This named World War I Era soldier’s 1918 dated Catholic Prayer Book for the Army and Navy is marked as being printed by the New York “The Paulist Press” and was arranged and edited by John J. Burke (C.S.P.). The prayer book is in good condition with average wear and use. The prayer book was carried over the course of World War I by Pvt. Harry A. McDonald who served with the 120th Engineers. While the history of the 120th engineers is not fully documented there are written historical battlefield accounts of them serving alongside the 27th and 30th Infantry Divisions with one case in particular being documented as “The 3rd Battalion, 120th Engineers and Machine Gun Company, 105th Infantry, 27th Division, preparing to advance near Révière on 17th October”.

The great Somme "push," lasting from 24 September to 1 October, saw the 27th (under command of the Australian Corps with the 30th US Division) engaged in severe fighting along the Saint Quentin Canal Tunnel—one of the out-lying strong points of the supposedly impregnable Hindenburg Line. Following heavy losses, the 27th was placed into reserve for rest and replacements at the conclusion of the first phase of the Somme Push. Six days later the Twenty-Seventh Division was back into action again, moving steadily toward Busigny on the heels of the retiring Germans. Operations until 9 October were supported by Australian Artillery then by British artillery units. The 27th Division had, in conjunction with British and Australian forces and the 30th Division, American Expeditionary Force, cracking the Hindenburg line wide open. The 52d Field Artillery Brigade and the 102nd Ammunition Train of the New York Division had not gone with the rest of the Twenty-seventh Division to the British front in Flanders. They had moved up on 28 October, to support the Seventy-Ninth Division in the Argonne.

The inside of the prayer book is inscribed with Pvt. Harry A. McDonald’s information. Bibles like this were carried by soldiers and were sometimes used as a separate identification tool if soldiers was killed in action. The binding of the Bible is in relatively good condition and the pages remain fully intact with some minor spots of staining on certain pages. What makes this prayer book so unique is the handwritten annotation of Pvt. Harry A. McDonald of how this prayer book was given to him while during training.