Honorary Captain (Reverend) Donald George MacPhail one of five in the Canadian Army Chaplains Department to have made the Ultimate Sacrifice during the Great War. Rev MacPhail’s body recovered from the sinking of Llandovery Castle, claiming the lives of 234 medical personnel, soldiers and sailors, including fourteen nursing sisters.
As the ship going down, MacPhail, who had seen action as chaplain to the 6th and 12th Brigades at the Somme and Vimy, last seen assisting the nurses into a lifeboat later sucked under the stern as the ship sank. Just one nurse survived from that boat. Eventually a notice received in London that MacPhail’s body had been recovered on the French coast, and he had been buried in Lamphaul, France. His widow sponsored a memorial window in the Cayuga church after the war. On the inscription she had placed: “He that believeth in Me hast everlasting life”. He is commemorated at Queen’s University in the John Deutsch centre Memorial Room.
Canadian Chaplain Service
During the Great War, of 447 Canadian chaplains serving overseas, 11 died on active service, but only five killed in action – Georges Étienne Rosario Crochetière, William Henry Davis, Eric F Johnston, Webster Henry Fanning Harris, and Donald George MacPhail.
Reverend Donald George MacPhail
Born 23 April 1864 in Cayuga, Ont. Occupation: “Minister of the Gospel.” He belonged to the 37th Haldimand Rifles. M.O. Wilson Herald, 72nd Battalion, CEF.
At the age of 52, MacPhail enlisted, at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the Chaplains Service of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. (CEF). During his time at Cayuga, he had been Chaplain to the 37th Haldimand Rifles militia regiment, a unit in which two companies comprised entirely of Six Nations Iroquois from the Grand River community south of Brantford. There were some Indian soldiers from Caughnawaga, St. Regis, and Manitoulin Island.
72nd Battalion
At Halifax MacPhail assigned to the 72nd (Seaforth Highlanders) Battalion, Canadian Infantry. ToS and posted to 72nd Battalion, 5 May 1916.
CASC
Captain Donald George MacPhail attached to CASC 21 August 1916.
6th Inf Bde
Proceeded overseas with the 6th Inf Bde, 1 November 1916. The 6th Canadian Infantry Brigade comprised of the 27th (City of Winnipeg), 28th (North West), 29th (Vancouver) and 31st (Alberta) Battalions.
While serving with 12th Inf Bde HQ, Captain Donald George MacPhail admitted to No. 12 CFA with bronchitis on 25 June 1917, discharged to Base on 20 July 1917.
SoS 12th Inf Bde and posted to Depot, Shorncliffe, 15 September 1917. Granted leave from 16-20 September 1917 and posted to duty in the London Area.
The Sinking of Llandovery Castle in the Great War
MacPhail posted to duty with Llandovery Castle 5 June 1918. His first sailing rather uneventful. The events of the sinking of Llandovery Castle previously covered by CEFSG.
Body recovered 1 September 1918 by French Authorities, and buried in the cemetery of Ouessant, France (off the coast of Brest).
The body of Captain W J Enright one of the few recovered from the sinking of Llandovery Castle. His body recovered four months after the sinking on the west coast of France, near Calais. Thirteen Nursing Sisters and Matron Margaret Marjory Fraser commemorated on the HALIFAX MEMORIAL.
Knox Church, Cayuga
Lampaul Churchyard, Ile D’ouessant
This island gave its name to the commune, of which it forms the majority of the territory. It is part of the Armorique Regional Natural Park and the Iroise Marine Natural Park. This island in the Ponant the last stop before the Americas. Sailors nicknamed it “The high island”, “the island of terror”, “the island of shipwrecked people”, for its reefs, its fog one day out of four, and its currents, such as the Fromveur, one of the strongest in Europe.
“He who sees Ouessant sees his blood,” says a Breton saying. There are 2 casualties, plus 3 unidentified. Due to its geographical location and its navigational aids, Ouessant nicknamed the “sentinel island.” This expression is frequently used in tourist publications and reports.
South-East corner. MacPHAIL The Rev. DONALD GEORGE 55 27/06/1918 Chaplain Canadian Army Chaplains Department LAMPAUL CHURCHYARD, ILE D’OUESSANT SON OF DONALD AND CHRISTINA MACPHAIL, OF PERTH, ONTARIO; HUSBAND OF LOUISA B. MACPHAIL, OF 35, KING ST. WEST, KINGSTON, ONTARIO, CANADA.
The other identified casualty, Captain Samuel John Green, S.S. “Ashby,”, Mercantile Marine, aged 45. Son of Samuel and Jane Green, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees; husband of Emma Green, of Norwood, St. Dogmael’s, Pembrokeshire.
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