Stories of Faith and Courage From World War II (63 page)

In recalling this incident, Avigdor thought of another rock made famous in the Old Testament. Jacob used a stone for a pillow as he dreamed of a ladder to heaven. He made the stone a pillar and declared, “This stone… will be God’s house”(Genesis 28:22). There are other occasions in the Bible where God uses rocks miraculously. Moses drew water from the rock at Horeb to satisfy the thirst of the Israelites and to demonstrate God’s presence (Exodus 17:6). An angel caused fire to come from a stone to give Gideon a sign of God’s favor (Judges 6:21). I believe that we can accept Isaac Avigdor’s witness as evidence of God performing another miracle with a rock, in a time much closer to the present day.

Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the L
ORD
disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the L
ORD
, he exclaimed, “Ah, Sovereign L
ORD
! I have seen the angel of the L
ORD
face to face!”

—Judges 6:21–22

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OVEMBER 22

He Never Spared Himself

Paddy Crean was an Irish priest from Dublin. He joined the British Army in 1941 and served with distinction as a military chaplain for more than twenty years. During World War II he landed at Normandy with the 29
^th
Armored Brigade and saw action in Belgium, Holland, and Germany. For his heroic service he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). After the war he served with two United Nations peacekeeping missions to the Congo. Father Crean wrote many letters home during the war, revealing his low-key personality and deep faith. Soon after D-Day, he wrote,

After 16 days at this second front thank God I am safe and well. We are in France as you know and everything is going well. I am overwhelmed with chaps all clamouring for the comforts of the Faith and I must say whatever dangers there may be and there are some of course, it is all well worth it. I have been up to the front quite a lot and been shelled once! However, God is Good.
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His qualities as a chaplain were illustrated in the citation for his MBE:

Possessing a quiet, sincere and likeable character, he has always been on the best of terms with all ranks. He has never spared himself in his work and has afforded great assistance and comfort to many. He has made constant visits to the wounded, often in advanced medical posts and has throughout shown great keenness and organizing ability in arranging clubs and rest rooms, which have not been confined to those of his own creed.

He has been a strong rock to those of his own flock, and has throughout taken the greatest interest in all matters pertaining to the welfare of the troops. He has set a very fine example and has made a great contribution to the happiness and wellbeing of the men.
⁴⁸⁷

Paddy Crean is another distinguished example of a clergyman who heroically and selflessly served his nation, his fellow soldiers, and his God during wartime. In sacrificing for others, he never spared himself.

You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

—Galatians 5:13

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OVEMBER 23

Call on the Lord

Desmond Stephenson was a British paratrooper wounded and captured by the Germans in Holland. He was taken to a makeshift, overcrowded hospital that came under attack from artillery fire. Shells were exploding everywhere, blowing out the hospital’s doors and windows. As he huddled with others in a stairwell, he had an amazing and uplifting experience:

A voice seemed to say to me, “Why not call on the Lord and ask him to take care of you,” and I did. I prayed to him for protection and guidance and immediately my shattered nerves were steadied and I was able to look at others and steady them without feeling the same. I had a new life and in the midst of all this noise and tumult I had a peace of mind unknown to me before. It was wonderful to have a joy unspeakable, and since then my Jesus has stood by me most wonderfully.
⁴⁸⁸

Desmond’s faith provided him reassurance and spiritual comfort through many ordeals. He was taken to a prison camp near the Polish border where he was held until the Russian advance forced an evacuation to the west. In the coldest part of the winter of 1944 he walked for twenty-eight straight days and slept in the snow every night, huddled together with other prisoners for warmth. Whoever had to sleep on the ends of a row often did not survive the night. Food was practically nonexistent.

Throughout this desperate experience, Desmond continued to pray and to put his faith in God’s providence. Whenever he found shelter or food, he gave God the credit and his profound thanks. Looking back he was able to say, “I feel sure that he brought me through all this to prove to me his goodness and mercy.”
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Desmond’s life after the war was one of service to his church and fellow men, in gratitude for his own salvation on the battlefield.

He guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions. The L
ORD
alone led him.

—Deuteronomy 32:10–12

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OVEMBER 24

It Was Done by Men

Winter in the Ardennes Forest meant overcast skies, deep snow, and frigid temperatures. In the Battle of the Bulge the German Army attempted to use these conditions to their advantage. The element of surprise and lack of Allied air cover almost gave them the victory in this last-ditch campaign to stave off defeat. The fighting was brutal, and the struggle to survive the elements was equally intense. One unit of the 101
^st
Airborne Division was reduced from 170 to 58 men within a few days of constant enemy contact fighting around Bastogne.

It was an individual soldier’s battle, as one related: “If you’re fighting a war in a ditch, the whole war is in that ditch… When you’re in a hole, pinned down by mortars and machine guns have you in a crossfire, it’s impossible to get a sense of the overall picture.”
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The toll was heavy on these isolated soldiers, fighting the enemy and the elements: “ We went seventy-two days we didn’t shower, we shaved with cold water out of a steel helmet, and washed one foot at a time; in case Germans hit us again, or you got called to attack… We had lice, scabies, and I had trench mouth so bad I could move my teeth around with my tongue.”
⁴⁹¹
On seeing these battle-weary men, a reporter observed, “Everyone seems about the same age, as if weariness and strain and the unceasing cold leveled all life.”
⁴⁹²
The same reporter summarized the Battle of the Bulge and eloquently gave credit for the outcome where it was due:

There were many dead and many wounded, but the survivors contained the fluid situation and slowly turned it into a retreat, and finally, as the communiqué said, the bulge was ironed out. This was not done fast or easily; and it was not done by those anonymous things, armies, divisions, regiments. It was done by men, one by one your men.
⁴⁹³

We live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

—2 Corinthians 6:9–10

German soldier surrenders. (National Archives)

Once there was a church. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library)

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OVEMBER 25

A German Soldier’s Prayer

In August 1944 the tide of the war had turned against the Axis forces. A German soldier wrote his parents a heartfelt letter expressing his concern for them and faith in God’s protection:

Dear Parents,

A time of uncertainty, apprehension and fear is now beginning for you as well. I pray sincerely that God gives you courage each day, and that you don’t sink into worry but hold onto the certainty that your prayers will be heard. Rest assured and be happy! That is my wish and my plea to you. Don’t be afraid, even during the days when you hear nothing and can know nothing about how things are for me. Everything that I experience and am permitted to live through in these times reassures me that I will be kept safe for you, for God does nothing by halves. I shall come through these dangers. God granted me life through you. For that I am always grateful to you.

Your son, Friedrich
⁴⁹⁴

The prayers of this soldier and his parents were not answered in the way they wished. Friedrich was killed in September 1944, days after writing this letter. We know that thousands of other Christian families, both German and American, were disappointed in the same way during this horrendous war. Does this mean that all those prayers were in vain? I fervently believe that this was not the case. God heard every one of those prayers, and those praying received a blessing of more lasting significance than life or death on this earth. It is the amazing nature of God, the almighty creator of the universe, to also be our loving Father who allows us to approach him in our private thoughts. Through our prayers we have an opportunity to grow closer to him and to understand his desires for us. A few minutes in his presence are worth a lifetime outside of it. He doesn’t guarantee our safety, but he does guarantee to hear us and to be with us no matter how terrible our circumstance.

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

—Hebrews 4:16

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OVEMBER 26

Prisoner of the Lord

Lawrence Donkin served with a British infantry unit in the North African campaign. His capture by German troops in Tunisia was the start of an amazing odyssey. He was held in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp until Italy surrendered and his guards walked away. After weeks of evading the Germans he made his way to Switzerland where he was interned until 1944.

After the war Donkin returned to his home and wife in England. On a day in 1950, while starting out to sea, his wartime experiences flooded back into his memory, and he began to recall the many miraculous incidents that had enabled him to survive the war. His weapon had mysteriously jammed just before his capture, preventing him from firing at that moment, saving his life. On a dark night in Italy he had bumped into an iron bar that saved him from falling into a deep pit. Most important of all, while evading the Germans, he had picked up a New Testament lying on a schoolroom floor and had started reading it. In all these events, he became convinced that he was seeing “the preserving Hand of God and His saving grace.”
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