"A Higher Calling" Exhibit on Canadian Military Chaplains Opens Wednesday, June 12 at NBMHM
An exhibit on chaplains in the Canadian military since the First World War opens at the New Brunswick Military History Museum at 1300 hrs on Wednesday June 12. This event is FREE and the public is invited to attend. Refreshments and light snacks will be served.
"A Higher Calling" tells the story of the service, contributions and history of Canadian military chaplains since the First World War up to today. The exhibit focusses on New Brunswick chaplains, including Rev. JJV Gaudet of Adamsville with the 165th Acadian Battalion, Rev. BJ Murdoch of Chatham with the 132nd Battalion, Rev. RM Hickey of Jacquet River with the North Shore Regiment and Rabbi AM Babb of Saint John with the RCAF. It also includes more recent examples of the chaplain services from the post-war era through to modern times.
This exhibit features artefacts from the collections of the NB Military History Museum, the Canadian Military Engineers Museum, the Saint John Jewish Historical Museum, the Musée acadien de l'Université de Moncton, as well as the Chaplain services at 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.
"A Higher Calling" also includes archival documents and photographs from the collections of the NB Military History Museum, the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, St. Joseph Region Archives of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph, Kingston, Ontario and Library and Archives Canada.
David Hughes is the manager of the NB Military History Museum. He says New Brunswick military chaplains stand out from their First and Second World War contemporaries in that at least three of them, BJ Murdoch, RM Hickey, and DL Giddings were accomplished writers whose books transcend the typical military history genre.
"Their primary role was spiritual," Hughes said, "but they were also storytellers, providing a personal glimpse into the extraordinary circumstances they and their soldiers faced in times of war and peace."
The New Brunswick Military History Museum is located at Bldg A-5 119 Walnut Street, 5th Canadian Support Division Gagetown in Oromocto.
For further information please contact:
David Hughes, Museum Manager
Email: david.hughes3@forces.gc.ca
Tel: 506-422-2000 ext. 2563
Michel LaRose, Museum Administrative Clerk
Email: michel.larose@forces.gc.ca
Tel: 506-422-2000 ext. 6201