Tim Dieppe reviews Christianity and the New Eugenics, by Calum MacKellar (2020)

Recalling the Jewish expulsion from Arab lands

Rockets fuelled by hatred for God’s people and his ways

Lessons for today 

Which side of the fence are you on?

Holocaust refugees airlifted to Lakeland tranquillity

D-Day and the fight for Britain's future.

The old adage “A week in politics is a long time” should be altered from a ‘week’ to a ‘day’, with the current rate of change being so rapid. By any standard the events of the past week have been remarkable.

The beginning of the week saw the arrival of President Trump with his message of celebrating the special relationship between the USA and Britain. The next day we had the unseemly sight of protesters flying an insulting inflatable representation of the President. He was the Queen’s guest on an official state visit: this was NOT a very flattering view of British hospitality presented to the world via the media. Whatever has happened to the nation I knew in my youth where politeness and courtesy were part of the national character?

Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA ImagesOn Wednesday the scene moved to Portsmouth beginning the commemorations of the 75^th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Yesterday we were remembering the 150,000 men who took part in the D-Day operations on 6 June 1944 and the 4,000 British young men who died on that first day, plus thousands of French civilians caught up in the fighting, the bombing and the naval shelling. Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Macron together laid a wreath at the newly installed memorial to the 22,442 men who died in the Normandy campaign during the invasion.

The Price of Freedom

Throughout this weekend the D-Day commemorations will continue with many opportunities for the veterans, now in their 90s, to remember the events of those incredible days that changed the history of the world. The D-Day landings, in which some 5,300 ships and 12,000 planes took part, together formed the greatest seaborne operation ever to take place, but they were terribly expensive in terms of human life.

No-one knows exactly how many died on that first day, but estimates put fatalities between 14,000 and 19,000. These included Allied forces, German soldiers and French civilians.

The D-Day landings together formed the greatest seaborne operation in history, but they were terribly expensive in terms of human life.

Inevitably, historians have spent the last 75 years poring over the events of that day and several films have been made. Military strategists have assessed the tactics used in the landings, which included airborne troops aiming to take strategic bridges and crossing points inland and meet up with those coming off the beaches.

Big questions still remain, especially about the advisability of sending men straight off the landing barges into a withering storm of machine gun fire sweeping the beaches. But no-one questions the rightness of the invasion to begin the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation. It is this major objective that should be the focal point for all the commemorations at this time.

A Nation Deceived

No right-minded person would want to glorify war and the terrible loss of life and disruption to whole nations that took place from 1939 to 1945, but now, 75 years later, we have a generation that knows nothing of the reality of the Nazi occupation of most of Europe, or the horrors of the death camps which some people even dare to question. It is therefore right, not only to remember the Allied military conquest that brought victory, but also the cause for which so many young men died.

It always amazes me that virtually the whole population of Germany were groomed into supporting the Nazi philosophy of Aryan superiority and hatred of the Jews. It is highly enlightening to watch footage of the ‘night of broken glass’ (9-10 November 1938) when Jewish homes, shops and synagogues were looted by civilian mobs, as well as footage of vast German crowds listening approvingly to Hitler’s maniacal speeches. It shows how easily human beings can be led astray by powerfully persuasive individuals and collectively be driven by an evil spirit to commit or support unspeakable atrocities.

The German people were highly educated and their civilisation was considered the most advanced in the Western world, but there were very few like Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller who publicly opposed the Nazi regime. The majority of the population simply accepted it; which shows how easy it is to brainwash a whole nation.

Nazi Germany shows how easily human beings can be led astray by powerfully persuasive individuals and led to commit or support unspeakable atrocities.

Searching Questions

The 75^th anniversary of the Normandy landings with its enormous cost in the lives of young men should make us ask some fundamental questions about our own political and social philosophy today. 75 years ago, the vast majority of the British population believed in God and were linked, either actively or nominally, with a Christian church. They shared values learned from the Bible – unselfish love, truthfulness, faithfulness, integrity, loyalty and service. They gave their lives for these values.

Ray Tang/Zuma Press/PA ImagesLooking at our nation today one has to ask: did they give their lives in vain? On the TV news earlier this week I looked at the faces of some of the people taking part in the protests against the visit of Donald Trump and saw the hatred expressed there. I found it profoundly disturbing and the fact that senior politicians took part in addressing the crowd was a national disgrace.

On the same day as these demonstrations were taking place, I read a report of research carried out by Manchester University showing that one in five girls aged 16 to 24 are self-harming.¹ This is widely thought to be due to the destructive effect of social media amplifying the concern of girls for the shape of their bodies. The problem is said to be increasing at an alarming rate and putting extra strain on the health services, which are already struggling to deal with the increase of mental health problems across the nation.

Most of these problems stem from the loss of Christian faith in the nation, the turning away from our spiritual heritage and the values that once guided our personal relationships as well as our corporate behaviour. This has left the nation at the mercy of those who have deliberately introduced false values for commercial gain, or to advance their own secular humanist philosophy and social agenda.

The majority of the population no longer believe in God. We are rapidly becoming a nation deceived and driven by evil spirits of hatred and violence, propagated by social media and lobby groups. Was this really what 4,000 young men gave their lives for on D-Day 75 years ago?

References

1 Read more here.

‘Fiddler on the Roof’ story behind Gospel outreach to Jews

With the annual Holocaust Memorial Day fast approaching, it is worth being reminded not only of how many perished, but also of those who escaped the jaws of Nazism – often miraculously.

It is a little-known fact that in spite of terrible persecution in Eastern Europe, thousands of Jewish people were very open to the message of Jesus. In fact, research is currently being undertaken on the so-called ‘Messianic’ believers who died in the Shoah.

Among those who experienced miraculous deliverance from the death camps was Jakob Jocz, a Lithuanian-born third-generation follower of Yeshua who became an evangelist to the Jews of Poland under the auspices of CMJ (the Church’s Ministry amongst Jewish people), a British-based international society already reaping a plentiful harvest of souls throughout Europe and North Africa by the 1930s.

Such was the response to their work that the Warsaw branch CMJ chief Martin Parsons expressed the need for over 700 staff rather than the mere ten suggested at the time.

Miraculous Deliverance

Jocz was sent to Birkenhead, near Liverpool, to train for Anglican ordination, and when he returned to Poland, he wrote: “In spite of anti-Semitism and increasing hatred, the Jews met us in many places with an open mind and with great readiness to hear the gospel.”¹

He added: “Today when the cross is being twisted into a swastika…Jewish men and women flock into the mission halls to hear and to learn about the wonderful Saviour.”

In May 1939, he received an urgent call to England to replace the main speaker of the Church Missionary Society’s annual summer conference, who was unavailable due to illness.

It is a little-known fact that in spite of terrible persecution in Eastern Europe, thousands of Jewish people were very open to the message of Jesus.

In a recent research paper The Rev Dr Jakob Jocz, Dr Theresa Newell writes: “This was indeed a miraculous deliverance as members of his family died at the hands of the Nazis soon afterwards…” Jakob’s father Bazyli was betrayed to the Gestapo and shot to death.

Rich Legacy

The family’s story has something of a Fiddler on the Roof² ring to it. Jakob’s grandfather, Johanan Don, was the local milkman in his shtetl (village) who first encountered the good news of Jesus when seeking medical help for his teenage daughter Hannah (Jakob’s mother) who had been crippled in a fall.

The doctor was a Jewish believer and gave Johanan a Hebrew New Testament. He subsequently became a disciple, but died soon afterwards.

In order to make ends meet, his widow Sarah took in a boarder, a young rabbinic student named Bazyli Jocz. When he read Isaiah 53, he asked his teacher, ‘Who is the prophet speaking about?’ It was of course a situation very reminiscent of the Ethiopian eunuch’s conversion in the Book of Acts (chapter 8). But the teacher was no evangelist, instead hitting him over the head and calling him a ‘detestable Gentile’ for asking such a ‘foolish’ question.

Bazyli was shocked, but undeterred, and after consulting the same doctor who had pointed Johanan in the right direction, he too became a believer.

He duly married Hannah, and Jakob was born in 1906. He became a noted evangelist and theologian whose writings represent a rich legacy of inspiration and encouragement for Christians – all called to preach the Gospel to Jews.

To the Jew First

As the Third Reich stormed across Europe, he wrote a booklet appealing to churches to speak out against the persecution of his people. As an Anglican bishop pointed out in the foreword, “he rightly calls attention to apathy in the church on the subject of missionary effort amongst the Jews.”

Indeed, he challenged the Church to become ‘missional’ as its raison d’etre and to remember the call in that mission is “to the Jew first” (Rom 1:16).

If the Church has no Gospel for the Jews, it has no Gospel for the world.

If the Church has no Gospel for the Jews, he believed, it has no Gospel for the world. He had total confidence in the authority of Scripture and stood on the premise that “loyalty to Jesus Christ is the ultimate test of the disciple”, adding: “Commitment to Jesus Christ makes universalism [the idea that all roads lead to God] impossible.”

He was highly critical of rabbinic Judaism, lamenting that “making Torah into a religion robbed it of life” and saying that the removal of the sacrificial system (following the destruction of the Temple in AD 70) without their acceptance of the “once and for all times sacrifice” of Jesus led Judaism into a pre-occupation with the study of the law. The irony of this, of course, is that the law was anchored in the fact that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin” (Lev 17:11).

One of his theses was that the early Church was much closer to the Old Testament than rabbinic Judaism is today. And he advocated Jewish believers to fulfil the prophetic call to take the Gospel to all nations.

Life in the Midst of Death

Jakob certainly practised what he preached. It is estimated that, through outreach efforts like his, there were as many as 100,000 Jewish believers in Yeshua by the time war broke out in 1939, many of whom would no doubt have shared the fate of their brethren in the concentration camps but who would also no doubt have shared the life-giving Gospel of their Saviour.³

Notes

1 The Rev Dr Jakob Jocz (Olive Press Research Paper, CMJ) by Dr Theresa Newell, to whom I am greatly indebted for the basis of this article. Find out more about CMJ at www.cmj.org.uk.

2 The musical about Jewish survival amidst the oppression of early 20^th Century Tsarist Russia starring a poor milkman famously played by Topol.

3 Peace in Jerusalem (olivepresspublisher.com) by Charles Gardner, p28.

Now’s the time for Christians to nail their colours to the mast

Bearing in mind the obvious success of President Trump’s ‘Don’t mess with me’ strategy in getting dictators to the negotiating table, surely lessons can be learnt from this. It certainly gives a whole new meaning to ‘playing the trump card’.

But the stubborn Europeans refuse to take note, or even learn from history. Did not Jesus say that wisdom - and recognition of his Lordship in particular - was hidden from “the wise”, but revealed to “little children” (Matt 11:25)?

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators since learning for the first time last Saturday that the England football team had, in 1938, raised a Nazi salute to Hitler in front of a crowd of 105,000 before a friendly match against Germany in Berlin – on the orders of the Foreign Office!¹

This was apparently designed to pave the way for Neville Chamberlain’s efforts to appease the Fuehrer, instead of squaring up to him as Churchill was later to do.

Fearing Man, Not God

This shameful (1938) episode in Britain’s history was a natural progression of her foreign policy in bending over backwards to keep the Arabs happy throughout the 1920s and 30s when she was supposed to be preparing a home for the Jewish people.

Buckling under the pressure of Muslim-inspired riots over the prospect of a Jewish nation in their midst, Britain betrayed both her international obligation and her own Balfour Declaration promising to do all she could to ensure that Zionist aspirations were met.

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could well have been nipped in the bud if we had acted with more integrity and courage. And after all these years, Britain is still batting for the wrong side by refusing to follow President Trump’s lead in recognising Jerusalem as the Jewish capital.

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, once again turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country (see Isa 60:12).

Not Taking Danger Seriously

Theresa May and her European allies are also refusing to take President Trump (and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu) seriously over the danger posed by Iran, insisting on sticking to the Obama-led nuclear deal designed to keep the lid on the rogue state’s weapons build-up.

The Ayatollah’s threat of removing and eradicating the “malignant cancerous tumour” he calls Israel² is shrugged off in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s, when Hitler’s rantings were not taken seriously.

Mr Netanyahu says it is “amazing that at the beginning of the 21^st century, somebody talks about destroying Israel – that means destroying another six million-plus Jews…”³

This is the same country that was behind the bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish community centre in 1994, leaving 85 dead, an atrocity that has blighted Argentina ever since.

Our weakness with Iran seems to chime with our stance on its terrorist proxy Hezbollah who, last Sunday, were once again free to parade their hate-filled views on Israel through the streets of London despite ongoing calls for a ban.

Refusing to apply an outright ban on the organization (in recognising separate political and military wings which Hezbollah itself does not acknowledge) is not only encouraging ‘hate speech’ which is supposed to be illegal, but is obviously against the interests of our 300,000-strong Jewish community, as well as Israel.⁴

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country. 

Lessons from East and West

By sanctioning the belligerence of those who seek Israel’s demise, we are certainly not being a blessing to the seed of Abraham, and are thus in grave danger of bringing a curse upon our nation (Gen 12:3). We at least have a chance to begin putting things right later this month when Prince William makes the first ever official visit to Israel from a British royal.

Can we not learn from Brazil where, just a fortnight ago, two million Christians took to the streets of Sao Paulo for their annual March for Jesus? According to one report, the crowd were waving Israeli flags while cheering and praying for the Jewish state.⁵

For the first time in nearly 20 years of the event, Jewish officials were invited to attend. Addressing the gathering, Israel’s consul Dori Goren said: “Attending the march is our way to express our gratitude for the evangelical people and the Brazilian people.”

Argentinian evangelist Andrew Palau, son of Luis, preached the Gospel and a “sea of hands” were raised in response to his call to faith and repentance.

We can also learn from ordinary Iranians, tens of thousands of who have also expressed support for Israel in a Twitter campaign to distance themselves from the opinions of their own regime.⁶

Standing Up for Truth

Christians who know their Bible and are committed to following Jesus are also serious about their love for Jews. For it was they who gave us the patriarchs, the prophets, the Bible itself and indeed the Lord Jesus.

Since God consistently proclaims his unfailing love for his chosen people despite their repeated backsliding, Bible believers naturally follow the same path so that it becomes the case that if you love Jesus, you find yourself also loving the Jew.

Christians are those who follow Jesus – “despised and rejected of men” (Isa 53:3) – and are thus prepared to suffer abuse and ridicule as he did. In the same way they will also be ready to wave Israeli flags, which is to swim very much against the tide in almost every generation.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

So why do British Christians (on the whole) not get the connection between following Jesus and befriending the Jews? Could it perhaps be something to do with Pentecost, which I touched on last week? For Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, would “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

And he also said: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Notes

1 Daily Mail, 8 June 2018. A copy of the infamous ‘Nazi salute’ photo, reproduced in last Saturday’s Daily Mail, was sent to Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson from his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in response to Johnson’s suggestion that Russia was using the World Cup for propaganda purposes in the same way that Hitler had done with the 1936 Olympics.

2 Jerusalem News Network, quoting Medialine/Jerusalem Post, 6 June 2018. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, later sought to clarify his position by saying that the conflict should be resolved through a referendum among “all real Palestinians including Muslims, Jews and Christians” who trace their roots back to before the creation of Israel in 1948. World Israel News & Associated Press, 11 June 2018.

3 An obvious reference to the Holocaust and the fact that more than six million Jews now live in Israel – Ibid.

4 Reports that Home Secretary Sajid Javid is to “proscribe Hezbollah in full later this year” have raised hopes that the terrorist group will be completely banned in the UK in response to a 17,000-strong petition. Christians United for Israel UK, 13 June 2018.

5 Gateway News, South Africa, 7 June 2018.

6 Jewish News Syndicate, 13 June 2018.

David Longworth remembers the decisive Allied victory that turned the tide of the Second World War – and protected Jews in the Middle East from annihilation.

Tuesday of this week (15 November) marked 74 years since church bells around Britain rang out in thanksgiving for victory in the Second Battle of El Alamein, which had been won on 11 November 1942. This victory, which marked a decisive turning point in the war and the history of Israel, was described by Churchill in a speech at Mansion House in London on 10 November 1942, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." On the day the battle was won Churchill told the Commons it was "a British victory of the first order".

To remove all possibility of misunderstanding, an announcement was made from Downing Street that church bells should be rung everywhere before morning service on Sunday 15 November 1942¹ (since June 1940, the customary ringing of church bells had been brought under Government prohibition. Bells were only to be rung if the authorities needed to give warning of imminent or actual German invasion). Looking back, Churchill later wrote in his history of the Second World War: "It may almost be said, 'Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat."²

Ringing with Hope

Today there are those who seek to decry the significance of this great event, and even to dismiss the bell-ringing as a fond fantasy. However, the records of ordinary people testify differently: for example, the North-East Diary (now online), 1939-1945, clearly records, "Sunday, 15 Nov. Church bells are rung for first time since June 1940 to celebrate the victory at El Alamein".³

On the same day Robert Osborne, in training with the Canadian Grenadier Guards, wrote to his mother, "Today is a big day for England. The Church bells are ringing for the first time in 3 years – my but they sound good with a ring of hope in them...".⁴

Furthermore, digging into the records of those who experienced those times reveals a spiritual dimension and confirms the ancient Scripture: "the Most High rules in the kingdom of men" (Dan 4:17, also 4:25, 31).

Despite a wartime prohibition on bell-ringing, Downing Street announced that all church bells should be rung to celebrate the victory of El Alamein.

July 1942: The Road to Palestine BlockedDeployment of forces at Second Battle of El Alamein, 23 October 1942. See Photo Credits.

The second great battle of El Alamein commenced on 23 October 1942, after Rommel's Afrika Korps had swept the British Army roughly a thousand miles eastward, from Tripoli in Libya as far as the ridge of El Alamein (Egypt). At this point, in July 1942, British General Claude Auchinleck had managed to hold a defensive line, a mere 70 miles from the crucial port of Alexandria. But morale, from Generals to Privates, was at rock bottom, after a series of defeats including the fall of Tobruk (Libya) in June 1942, when Britain had lost about 35,000 soldiers, captured as prisoners of war.

Back in Britain and the Empire, according to anecdotal memories, the North Africa crisis was the subject of many prayer meetings. One in particular stands out, being well-documented. At the Bible College of Wales, in Swansea, on 4 July 1942, Rees Howells said, "Unless God will intervene on behalf of Palestine there will be no safety there for the Jews. These Bible Lands must be protected, because it is to these lands the Saviour will come back. If I had the choice today, I would say to God, 'Take all I have, but preserve Palestine.' We want to say to God today, 'unless there is a special reason for Egypt to fall, don't let Alexandria be taken, but give Rommel a setback.' Can I carry the same burden today for Alexandria, as I would if Swansea were being attacked?"⁵

Unknown to Rees Howells, we now know that in the summer of 1942 the German Einsatzgruppe Egypt was on standby in Athens, awaiting Rommel's breakthrough to the Middle East. Their task was the liquidation of the Jewish populations of Egypt and Palestine. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, had agreed to assist in local recruitment to the unit and was already engaged in anti-Semitic incitement, not least by radio broadcasts.⁶

In the College in Swansea students and guests continued in prayer for many hours that Saturday afternoon. On the evening of Sunday 5 July, after yet more prayer, Howells was assured: "I thought Hitler might be allowed to take Egypt," he said, "but I now know he will never take Egypt – neither Alexandria nor Cairo will fall."⁷ The clarity with which the Holy Spirit orchestrated prayer and assurance is truly remarkable: Rommel began his assault on Auchinleck's defensive line on 1 July and battles raged to and fro until 31 July, ending in stalemate - but Egypt was secured and the path to Palestine blocked.

August 1942: The Right Leadership

On 3 August 1942, Churchill himself flew out to Cairo, where the Eighth Army had its HQ, specifically to stiffen the backbone of the British Forces and appoint a General who had swagger and self-confidence. He was attracted by General William Gott's record as a bold and aggressive leader. But the Chief of the General Staff, Sir Alan Brooke, had noticed the man's battle-weariness and lack of vision for the next stage, and attempted to dissuade Churchill, recommending the appointment of Bernard Montgomery. Brooke was unsuccessful. Auchinleck was relieved of his command and Gott, who was known for his Christian virtues,⁸ appointed.

We know from his diaries that Alan Brooke was another Christian, a man who habitually prayed for God's help and guidance. Writing in retrospect of the invitation in November 1941 to become Chief of the General Staff, he said, "I am not ashamed to confess that as soon as I was out of the room my first impulse was to kneel down and pray to God for guidance and support in the task that I had undertaken."⁹ This was our top military leader, whose advice Churchill overruled.

Rommel's breakthrough to the Middle East would have meant the liquidation of the Jewish populations of Egypt and Palestine.

On 7 August General Gott took off from his base camp to take up his appointment in Cairo in an RAF transport plane. Sadly, a carelessly uncoded British wireless message was intercepted by Rommel's signals unit. Six Messerschmitt fighters were sent to intercept the flight, the plane was skilfully crash-landed in the desert, but was mercilessly strafed, killing most of the passengers, including General Gott, the principal target of the Luftwaffe mission.¹⁰

Churchill, awaiting Gott in Cairo, was given the awful news by a staff officer, who remarked, "It may be a blessing in disguise".¹¹ In 9 months Britain's Eighth Army had gone through four commanders. Alan Brooke again urged Churchill to appoint Lt-General Montgomery, but Churchill now wanted General Wilson, the officer commanding the 9^th Army in Syria and Palestine. Brooke persisted and by midnight Churchill relented.

Commenting later, Captain Tom Witherby, Wireless Officer of 23^rd Armoured Brigade under Gott's command, said "Gott was a brave man, but he was tired and simply did not have the intellectual stature for the command. I do really feel that the circumstances in which Montgomery appeared at this critical time was one of the rare examples of direct intervention by the Almighty!"¹²

September 1942: National Prayer

Under Montgomery's leadership, meticulous planning and preparations began. In spite of political pressures, 'Monty' would not be rushed. He even insisted upon a new Chaplain General, hopeful of more effective prayer.¹³

Back home in Britain, a National Day of Prayer was called for Thursday 3 September. Archbishop William Temple insisted on it being kept on the anniversary of the start of the War, to ensure that it did not lose effect by being part of Sunday routine. Gatherings for prayer were organised in homes, factories, canteens, offices, schools, military locations, cinemas, theatres, fields and squares, and many other people listened to the broadcast services in their homes. A very high proportion of the population must have participated.¹⁴

Pathé and Movietone films of the day show over 7,000 RAF servicemen and women attending on one airfield alone, and a large congregation in the bombed-out ruin of St Dunstan in East London.¹⁵ Before Montgomery went to church in Egypt that day, "he gave orders that there was to be no forward movement from the main battle positions except by patrols, which were to concentrate on the destruction of the enemy's motor transport...It was a quiet morning, and all who could attended church services."¹⁶

A very high proportion of the population must have participated in the National Day of Prayer on 3 September 1942.

October-November 1942: From Assault to Victory

Italian prisoners of war, taken at El Alamein. See Photo Credits.

In North Africa, military preparations continued. 23 October was eventually set for the commencement of the great assault against the Afrika Korps. This is what Derek Prince remembers of the start of that day: "I was serving with a military ambulance up in the desert, a little way behind the advancing British Forces. On the tailboard of the truck there was a little portable radio. I listened as a news commentator described the preparations at Montgomery's headquarters just before the Battle of El Alamein. He described how Montgomery came out and assembled his officers and men and said this: 'Let us ask the Lord, mighty in battle, to give us the victory.'"¹⁷

Major General DN Wimberley, the General Officer Commanding the 51^st Highland Division, recalled "One thousand guns were to start firing at 21.40hrs. I watched my Jocks filing past in the moonlight...There was nothing more I could do now to prepare for the battle. It was only possible to pray for their success, and that the [Highland Division] would live up to its name and the names of those very famous regiments of which it was composed."¹⁸

Twelve days later, on 4 November, having been driven back from any defensible position, particularly by the 51^st Highland Division supported by the 4^th Indian Division, Rommel had to withdraw his forces from any major engagement (though units of the Eighth Army continued to harry his retreat for several days more). The Second Battle of El Alamein was over – and so, very soon, Einsatzgruppe Egypt was disbanded. The assurance given to Rees Howells was fully justified.

Gratitude?

In the estimation of many, it was the great turning point of the war. In spite of many mistakes and shortcomings in our armed forces, God had overruled - the forces of evil had been thwarted. Yet the spiritual dimension of these great battles now lies largely forgotten, if not airbrushed from standard histories. The faithful work of leading intercessors like Rees Howells, the hours spent by diligent prayer warriors, as well as the willing response of the masses to the national call to prayer, had been fruitful.

The faithful ministry to the young that had nurtured the seeds of early faith in those God-fearing officers and men had played its part. And the Lord, mighty in battle, had indeed granted the victory.

But where now is the gratitude? Remembrance Day has just passed once again, the fallen have been honoured, the nation's pride in its armed forces reiterated, but with little recognition of the One who rules all things.

In our homes and in our churches we should surely repent of our pride and ingratitude. The unseen spiritual battle continues today. Oh that we would return to seek the Lord in thousands and would intercede, that the forces of darkness at work in our nation would be driven back! It is worth remembering the prayer of Daniel, one of a tiny minority in pagan Babylon, "Blessed be the Name of God for ever, for wisdom and might are His...He removes kings and raises up kings...He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him" (Dan 2:20-22).

References

1. Seaman, LCB, 2003. Post-Victorian Britain, 1902-1951. Routledge.
2. Churchill, WS, 1951. The Second World War (Vol. 4). Houghton-Mifflin.
3. Ripley, R & Pears, B. North-East Diary, 1939-1945. Accessed 28 October 2016.
4. Osborne, RE & Osborne, DE 2016. Pax in Bello: Peace in War. David Osborne.
5. Grubb, N, 1952. Rees Howells: Intercessor. James Clarke and Co Ltd, 2003.
6. Mallmann, KM, Cüppers, M & Smith, K, 2010. Nazi Palestine: The Plans for the Extermination of the Jews in Palestine. Enigma, New York.
7. See note 4.
8. Nash, NS, 2013. Strafer, Desert General: the Life and Killing of Lieutenant General W.H.E. Gott. Pen and Sword.
9. Quoted in Hare, RM, 1998. Essays in Religion and Education. Clarendon Press.
10. Carver, T, 2009. Where the Hell have you been? Short Books.
11. Nash, NS (see note 8), op. cit. p238.
12. Ibid.
13. Chandler, DG, 1990. World War II on Land. Mallard Press, accessed via The National Archives.
14. Williamson, P, 2013. National days of prayer: the churches, the state and public worship in Britain, 1899-1957. English Historical Review 128(531), pp324-366.
15. British Pathé Archive, Film ID 1336.22, released 07/19/42. Movietone Digital Archive, Story No. 42802, released 07/09/42.
16. Carver, M, 1962. El Alamein. Wordsworth Editions, p69.
17. Prince, D, 2009. Secrets of a Prayer Warrior. Chosen Books, pp118-119.
18. Delaforce, P, 2007. Monty's Highlanders: 51^st Highland Division in the Second World War. Casemate Publishers, p43.