Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (15 page)

Now I know something of the meaning of rough seas. Mountainous seas are breaking completely over the ship, and it is turning into massive coatings of ice as it hits. We are sheathed in sixteen inches of ice and I do not know what keeps us from going to the bottom of the Atlantic as we pitch, toss, roll and everything else imaginable.

Just as we were about to head back to Sydney, we received urgent orders to proceed to the rescue of a torpedoed ship in the Gulf. So off we went into the very teeth of terrific seas. Boy, are they ever huge green ones. Going on watch at 10:00 p.m., I stood for a few minutes by the wheelhouse which is all of 20 feet above the water line, and looked straight up at mountainous seas that made our little corvette seem very insignificant indeed—I hung on for dear life as I made my way in pitch dark with the roaring gales tearing at me every foot of the way, up to the bridge. How can anyone know what a night like this is at sea who has never actually experienced it.
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Sometimes when we study history we focus on the big picture of military campaigns and strategy, and lose sight of the “little” picture: the toll on each man and woman who has to implement those strategies. The life of the corvette sailor is a reminder of the individual sacrifice and hardship endured for years by thousands during the Battle of the Atlantic. Their struggle gives special meaning to the words of the “Navy Hymn”:

Eternal Father, strong to save, whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee, for those in peril on the sea!
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They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.

—Psalm 107:24–25

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The Old Sailing Rule

Frank Curry continued his harrowing account of rescuing a torpedoed ship in the Gulf of St. Lawrence during a winter storm:

Terrible seas still running as we pounded our way into them. We are bouncing all over creation. Somehow we found the merchant ship at 0200 of the wildest darkest night imaginable, and got a line aboard her. Headed slowly back to Sydney from close to St. Paul’s Island. It is rougher than I ever dreamt the ocean could be. Our mess decks are knee-deep in bitterly cold sea water, everything possible is afloat from spilled tins of jam to best uniforms, hats, sea-biscuits, letters and books. No one gives it a second thought—for it seems all-important to think of survival. Arms and legs and joints are screaming for even a moment’s relaxation from the jarring and pitching and beating. One has to go back to the old sailing rule of one hand for the ship, one hand for yourself, particularly on the upper deck where one false move means the end.
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The “old sailing rule” originated with an old salt who wisely realized that aboard ship the best intentions are useless if you get injured or lost at sea because you neglected the violent movements of the ship itself. No matter the importance of the task at hand, you have to first make sure that you are physically secure in your surroundings. This is a great analogy for our spiritual lives. Our spiritual anchor point is our Savior, Jesus Christ. We always have to have one hand out for him, to support us and guide us as we tackle the vexing problems of our daily lives. Without him, we will be battered by our problems and lost in our spiritual journey.

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

—Mark 4:40–41

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A Child’s Perspective

In March 1943 eleven-year-old Joan Corbin wrote to her uncle, Walter Kellogg, serving aboard ship in the North Atlantic:

Dear Uncle Joe:

Is it fun on your boat? I hope so. I am in Maryland but am going home very soon. It’s very warm; 70 degrees today! We waded in the woods even! I have made lips here. Mine! I have kissed them. You kiss them too. The love will carry. I hope you will come home safely. I am telling God to keep you in His grace. Please remember me. I won’t forget you, or the job you are doing for your country.

Love, Joanie
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I’m sure it was best that little Joanie didn’t know the details of her uncle’s service at sea. In fact, this is one of the main objectives of all servicemen in war, to protect their loved ones, especially the children, at home. It is also refreshing to hear a child’s perspective on some things that we take so seriously as adults.

During my time in Vietnam, we received many letters from grade school children. Their honesty and naîveté were always uplifting. It is wonderful to catch glimpses of their perspective on the world, especially the innocence and wonder that we too often lose as adults. We know that Jesus honored the children and that he exhorts us to maintain a childlike attitude. This doesn’t mean that we stop thinking or reasoning. It does mean that our faith has to be simple and complete, as a child’s love of a parent or an uncle at sea.

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

—Mark 10:14

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Armed Guard

In 1941 my thirty-six-year-old father was a businessman in Conway, South Carolina. He wanted to join the war effort and went to great lengths to go on active duty with some military service. Finally successful in obtaining a commission in the Naval Reserve, he was assigned to the newly organized Armed Guard of the Navy where he took detachments of Navy sailors aboard merchant vessels as gun crews for submarine and air defense. He saw sea duty with convoys to England, North Africa, and South America.

Early in the war the merchant seamen viewed these detachments suspiciously. The merchantmen were professionals at their business and rightfully considered these sailors as out of their element. They especially resented young Armed Guard officers who tried to throw their weight around by dictating to the ship’s crew. It was soon found that a special type of officer was needed for this type of duty:

Emphasis soon shifted away from the procurement of the very young officer and especially of the person who knew or thought he knew too much about running merchant ships. The ideal Armed guard officer was a tactful person who could look after the interests of his men and at the same time keep relations smooth between the Navy complement and master, officers and crew of the merchant ship. He was a man who could get along with people who were under great mental strain and who could win their confidence. His relations with his gunners was close. He was a kind of doctor, chaplain and commanding officer at the same time. The highly nervous individual did not last in the Armed Guard.
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I must admit to a feeling of pride in reading these qualities of an Armed Guard officer, which I feel are very descriptive of my father. He was a Citadel graduate with military experience and a broad range of civic, business, and family responsibilities. He was an active man and able to get any job done while taking care of those under him. In later life he often repeated his favorite advice on leadership, which he said was “straight out of the Bible.” I learned later that these were actually the words of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

—Matthew 20:26–28

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Sighted Sub

Early in the war, an affectionate epithet for the Armed Guard circulated in Navy circles: “Sighted Sub—Glub Glub.” This uncomplimentary perception changed as the war wore on and these units proved their effectiveness. The phrase itself was a takeoff from one of the most famous phrases in U.S. naval history.

On January 28, 1942, Donald Mason was piloting a Lockheed Hudson twin-engine aircraft on antisubmarine patrol out of Argentia, Newfoundland. After hours of boredom staring at an empty sea, an alert crewman spotted the thin, characteristic wake of a submarine periscope breaking the surface. Mason attacked at once, dropping two bombs from an altitude of about 25 feet, straddling the periscope. With the detonation of the bombs the submarine was seen to lift out of the water and then to sink vertically. Minutes later an oil slick was observed bubbling to the surface.
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Shortly thereafter Mason radioed an historic four-word message back to base: “Sighted sub, sank same.”
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Donald Mason was probably following protocol to keep radio traffic to a minimum. However, he gives us a lesson in effective word power. Fewer is usually better. The apostle John was able to communicate the complete Christian gospel in only twenty-six words, showing the beauty and simplicity of Christ’s message in a way that makes it easy for us to succinctly share the good news with others:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

—John 3:16

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Attack of the Minesweepers

HMS
Harrier
was one of four minesweepers in Kola Inlet when a radio message came in that the cruiser HMS Edinburgh had been torpedoed and was trying to reach Murmansk. The Harrier and other minesweepers quickly got under way to help. The little minesweepers just had time to deploy around the Edinburgh when three German destroyers opened fire from a distance. Cdr. Eric Hinton immediately turned Harrier toward the enemy, put on maximum speed, and opened fire with his single four-inch gun. Two British destroyers soon joined him, and, together, they caused the Germans to break off the attack. One of Hinton’s subordinates later wrote:

Seeing gun flashes from five separate directions, the Germans probably imagined that they were confronting a superior force. Each of these heavy destroyers was armed with five 5.9 inch guns in addition to torpedoes, so had they pressed in they might easily have sunk every ship in our force. However, Harrier and the other ‘fleet’ minesweepers looked not unlike destroyers when seen end-on, so probably the Captain’s action in heading straight for the enemy had saved our lives.
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Commander Hinton’s attack saved his own ship and the others at the scene of this battle. He showed what a small force could accomplish with determination and decisive action, even against great odds. This story is an encouragement to all who follow Jesus Christ. Our numbers are often few in the midst of a culture apparently going in a different direction. However, we know the power of a “small force” that is on God’s side. We need to take action with confidence when we have opportunities to serve him, even when we have doubts that we can make a difference.

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong.

—Ecclesiastes 9:11

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Murmansk Run

In May 1942 the cargo ship SS
Atlantic
, laden with aircraft and explosives, was sailing above the Arctic Circle, bound for Murmansk, Russia. Arctic ice forced
Atlantic
and the other thirty-five ships in this convoy close to the north coast of Norway and German airbases located there. May 27 brought clear weather and almost continuous air attacks for ten hours. Seven ships were lost, and three badly damaged. One of the officers assessed the toll:

Taking stock, ships were being sunk at the rate of one every two hours. We still had at least 60 hours sailing to get to Murmansk with 29 merchant ships left. Moreover, our ship had used up more than half its ammunition, and presumably the others were in similar straits.

If the pace of the attacks was kept up, the arithmetic seemed to add up to the possibility of all our ships being sunk… Everything depended on where the bomb or torpedo would strike. No. 3 hold was full of explosives. If that were hit, we would all disappear in a flash of light and a cloud of smoke—one ship had already done so.
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These sailors on the Murmansk Run were pushed to the limit of human endurance by arctic storms, ice, deadly cold water, volatile cargoes, and the constant threat of attack by enemy aircraft and submarines. They understood the overwhelming odds against their own survival and still found the courage to do their duty as sailors and to fight every battle as soldiers. Thanks to their valiant effort a tenuous but absolutely critical lifeline between the Allied nations was kept open throughout World War II.

In the same way, many great heroes of the faith have achieved much while doubting their own ability to succeed or survive. There are times when we too feel that God is asking us to do more than we are capable of doing. In times like these, remember that if God asks us to accomplish something, he will not forsake us on the way.