Title: God's dodger
Description: God's Dodger takes its title from a stupid remark by Lady Astor in the British House of Commons, that the troops fighting and dying in Italy in World War 2 were "D-Day Dodgers." The hero of this non-fiction account, Captain the Reverend Russell Oliver "Rusty" Wilkes, was chaplain to the famous Royal Canadian Regiment. Written in the first person from notes made by the author from interviews with Rusty, the story traces his early ministry in the northern Ontario bush and Manitoba prairie country through the hungry '30's and his chaplaincy in the war years. Earning the Military Cross for heroism under fire, he had no patience with the chaplains who were "so heavenly they were of no earthly use." Told with humour and candour, this is the story of a "soldier's padre."
Subjects: Anglican Church of Canada, Biography, Canada, Canada. Canadian Army, Canadian Personal narratives, Chaplains, Military Chaplains, World War, 1939-1945, Italian campaign
Places: Canada
People: Rusty Wilkes (1905-)
Time periods: 1920's, the Great Depression, World War 2.