiers would point him
out to them as the master-craftsman of his sacred
trade in Flanders. How many of the old padres'
Fellowship can see him still, serenely moving to
The corresponding member of the League, Mr.
E. Davey, is very grateful to the Rev. Mr.
Macready and his committee for granting the use
of the church to Major Thomson, who very kindly
gave of his best, and who helped in more ways
than one to the traders and others who displayed
bills announcing the lecture, and who also dis
posed of tickets, and to those people who gave
the lecture a welcome.—Weekly Telegraph,"
Saturday, December, 4>h, 1926.
and fro along the Ypres Canal bank, incapable
of doubt or fear. He once explained that the
fascinating truth about God is that God not only
loves men He likes them! No single sentence
could be a better key to the nature of Fleming's
own ministry in war and peace.
For the last few years his two main spheres
have been his beloved veterans at Chelsea and
the youngsters in Toe H. The long-past exploits
of the one and the eager ambitions of the other
take much time in telling, but Herbert was the
best listener I ever knew gifted with a sympathy
which simply took awTay our troubles. Added to
all this personal practice, he became, three years
ago, honorary administrative chaplain of Toe H.,
a post which he filled with such integrity and
fair-mindedness that chaplains of many different
denominations came to look upon him as their
best friend and wisest counsellor. When all is
known, I fancy that Herbert Fleming's life will
prove to have done as much as any other in our
day to advance God's Kingdom in the wills of
men.By kind permission of "The Times."
28th September, 1926.
To the Editor, The Ypres Times.
8th Division in War, 1914-1918.
Dear Sir,May I ask your assistance in bringing to the notice of any of your readers who may
have served with the 8th Division during the War the fact that the history of the Division is now in
the printer's hands and will be ready for distribution some time in November.
I am only encouraged to ask your help in this matter because we are trying to produce the history
at a price within the purchasing power of the rank and file as well as of officers who served with the
Division. The price (7s. 6d. post free), at which it will be sold, does not represent the cost of producing
a book which will compare favourably with many books produced at 25s. or more, and this low price
has indeed only been made possible by the balance of the 8th Divisional War Memorial Fund being
applied to the cost of production and by a great deal of work being voluntarily undertaken by old
members of the Division. Even so, the members of the History Committee may find themselves saddled
with a substantial personal responsibility if old members of the Division do not apply for the book
to the extent to which it is expected that they will do so.
