John Youens
John Ross Youens, (29 September 1914 – 24 August 1993) was a Church of England priest and senior British Army officer. He served as Chaplain-General to the Forces from 1966 to 1974. Early life Youens was born on 29 September 1914 to Canon Fernley Algernon Youens. He was educated at Buxton College, a boys' grammar school in Derbyshire. Youens chose to follow his father in the Church. He trained for the priesthood at Kelham Theological College, a theological college that, unusually for the time, took non-graduates. He was ordained a deacon in the Church of England in 1939 at Southwark Cathedral. He was ordained a priest the following year. Military career Youens volunteered to join the military near the start of World War II. He was commissioned in the Royal Army Chaplains' Department, British Army, on 2 July 1940 as a Chaplain to the Forces 4th class (equivalent in rank to captain). During the war he served as a military chaplain in European theatre and the Middle East theatre. His experiences of working alongside wounded and dying men in the heat of battle allowed him to realise how ill-prepared chaplains were through their theological training for this line of work.