In the beginning of the Curundu Protestant Church, military chaplains served the congregation, and Chaplain Eric Emanuel
Swadell was the first, serving from 1947 to1949.

Swadell was born May 22, 1895, in Copenhagen, Denmark. When he was a very young man he emigrated to Great Britain, became
a naturalized British citizen,and fought in World War I as a member of the King's Liverpool Regiment.

Known as a "sober, steady man", Eric had a ship torpedoed and sunk right out from under him, and he forever carried the scars from a machine-gunning he
experienced during this Great "War". He was at sea between 1915 and 1917,and was discharged in September 1917. For his heroic services to the
British Government, he received The King's Silver Badge,which is equivalent to the US Purple Heart. He and one other soldier were the only enlisted men
of his regiment to survive WWI.

After he was discharged from the British Army in 1917, Swadell was given the option to emigrate to any country in the British Empire. He chose New
Zealand and attended a Bible college in Auckland. As a result of his wartime experiences, he had made a promise to God to serve Him . To
support himself during this schooling, he worked on a sheep
ranch.

Desiring to obtain more training, he decided to come to America in the early 20's where he enrolled at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles in 1923.
He met Laura Pim at BIOLA in 1924, and they were married in 1925. Swadell later enrolled in the Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville,
Kentucky from which he graduated in 1928. At the age of 43, in 1939, he became a naturalized US citizen.

After serving as a Baptist minister for many years, he gave 20 years of his life to serving as a chaplain in the U.S. Army during and after World War II.
When he was assigned to the Curundu Protestant Church, services were held in the Curundu Theater, and he was also the chaplain at Ft. Clayton Hospital.
The construction of the church began at this time with quonset huts donated by the Army.

In his U. S. military career Swadell served in the Pacific, AngelIsland near San Francisco, the Panama Canal Zone, and Germany,retiring with the the rank of
Lt. Colonel.

During his retirement years in Vista, CA, he was assistant pastor/minister of visitation at the Vista Community Church for over 8 years. Other
achievements during his later years include chaplain of the Retired Officers' Association of North County, member of the Vista Rotary Club, and
member of Chagres Lodge AF & AM, Balboa, CZ. A Biblical scholar, he spoke 9 languages. Swadell entered into eternal rest on April 19,1968,and is buried in
Eternal Hills Cemetery in Oceanside,
CA.

Laura May Pim Swadell was born in Vancouver, British Columbia on December 19, 1893, and passed into the Lord's presence on February 6, 1977. She, too, is
buried in Oceanside, CA.

The Swadells had four children: Carl, Eric, Robert, and Mary Rose. Robert and Mary Rose accompanied their parents to the Canal Zone and were high school
students at the time.

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