Newcastle filmmaker to tell story of WWI heroism

Newcastle filmmaker to tell story of WWI heroism

22 November 2017

A NEWCASTLE filmmaker is preparing to tell the inspiring story of a “ridiculously brave” army chaplain who lost his life on the frontline during World War I.

Campbell Miller will explore the life of Jesuit war hero, Fr Willie Doyle, 

who devoted himself to the care of dying soldiers in the Passchendaele trenches.

Bravery Under Fire will explore Fr Doyle’s bravery when he disregarded the advice of his superiors and his own personal safety to save many lives, repeatedly going into no man’s land to drag soldiers back to safety. 

Campbell, who studied film at Ball State University in Indiana, is delighted to have been recruited to direct the big budget film, which will be made on location in Passchendaele with wartime re-enactments recorded locally.

Researching Fr Doyle, he said he had uncovered the gripping story of a humble priest from Dalkey in County Dublin who was in fact a “ridiculously brave man”.

“He was an army chaplain who stayed with his troops on the frontline,” he said.

“Every day he would run into no man’s land and drag injured soldiers back to safety.

Mortars were going off around him, bullets were flying.

“If they were injured and he knew he could not get them back he would lie down with them while they died. He did not just do this once, he did it multiple times for the members of the 16th Irish and 36th Ulster. Catholics and Protestants alike.

“There are stories of him praying with German soldiers and of him contacting their families at home to tell them what happened to them.

“It really is a gripping story to hear of this man’s bravery and how he put his life on the line for anyone. It will be moving television.”

Campbell said he was chosen to make the documentary because of the award-winning success of another of his films Respite at Christmas.

He said the re-enactments will be a big part of Bravery Under Fire, which will be the first docudrama of its kind for Eternal World Television Network (EWTN).

“I believe Fr Willie Doyle is a forgotten hero,” he said.

“While other soldiers have got the Victoria Cross for showing one act of bravery, Fr Doyle performed miraculous acts of bravery each day he was on the front line.

“In this secular age there is a lot to be learned from his actions, his teachings and his respect for all others regardless of their creed.”