Clifford Woodward

He was in the front line just one week after leaving his London Rectory, and witnessed bursting shells, rockets, long and twisting communication trenches and an underground hospital.

[4] He was evacuated to England where he learned that he had been awarded the Military Cross, the citation for which appeared in The London Gazette in November and reads as follows: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty during operations.

[6] He returned to Southwark in 1917 but War wounds continued to give him problems, so he moved to a less stressful post in 1919 as Vicar of Cranley Gardens.

[8] Instead, in 1925, he moved to St Peter's, Smith Square, where he acquired a reputation for preaching to the young and for religious broadcasts[9] In 1933, he was prevailed upon to accept the bishopric of Bristol by which time he was also a Canon of Westminster Abbey.

[10] Woodward's reputation as a social reformer meant that he was considered for translation to more senior bishoprics but the death of his wife in 1939 and the loss of his home and possessions in a German air raid discouraged him from leaving Bristol.