The men of the battalion to which Fr Doyle was attached, 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, at Christmas 1916 were lucky to be rostered out of the front line for the festive period. Some officers, including Fr Doyle, had a billet in the convent at Locre, whilst the men were in hut ... ... encampments close by. The battalion war diary records that on Christmas Day: “the men were given a holiday today, and their Xmas dinner was eaten in a large marque put up in the convent grounds. The dinner went off very well, and the men seemed to enjoy the day very much. ...

1 My Facebook notifications for Fr Willie Doyle, Worshipper and Worshipped, tell me that up to half a dozen people a day have looked at the page in recent weeks, no doubt prompted by all the screenings of EWTN’s film Bravery Under Fire and Pat Kenny’s book “To Raise the Fallen.” 2 Therefore, I will start posting on Facebook again about Fr Doyle, mainly his war writings and experiences, even though much of it has been posted there before. November was a significant month in his story and provides a framework to summarise the later stages of his life story