Thoughtful Moments

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 45, 5 February 1943, Page 6

Thoughtful Moments

UNDER FIRE Padre Colin MeKenzie skives a vivid glimpse of desert Avarl'are in this article written under fire in the Western Desert. I am sitting' crouched up in a slit trench, with shells passing continually overhead-—both coming and going. And believe me, at such a time, in spite of the hardness and sharpness of the stones, a slit trench can be quite a comfortable place. We have just spent the most hectic day X have ever experienced. And now I am trying to recall the events of the battle—remembering the surging emotions one can undergo in the brief space, of tweftty-four hours, which to us here has seemed like « an eternity. It began :last evening .with a terrific artillery barrage all along the front—the heaviest that our gunners —have ever experienced. Then during the early hours of the morning we moved forward to take up a new position on a wide exposed jjlateau. We. had hardly finished our hurriedly cooked breakfast before the* enemy started plastering the area with tank and artillery shells. And so for a long half hour we lay crouched; behind a small heap of stones, for the desert here was, too stony and hard to dig deep. Presently tlie casual ties began to arrive at. the R.A.P. First of all a hardy Scot, who- still possessed the national qualities of. forbearance, and humour. His face had been marred, but his 011I3" comment was' that he must have pulled the cork out of the bottle too hurriedly/ Then came a young officer who had been injured in a mine field. I had. spent many happy days Avith him in camp-, both in New Zealand and at Maadi. He was not badly wounded, but he was almost delirious, and while we were driving him back to the A.D.S. he struggled on the stretcher, attempting "to have a go" at the unseen enemy. We had just, taken him into the Dressing Station when about thirty Stukas loomed out of the sky, and peeled off into a dive-bombing attack, with weird screaming. We thought they were heading for our .spot, and with a number of wounded lying around us, we had to lie ilat beside the rear wheels, of the truck until the raid Avas over. And then Ave had to hurry back to our R.A.P. position, because it looked as if the lads there might haA r e received a stick of bombs. Fortunately they were safe, but there were other casualties requiring attention. Later another wounded man ar-j rived —a German prisoner. He was young and fair and blue-eyed. He

OUR SUNDAY MESSAGE (Supplied by the Whakatane Ministers' Association).

also has a wife and family. Perhaps lie' was wondering what sort of a world it was going to be for them aftenvartls. He wore a small cross attached to his identification disc. Perhaps he also was wondering how his faith -would stand the testing of these days.

And then the shelling began again, and I wanted to stand up and scream to" the heavens against the injustice and barbarity and rutlilessness of it all. Waste of science and wealth, waste of all that is good and lovely and pure—waste of youth and life. "Oh Lord, how long," But again we had to crouch behind the wall of stones, and I kept repeating to myself the familiar B.C. motto: "Be strong and show thyself a man." But is it manliness one needs for such a time. This is nothing but the worst form of "man's inhumanity to man.' I wish it had some of the qualities that make our troops so steadfast and brave. Man! they have got grit, and they are worthy of the highest tribute we can give them._ If it is not one terror of the skies it is another. "Flies." "And there came a grievous swarm of flies into all the land of Egypt." (Exodus 8: 24)< At least the dive bombers leave us alone for most of the day, but the flies, never. From the first streaks of dawn until the sun has set they swarm around. They get into one's eyes and ears." and nose. They settle on every spoonful of • food before it lias passed from the plate to the mouth. How Pharoah endured the plague for so long I cannot tell. But right now I am heart and soul behind Moses' campaign to leave "Egypt to the. Egyptians." This is just another of the afflictions borne by these men who are called to "endure hardness as good soldiers." II would that they were all "good soldiers of Jesus Christ." For while there may not appear to be any special message in these words, there is behind them the deep yearning of one who is seeking for himself and for those to whom he is called to minister "a faith that will not shrink, Though tempest rage without." Such are some of the incidents of one day at the battlefront. The long day closes and the noise of battle, wanes to an occasional rumble: in the distance. We wrap ourselves up in the old grey blanket, ancl gaze up at the wide and starry sky. "I will both lay mc down in peace and sleep for it is Thou Lord onlj r who madest me dwell in I safety." What blessed comfort those words j of the Psalmist have brought to the souls of men down through the ages.