“A brief and personal account”: an Anglican chaplain in 1922 Smyrna
“A brief and personal account”, a talk by Joanna Hyslop about her grandfather, Charles Dobson (1886-1930), an Anglican priest who took up his post as Chaplain of Smyrna in the spring of 1922, will take place on the 22nd March, at 6:30pm, at the Nea Smyrni Estia Hall (3rd floor), Palaiologou Konstantinou 1, in Nea Smyrni.
A New Zealander by birth, at a time when it was still a British colony, the Rev. Charles Dobson took up the post of Anglican Chaplain of Smyrna at Easter 1922 and therefore unwittingly became an eye witness of the ensuing “Smyrna Holocaust” in September of that year, following the rout of the Greek Army in Asia Minor by the Kemalist forces. Based on his diaries, as well as personal research into her grandfather’s background, personality and career as a military chaplain, Joanna Hyslop promises to enrapture her audience with a vivid account of history brought to life.
The Estia Neas Smyrnis is on the 106 bus route from central Athens, while the closest tram stop is Aghia Fotini. To visualise its location on the map, please click here.
ralph john berney
03/04/2021 at 18:45At this Easter tide, the Chaplain, the Rev James Buxton, and the congregation of Saint John’s Anglican Church in Izmir, ancient Smyrna, are reminded, with admiration and reverence, of the charity and courage that the Rev Charles Dobson showed and applied, executed, in his all too brief tenure as Chaplain of St John’s, in giving and providing refuge and safety, within and below the church, in the most dangerous and threatening circumstances, to the terrorised civilian Greek population, no less Armenian, in the inferno and massacre of so many of the Christian residents of Smyrna after the arrival of the Turkish army under the control and command of Mustafa Kermal. Now, thanks to James Buxton, The Revd Charles Dobson has his name, long missing, on the complete role of serving Chaplains at Anglican Saint John’s, with the bonus, that there is now a striking photograph of him, on the west wall of the church with brief bu fascinating biographical details, not least his country of origin, New Zealand, his military service in WW1 and the momentous award of a MC Military Cross, for outstanding bravery and performance. What we would all dearly love to know is why, how, where and when he became a priest, a remarkable servant and comrade of Jesus Christ.