Retired Colonel on the hair-cutting, charismatic military chaplain who brought soldiers to Christ

Interviews from the International Military Pilgrimage that took place at the shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in May 2019. Philippe Rossiter is a retired Colonel who served in the Royal Logistic Corps. He talks about his 30-year career in the armed forces and how, despite being a cradle-Catholic, it was a charismatic regiment chaplain who brought him back to regular Mass-going along with his wife Pauline. Fr Hughie Beatie, a Glaswegian, was a soldier himself. Colonel Rossiter explains the impact the padre had on the men and women. "All the soldiers in the regiment loved him - whether they were Catholics or non-Catholics, believers or non-believers. He had such a great aura about him - a great ability to chat to anybody at any time. "He used to cut hair for soldiers - didn't charge them - and while they were in the barber's chair he was practising and converting! He was everybody's friend whether you were the commanding officer of the regiment or the most recently joined private soldier - and that made a real impression and we became regular Mass-goers."