Faith that sustains in wartime

Here's the Address that I shared at St Catherine's Wickford this afternoon for our Act of Remembrance on VE Day 80th Anniversary:

In his book ‘Wickford’s Heroes’, Steve Newman writes: “In the Second World War, whether air crew flying missions over enemy territory, soldiers retreating to Dunkirk, or fighting their way across Europe, from the jungles of the Far East and the unimaginable Japanese labour camps and hell ships, to the freezing seas of the North Atlantic and North Sea, or indeed on the home front, all were served by and indeed claimed the lives of men and women from Wickford and Runwell.”

Today we have gathered to remember the many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and civilians who gave their lives restraining evil and opposing tyranny, whether from our local area or further afield, in order that we can know peace and commemorate this significant anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

In doing so, it is helpful to know something of the lives of those we remember today. Albert Chable and his younger brother Ernest are among those named on our War Memorial and were sons of Joseph and Sarah Chable, who lived on the Nevendon Road. Albert was a Sergeant in 1st Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps and was first injured and then killed in fighting in Italy, having been earlier involved in the North African campaign. Ernest was a Lance Bombadier in 7th Battery 5th Heavy Anti Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, and was killed in action in the Japanese attack on Hong Kong, a battle that started less than eight hours after the infamous strike on Pearl Harbour that brought America into the war. Both died when the eventual outcome of World War II was still in the balance but it was their sacrifice and that of so many more like them that would eventually lead to the War’s end. Albert’s grave is in the Cesena War Cemetery in Italy. His grieving parents chose to add a personal inscription to the headstone which read ‘The things which are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal’. Their belief was that their sons were safe in the everlasting arms of God.

The faith of those like John and Sarah Chable as they mourned the loss of their sons, sustained and inspired many involved in action, whether on the home front or the front lines. In 1944, Major John Pott led his battalion to support the defence of Arnhem Bridge during a fierce battle against German forces. Despite facing heavy enemy fire, Major Pott’s unwavering faith and courage led him to pray over wounded soldiers and show remarkable forgiveness even as a prisoner of war.

On Sunday, 17 September 1944, Major Pott’s Parachute Regiment battalion was airdropped into the Netherlands to support the defence of Arnhem Bridge. As the men of the battalion parachuted from Dakota planes, they faced enemy fire from German snipers.

The drop zone was at Ginkel Heath and the route to Arnhem Bridge led through a forest. As they moved through the woods, they encountered heavy enemy fire and several men were wounded and unable to continue. Major Pott, unable to carry the wounded with him, hid them under bushes for protection. Then, with bullets flying and explosions nearby, he stood and prayed over them.

Sergeant George Sheldrake, one of the men who witnessed this moment, recalled, “I was with another two lads. We were all in a bad way. Major Pott said he couldn’t take us with him, but he put us carefully under some bushes. He said the battalion might make a fresh attack and we could be rescued, or we would be picked up by the Germans.

“Before he moved off, he stood there and prayed over us for a couple of minutes, although there was mortar and machine-gun fire. A couple of minutes is a long time to stand in those conditions. It is something I shall never forget.”

With disregard for his own safety, Major Pott stood over the wounded men and spoke to them before leaving: "I am sorry that I have only led the Company to death and pain; but remember there is another Commander who is 'The Way, the Truth, and the Life,' and I am committing you into His hands as I leave you now. Lord Jesus, watch over them, please."

Despite the conditions, the men survived. Major Pott continued on and was shot and severely injured in the battle for Lichtenbeek Hill, with his right hand and femur shattered. When the Germans came to collect the wounded, Major Pott, unable to walk, was left behind to die. He lay in the forest for 18 to 20 hours, struggling with his wounds and writing a letter to his wife. But in a miraculous turn of events, Dutch teenagers found him and fetched their relatives with a stretcher who then carried him to safety, hiding him in a shed until a doctor could be found to treat him.

However, he was eventually discovered by the Germans and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. While receiving treatment, he managed to escape, attempting to swim across a river despite having a plaster cast on his leg. Unfortunately, he was recaptured by the Gestapo and returned to the prison camp, where he remained for the rest of the war.

Major Pott’s son David later recalled how his father took the Bible’s command to “love your enemies” literally. “My father’s love towards Germans was maybe one of the most remarkable things,” he said. “How does a Christian soldier obey the command to ‘Love your enemies’? I think he got somewhere with that. It was amazing how he made lifelong friends with SS officer Werner Elfering and his wife in the hospital in Gronau. They became friends playing chess together!”

Even in the darkest moments of battle, Major John Pott’s faith was visible to all around him. Even as a prisoner of war, he continued to practise forgiveness and friendship, extending kindness even to his enemies.

As we come together today conscious of our need for God’s forgiveness for the sin and the desire to dominate others that leads to conflict between people, and war between nations, in our own day and time, it is the examples of those like Major Potts and the Chables that we need to remember and replicate if we are to have hope for the future and peace in our time. Amen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oh God Our Help In Ages Past.

Merville

Merville is a town 15 kilometres north of Bethune and about 20 kilometres south-west of Armentieres. The Communal Cemetery is on the north-east side of the town on the north side of the road to Neuf-Berquin.

Built in the 1920s, St. Peter's Church consists of two square towers surmounted by a Byzantine cap. Its dimensions make it a prominent landmark, visible at considerable distances from the town. Merville is a parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lille. The diocesan seminary of the Lille diocese was formerly located in Merville. It is also a very large structure, built on four storeys around a central cloister, with large chapel and refectory, and accommodation for over 200 staff and students. The seminary closed in 1970 and the extensive buildings were briefly occupied by a community of religious sisters before becoming the Lille diocese's retreat and conference centre.

The main town square is dominated by the town hall, which dates from the late 1920s and is built in the Flemish Renaissance style. It incorporates a very tall clock tower. Inside, architect Louis Marie Cordonnier laid out imposing staircases, lounges of honour and beautiful stained glass windows in the colours of neighboring towns.

Merville was the scene of fighting between the Germans and French and British cavalry early in October 1914 but from the 9th of that month to 11 April 1918, it remained in Allied hands. In October 1914, and in the autumn of 1915, the town was the headquarters of the Indian Corps. It was a railhead until May 1915, and a billeting and hospital centre from 1915-1918. The 6th and Lahore Casualty Clearing Stations were there from the autumn of 1914 to the autumn of 1915; the 7th from December 1914, to April 1917; the 54th (1st/2nd London) from August 1915 to March 1918, and the 51st (Highland) from May 1917 to April 1918. On the evening of 11 April 1918, in the Battles of the Lys, the Germans forced their way into Merville and the town was not retaken until 19 August. The cemeteries were not used again until the concentration of battlefield burials into the Extension began, after the Armistice. 

During the Second World War the river Lys was the southern end of a deep but narrow area held by British forces at the end of May 1940. Merville is on the territory over which were fought desperate rearguard actions during the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force to the coast, for evacuation from Dunkirk. 

Merville Communal Cemetery was used by French troops (chiefly cavalry) in October 1914, and for Commonwealth burials from that date until August 1916 (in the case of officers, to March 1918). It now contains 1,268 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, and 12 French war graves. There is also 1 non war burial. 

Merville Communal Cemetery Extension was opened in August 1916, and used by Commonwealth and Portuguese hospitals until April 1918. It was enlarged after the Armistice when graves were brought in from the battlefields immediately north and east of Merville and from the Caudescure Halte Cemetery, Morbecque. It was made by fighting units, and it contained the graves of 38 soldiers from the United Kingdom who fell in the period April-August, 1918. The Extension now contains 920 Commonwealth burials of the First World War, 345 of them unidentified. The 92 Second World War burials (18 of them unidentified) occurred mostly during the fighting in May 1940 and are interspersed among the First World War graves. The Extension also contains 19 war graves of other nationalities.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Malcolm Guite - Lente, Lente.