Having volunteered as an Army Chaplain in Christmas 1914 and being assigned to the Durham Light Infantry and the Northumberland Fusiliers, he would venture to the killing fields of the Western Front armed only with his faith…

‘The Half-Shilling Curate’ - as The Rev. Herbert Butler Cowl was affectionately known to his family - saw his overseas service in the Great War cut short when he was severely wounded during a heavy bombardment at the front line. On his journey back to England, he was placed in a cot bed aboard the hospital ship Anglia, when she hit a German mine in the English Channel. While recovering, he was awarded the Military Cross for exemplary gallantry.

Now, 100 years on, Herbert’s granddaughter - Sarah Reay - is paying tribute to his story with the publication of his own personal letters and writings in her much-anticipated new book: The Half-Shilling Curate. A Personal Account of War and Faith 1914-18.

“My father, Michael Cowl (the son of ‘The Half-Shilling Curate’), encouraged me to nurture an inquisitive interest in history from an early age,” says debut author Sarah, aged 50, who lives in rural Northumberland with her husband and two sons.

“I’ve flown a First World War Tiger Moth and visited the sombre graves of those fallen in battle - spending years researching in locations across France, Belgium and England to become a self-taught historian. As a Christian, I became engrossed in my grandfather’s unique and intriguing tale of war and faith, which I have recounted in The Half-Shilling Curate.”

Published by Helion & Company Ltd, The Half-Shilling Curate was officially launched in the main library at the Literary and Philosophical Society in Newcastle yesterday (Thursday).

“Twenty years after the Great War ended, my grandfather had a family and was a Methodist minister living in Acton, when the Second World War was declared,” adds Sarah. “He stayed in London - enduring the Blitz. A spiritual man to the end of his life in 1971, this story of one man’s faith during war has a universal message, which is as relevant today as it was back then. I am immensely proud of my grandfather’s story, and to have been able to pay tribute to him in my book.”

The pre-release reviews of Sarah’s work from academics and members of the military have been hugely favourable, with retired Durham Light Infantry soldier General Sir Peter de la Billière stating: ‘A good chaplain is as valuable as a good general’; and this book proves it. I admire this book for bringing to life the pressures and courage of fighting and the horror and frequency of death in the frontline during the Great War’.

Duncan Rogers, Publisher at Helion & Company Ltd, adds: “It has been a privilege to help Sarah to tell this story, and I congratulate her wholeheartedly on her work that has special resonance for her family and those who remember The Rev. Cowl, but also has widespread appeal to those with an interest in the Great War and Army Chaplaincy.”