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ethics around remotely piloted
‘Reapers’
with the‘bish’aboard
HMS Diamond
remembering
the Great War
magazine for members of the armed forces
Summer 2014
£2
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See, I have
engraved
you on the
palms of my hands... Isaiah 49:16
Photo: The morning sun falls across the names of those commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium.
Contact
AFCU (Armed Forces’ Christian Union), Havelock House, Barrack Rd, Aldershot, Hants GU11 3NP Tel 01252 311221 E mail: office@afcu.org.uk
www.afcu.org.uk
www.afcu.org.uk
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his summer we are sure to be surrounded by images and stories of war as the UK and other parts of the world remember the centenary of the start of World War I. For some this will be a painful process of remembering loved ones who suffered or simply the harrowing fate of so many young people. For others in today’s armed forces it may well trigger more recent memories of war zones and traumas from current conflicts like Afghanistan. Wherever we are in that spectrum, I hope this issue of Contact will help us all to pause and reflect on the nature of war and the hope that the Christian message continues to bring in the midst of conflict and death. The article on WW I points to numerous resources, including DVDs on-line and printed materials to support the anniversary this summer.
In addition this issue offers an insight into how the war changed Christian theology with a look at how Karl Barth developed his Christian thinking during World War I. There is also an article on my visit to HMS Diamond hosted by naval chaplain, Jon Backhouse, along with our usual columns and articles on a range of topical issues. We’re grateful to Mike Forsyth for taking on the Living Faith blog from Jonathan Palmer and helping to show us how God is present in the workplace. Please do pass on your copy of Contact so that others can benefit from the insights supplied by our wide range of contributors.
Rachel Farmer
Rachel Farmer Editor
If you wish to know more about what it means to be a Christian and/or how to become a Christian, find and ask your local chaplain or a Christian you may know or pick up the phone and ask the AFCU office 01252 311221
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contents aboard HMS Diamond with the ship’s ‘bish’ meet Navy chaplain Jon Backhouse
World War I... 100 years on -
how the Bible is still offering words of hope
how the war changed Christian thinking by the Revd Simon Farmer
the ethics of remotely piloted aircraft by the Revd Brian McAvoy
Regulars
Mike’s Blog Martin’s Memo Coffee Break & Reviews Caption Competition
Now available
Armed Forces Christian Union
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a diamond in d a morning with the chaplain aboard HMS Diamond showed me the ropes and offered an insight to the work of a ‘bish’ on board a Naval destroyer, writes Rachel Farmer
T
oday’s Royal Navy warships are nothing like the ships Nelson would have commanded, but one thing has stayed the same from that distant era... almost the first person I met on a recent visit aboard HMS Diamond, was the ship’s captain, Commander Andy Ingham, who told me about one of the ancient naval traditions still very much in evidence today. Every Sunday when the ship is at sea there is an act of Christian worship on board.
Navy chaplain John Backhouse
I enjoy the job because I get alongside people who are outside the church
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HMS Diamond
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He explained: “Part of the Queen’s Regulations stipulate the need to provide a service of Christian worship each Sunday on board. If we are at sea and Jon (the chaplain) isn’t here, another officer or one of the ship’s company would be given the task of leading a short service with a moral thought.” In an age dominated by multi-faith policies and secularism, it was encouraging to hear that the chaplain, Jon Backhouse holds services onboard each Sunday morning, when a small gathering from around the ship, sing, pray and worship together. “A department of the ship sponsors the service each week,” he explained, “and
that means they might make some cakes and serve coffee after the service. We usually have at least 20 people from the ship’s company of approx 200 – which is not bad stats for attendance.” Commander Andy Ingham said he was grateful for the presence of his chaplain, particularly on the ship’s current mission, as they were involved in the work of recovering chemical weapons from Syria. He said: “This deployment is very different to what I’ve done before – it’s quite intensive as we are protecting two other nation’s vessels and we’re also working alongside nations we don’t normally work with.” Talking about what a chaplain offers him as the Captain of the ship, he said: “The chaplain has a unique position of being about below decks and talking confidentially across the ship’s company to anyone from the Captain to the lowest able seaman, without agenda or rank, so everyone can speak freely to him. The biggest asset is the pastoral care he offers. He can let me know the feelings of the crew, while remaining confidential. He’s a very important gauge of morale in general also an important listening ear and source of guidance for all individuals.” He said being away from home for long periods is an obvious
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pressure for many of the ship’s company, as some are not used to separation and for others it can be the first time away from home. He explained: “Sometimes it can be someone missing the birth of a first child, but ofcourse there are also many other emotional pressures for people. It’s a confined area to work in, but it’s getting better in the Royal Navy with more room in people’s cabins. Junior ratings share 4-6 in a cabin.” He said the facilities are good with a boxing gym, weights gym and a PTI instructor. Everything you could want – except a swimming pool of course! When we boarded the ship some of the ship’s company were gathering on the jetty for shore leave - golf clubs at the ready while water sports and BBQs had been part of the programme whilst the ship was alongside.
We were lucky to be shown round the ship with only a skeleton crew onboard, so there was plenty of room to negotiate the metal corridors, ladders between decks and massive pipe obstacle courses, which we encountered at every turn. Everything was painted and much of it was colour coded – even the cupboards, with red for fire fighting equipment and blue for floods...can’t remember what the white was for! The chaplain’s office doubles as his cabin and it is also where anyone onboard can come and chat or ask advice. His door is always open, he said, apart from when he is sleeping. Many of us would struggle living in such confined quarters, but Jon just smiles calmly and says, ‘”You get used to it.” He explained that after 22 years as a naval observer in Lynx helicopters for the Fleet Air Arm, he should be used to the close quarters! Jon joined the Royal Navy after university and it was during this time that he had a sense he would one day become a vicar.
He was studying Land Economy at Cambridge and said, “I knew when I was 20 that I would be ordained one day – that was where I was going to end up. I had become a Christian at school, then at university a vicar called Jonathan Fletcher came to speak to us. He said he had the best job in the world... that was when I realised I would do that one day.” But it was after training at Dartmouth and many years serving across the world with the navy that Jon eventually decided to leave the forces and train for ordination.
“When I left the Royal Navy I wasn’t thinking of coming back in as a chaplain, although it was the obvious thing,” he explained. “I said Lord I’ll do it if you want me to.” He might have realised that was where God was leading him as at his wedding, many years earlier, there were about 6 Royal Navy chaplains present. Jon met his wife Carole when he was posted to Portland where she was a Wren., although they knew each other through Christian house parties from when they were younger. He said: “She had always been surrounded by boys then, but at Portland there was just me!” He eventually got his chance, but had to move quickly as she was about to leave the WRNS. Jon said: “I enjoy the job because I get alongside people who are outside the
church – most of the time it doesn’t lead to converting lots of people but it does mean you’re there talking and listening to them and getting to know them, still as a representative of the church, and opportunities arise to share faith. I like the fact that you get to help people in genuinely difficult situations and also sometimes those from dysfunctional backgrounds.
”On board every day is different, depending on what the ship is involved in. I meet people in my office (cabin) and sometimes there are quite a number who want to chat, especially if lots of people are finding things difficult.” At other times he talks to people on the bridge or in the Ops room and even helps regularly with washing up, where he says there are always good conversations! Jon has also been running an Alpha course for a small number of interested people on board. While we were visiting he was preparing for a special day at the beach following a discussion session and a meal in a local church together with some Cyprus army chaplains. Jon’s deployment with HMS Diamond was coming to an end, and as he prepares to head back to his work at Portsmouth, he said: “I’ll find it hard leaving the ship, and I’ll miss the lads, because I’ve got quite fond of them after 2 months.”
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words of life from World War I
100 years on..
P
oppy Day will come early this year, as communities across the UK gather during the summer to mark the centenary of the start of World War 1, when they will remember and pay tribute to the millions who sacrificed their lives in what was thought to be ‘the war to end all wars.’ The shocking facts of WW I speak for themselves, as some 65 million troops were mobilized across Europe during the war. On the first day alone of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 about 20,000 British soldiers were killed, with a further 38,000 wounded. By the end of the war 8.5 million were killed with another 21 million wounded. Christians in the military and churches across the UK will be attempting to help people respond to the awful facts of the war, while also drawing hope from the many stories of faith, courage and selfless sacrifice. Many people have found battlefield tours a helpful way of reflecting on and showing respect for the sacrifices that have been made.
Geoff Dodgson, a Church of England Reader in Cambridgeshire, led a remembrance service on the Somme last year as part of a battlefield tour from the UK. He said: “When I arrived at the Menin Gate, where every night the police close the road and buglers from the local fire brigade arrive to sound the last post, I realised my 100 copies of the service sheet were totally inadequate as I found myself negotiating with retired Paras who were there to lay a wreath, a brass band from up north and a professional choir from the midlands. However, from this chaos emerged one of the most moving experiences of my ministry. A few words on the microphone and the crowd of 1,000 plus became hushed. We all fell into reverent silence beneath this arch which remembers over 54,000 who fell in battle. We opened with prayers and then the choir sang followed by The Kohima Epitaph and wreathes were laid by the elderly clutching walking frames and young children holding their parents’ hands tightly. The brass band played, the choir led the assembly in the National Anthem and all too soon it was over for another evening. The police stood back, the traffic recommenced; but the memory of this fantastic privilege will live on for a long time. It is something we can all do to remember those who gave their lives for our country”. 6 contact
The Bible Society on its website details the influence of the Bible through the First World War. It states that when war broke out in 1914, every member of the British Armed Forces was given a Bible as an essential part of their kit. Historian of Christianity and War, Dr Michael Snape of Birmingham University explains why: “It was hugely consoling for individual soldiers,” he says. ”There are poignant stories of bodies being recovered of men who had died with a New Testament in their hands. What else could you do if you were alone, badly wounded and going to meet your maker?” It was clearly vital that each man could read the Bible to search for comfort and understanding or simply be a link with home. So, every one of the 5.7 million British soldiers, sailors and airmen who joined up were given a copy of the New Testament with the rest of their kit.”
Along with New Testaments the Active Service Gospel was also produced, designed with round edges to fit into the breast pocket of a uniform without creasing. There were also hymns in the back so services could be held in the field. At the very back of the Gospel was a ‘decision form’ which, when found filled in among the belongings of men killed in
action, gave comfort to the bereaved. This year the Christian Enquiry Agency in conjunction with Scripture Gift Mission and the Naval Military and Air Force Bible Society has produced replica gospels to help people reflect on their own life and the meaning of the Bible’s words of life today. Copies can be ordered at www.sgmlifewords.com
Communities will be marking the anniversary this summer in all kinds of ways, from planting poppies in schools and churchyards, to restoring forgotten war memorials and holding musical events and services of remembrance. Members of the Armed Forces’ Christian Union have joined with Christian Vision for Men and HOPE in helping to research and produce a short film, available on DVD, called Greater Love, which includes reflections from people affected by the war and together with interviews from Christians in today’s armed forces. For details on the DVD and how to order your copy see: http://cvm.org.uk/greaterlove
Wilf’s miracle Bible
IT’S not surprising that Pte Wilf Kreibich’s tattered, khaki New Testament which he had with him during the whole of WW1 falls open at Matthew 14: the feeding of the 5,000. For Pte Kreibich, a clerk from Manchester, was involved in his very own version of the biblical miracle. Wilf joined the Army Service Corps at
the age of 23, in 1914. By 1918, he and his colleagues were responsible for feeding some 3 million men and 500,000 horses. Every month they dealt with 67,500,000lbs of meat and 90,000,000lbs of bread. A photograph
taken at the ASC station in Rouen, shows Wilf with more than 100 comrades, where they were in charge of feeding the sick and wounded as well as sending supplies, reinforcements and fresh horses to the front. His New Testament is daubed with spots of wax from where he read the Scriptures by candlelight at night.
An ‘easy-going, affable’ man, Wilf had a great sense of humour. Though he was at Ypres and Arras, he barely spoke of the war later in life. Nonetheless, according to his son John (80), Wilf leant on his faith during those four tough years. “He was a person who took things in his stride,’ he says. ‘But it must have meant a lot to him to have his Bible with him. It must have been a comfort to him. I like to think of him being bolstered by this when he was in the trenches and behind the lines.” See more on: www.biblesociety.org.uk
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it must have meant a lot to him to have his Bible with him. It must have been a comfort to him...in the trenches
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how World War I transformed Christian thinking about God...
war shakes the foundations of everything we believe. It makes us realise that everything we cherish is small and unimportant
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storm clouds of war Padre Simon Farmer traces the impact of war on renowned theologian - Karl Barth
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ollowing the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand on 28 June 1914, it took just five weeks for the whole of Europe to be caught up in a war...each soldier fighting a patriotic battle. Almost everyone thought the war would be over within a couple of months but it became the bloodiest battle the world had ever seen. Not only a war between two lines of soldiers but a total confrontation between entire populations. By the end of the war, the world had received a shock which changed its understanding and conduct of war forever. Not only was the old order swept away but fresh biblical theological thinking was born.
In a sermon at a memorial service in December 1918, Albert Schweitzer put some of the horror into words. "How did they die? When the bullet tore into their bodies, they bled to death. They were trapped in barbed wire and hung there for days crying for help and no one was able to come to their aid. They froze to death. Mines buried them or blew them to bits in midair..." Profound questions troubled those who survived the ordeal. The experience of war had so affected how people thought about God, about society and about life that clearly, if the Christian church hoped to be heard by the survivors of the War, it had to deliver an inspired God-breathed message, the Christian gospel. Dr Karl Barth responded to the religious crisis created by the war and completely changed his way of theological thinking
from the popular modern liberal thought prior to WW1. Today, many Christians have been influenced by the theology of Dr. Karl Barth yet they may not have realised the importance of this Theologian as a basis for much current evangelical theology. Barth was a man of peace but he had always followed with great interest those matters concerning war and, in extreme circumstances, could understand that war may be a necessary evil. During his teenage years he lived and dreamed of military exploits and used to play wargames with his brothers using lead soldiers.
Barth was exempt from joining the regular army due to his short-sightedness and became a pastor in Switzerland. However, the War triggered much questioning of Barth's Christian faith. He became deeply disappointed when his former liberal theological teachers gave their support to Kaiser Wilhelm’s war policy and his liberal faith was ‘shaken to the foundations’. One day in early August 1914, he suddenly realised that he could not follow the ethics and dogmatics or the understanding of the Bible of his liberal professors. It was the beginning of Barth's search for a new theological framework. He never did his theology in an ivory tower secluded from the world but was always concerned with social action. He always had the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other. As war broke out, Barth wrote, "It is not the war that disturbs our peace. The war is not even the cause of our unrest. It has merely brought to light the fact that our lives are all based on unrest. And where there is unrest there can be no peace." Barth had earlier been deeply affected by the death of his father, in 1912, and whose dying words to him were: "The main thing is not scholarship, nor
s
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learning, nor criticism, but to love the Lord Jesus. We need a living relationship with God, and we must ask the Lord for that."
Barth and his student friend, Eduard Thurneysen, now a pastor in a nearby village, both experienced a similar faith crisis. They cycled and hiked across the mountains and shared their questions, and their search for answers. Barth said, “We tried to learn our theological ABC all over again…by reading and interpreting the Old and New Testaments, more thoughtfully than before” and “they began to speak to us.” It was a return to gospel basics. Barth said, "It was Thurneysen who whispered the key phrase to me, while we were together: 'What we need for preaching, instruction and pastoral care is a 'wholly other' theological foundation." Barth then felt compelled to lay the foundations of his ‘wholly other’ theology. He studied the New Testament letter to the Romans and then wrote a ground breaking commentary in 1919 just as he was beginning to develop a new theology from scratch, which was totally different from what he had learnt at university. This theology would be founded on a God who is 'wholly other', transcendent and radically unlike the Europe of trenches, gas and death. Barth said of his first commentary on Romans, "When I first wrote it . . . it required only a little imagination to hear the sound of the guns booming away in the north." He had undertaken this work as a response to the theological crisis of the War and also as a response to his own personal faith crisis. In 1922 he reworked his commentary on Romans and published a second edition which established a new theological movement. It introduced a bold new theological system “concerned simply with God in His independent sovereignty over and against man, and especially the religious man.” He said, "Human efforts to bridge the chasm between God and humanity by means of religion only multiply the sin. Nevertheless, in spite of human sin, in spite of the great chasm between God and humanity, God chose to bridge it through Jesus Christ". Barth later wrote, "GOD is true. HE is the Answer, the Helper, the Judge, and the Redeemer -
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theologians & war
not man. The gospel proclaims a God utterly distinct from men. Salvation comes to them from Him, because they are, as men, incapable of knowing Him...it demands participation, comprehension, cooperation; for it is a communication which presumes faith in a living God..."
Barth colourfully condemned all manmade efforts of religion as idolatrous. He said, "Our relation to God is ungodly...we assume that He needs something: and so we assume that we are able to arrange our relationship with Him as we arrange our other relationships. We dare to deck ourselves out as His companions, patrons, guides and commissioners. This is the ungodliness of our relation to God. Secretly we are ourselves the masters of this relationship. We are not concerned with God, but with our own requirements to which God must adjust Himself.” Barth on finding a ‘new world’ in Paul’s letter to the Romans declared God as ‘the wholly other’ knowable only in Christ. He said: “My new task was to rethink everything that I had said before…as a theology of the grace of God in Jesus Christ.”
Barth preached throughout the war as he developed and explored his new thinking. Days before war broke out, Barth likened it to a thunderstorm that was certain to break and acknowledged that such evils as war make one tremble, but he proceeded to urge his congregation toward the hope that was theirs as Christians, because God is truth and God’s Kingdom will ultimately interrupt all human kingdoms and orders and establish what is good. He taught that Christians can live as though God is their Master rather than look to the bad events that they fear. Barth's sermon on 2 August 1914 was to tell his congregation not to fear, reminding them that God's will and ways ultimately triumph. However. this time he added a sober note: "God's will may triumph, but it may do so only if sin isn't allowed to ripen". He said, "War shakes the
foundations of everything we believe. It makes us realise that everything we cherish is small and unimportant.” After war broke out, Barth said, "War is really an explosion of primal human sin, and war is a tool to bring people to repentance.”
Just five days after war broke out, on 9 August 1914, in the confusion of the war, Barth preached on Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God". And later he said, "We are not to fear because the Lord is with them in the middle of it all like the disciples in the boat on the stormy sea. Jesus will calm the storm if they believe Him and trust Him with themselves". He said, "Nothing can separate them from the love of God, which is a real certainty in a transient and dying world because God and the things of God are eternal. The world may be full of sorrow and injustice at this time, but God's justice will triumph and endure. This comfort is the Gospel of Jesus Christ found in the Bible which is our only real comfort in such turbulent times.” For Barth the War was a terrible storm which seemed to have erupted as suddenly over Europe as the storm which had broken over the disciples' boat on Galilee. But the shock of the Great War also brought about a complete change in theological thinking.
In 1921, Barth was appointed Professor of Reformed Theology at the University of Gottingen, where he lectured on Dogmatics, which he described as “reflection on the Word of God as revelation, holy scripture and Christian preaching...as it is actually given”. A few years later Barth published his Church Dogmatics.
Part 2 Theologians and War follows in the next issue... as Dr Karl Barth teaching coincides with Adolf Hitler’s rise to national power and World War 2.
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Brian McAvoy examines some ethical questions around the development of remotely piloted aircraft
ethics file the traditional ‘battlefield’ will constantly change in the face of technological development
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hi tech war & the ‘Reaper’
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he longest 26 seconds of my life…..” the words of a Harrier pilot describing to me his feelings when he had released a laser-guided precision bomb in support of coalition ground forces protecting a strategic dam who were in danger of being over-run and killed by Iraqi soldiers trying to re-take the dam and blow it up. He knew that people were going to die as a result of his action, and they probably wouldn’t even hear the approaching weapon as it arrived precisely on target. The coalition forward air controller had given his wing-man the exact co-ordinates of the “splash” point and the outcome was inevitable once he pressed the release button.
Of course, he wasn’t alone in the action. The overall event was being controlled and authorised from an airborne E3D and he was in direct contact with the ground forces and his wing-man who was providing the designator laser beam down which the bomb would ‘fly’ to its target. He still felt the final responsibility for his action but he wasn’t just feeling sorry for himself. He had been well trained as a military pilot, but he was still a human being and his feelings were not negotiable. That was more than ten years ago, and a lot has changed technologically since; for instance armed Remotely Piloted Air Systems (RPAS) have been introduced into the UK’s armed forces, which appear
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to distance combat even further. While these new systems have saved the lives of many NATO and UK pilots, as well as soldiers on the ground, plus Afghan civilians and military, there has been a lot of suspicion about their role, mainly through the public not understanding what they are doing and fearing where it might lead. According to the RAF the only people who should be worried are those who have something to hide or are bent on killing our people. The facts speak for themselves, as there has only been one reported case of innocent civilians being killed by UK RPAS, which is not a bad statistic for a 12 year campaign.
In looking at how remotely piloted weapons allow a pilot to maintain his moral responsibility for any actions, it is worth understanding how they operate. Reaper is one variant of a number of RPAS flown by the UK Armed Forces. All RPAS are remotely controlled (at all times) by a fully qualified pilot with the same training as a pilot flying conventional aircraft. Whilst they may be thousands of miles away they are very much living every part of the mission and actually can do far more in the cockpit/cabin than they could in a conventional aircraft - which minimizes the risk of human error. They do not suffer the same amount of flight fatigue you get from airborne flying - giving them more energy to focus on what they are doing. To keep this remote warfare in perspective, pilots usually spend 99% of their time observing and the actual number of firings has been minimal. ‘The psychology of indirect fire’ was the title of a lecture I attended at Staff College some 25 years ago. At first, I wasn’t sure what relevance the topic might have within the field of Christian ethics, but I learned a lot as the lecture progressed. At one end of the scale, individual combat with fixed bayonets is as ‘direct’ as it is possible to get – remember the scene in the church tower in Saving Private Ryan where the sniper
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kills his enemy in just that way? Steven Spielberg conveyed the dilemmas involved extremely well, but the outcome was still the same – one soldier killed another. In his usual role as a sniper the soldier involved operated further from such direct involvement, targeting another who might not even be recognisable to him and introducing an element of fear and uncertainty into the situation. This is where the psychology begins to impact on the ethics in the situation.
The next level involves mortar-fire, and then artillery and ultimately aerial bombardment from a great height, virtually undetectable except by the result. The ultimate aim of such ‘indirect’ fire is hopefully to cause the enemy to become unwilling to continue the engagement through fear or the judgment that “this game is just not worth the candle!” All with minimal physical damage to everyone involved. That, at any rate, is the idea, although in reality it doesn’t always work out this way. “The whole front was a single orange light several miles wide…” a description of the huge German bombardment of 1918 before their ‘final push’ which almost succeeded in breaking the Allied line and leading to a very different outcome to the one we now remember every November 11. The ‘indirect fire’ of 1918 was so destructive of everything in its path that it was more akin to the controversial area bombing of Germany in 1944/45.
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Frightening the enemy into submission just didn’t work.
Meanwhile, back in the ‘cockpit’ somewhere in Lincolnshire or Arizona, pilots sit in front of their screens and direct the operations under the same command and control which governed the actions of our Harrier pilot. Although they may seem more remote, today’s Reaper pilots can actually use many more systems at the same time, have access to much more information, speak to many more subject matter experts before taking any strike action, than the traditional pilot on operations. The controls on the Reaper are almost more stringent than a conventional aircraft; pilots state that when they operate on shift it is as if they are actually there in the skies over Afghanistan. They often operate in conjunction with a Forward Air Controller in theatre who has a full appreciation of local conditions and can positively identify targets. Although they are distant from the effects of their fire, they still feel the same emotions. And though they are not out there on the ground, this is not new - they are just like their colleagues who flew Tornados on missions from RAF Bruggen during the Kosovo crisis and also came home to their families after their bombing sorties in 1999. So how does this change things in a world of ‘asymmetric warfare’? Or does it? Is it merely restoring the balance of advantage gained by the terrorist’s ability to melt into
the crowd and become as invisible as the pilots in their high-tech hideouts? We have to accept that the traditional ‘battlefield’ will constantly change in the face of technological development. Is the moral ground of the warrior improved or worsened, and has anything really changed? After all did the bowmen at Agincourt really see the face of the enemy their arrows rained down on? In His day on earth Jesus was always understanding of the soldiers’ dilemmas, but He also always left the final responsibility for their actions in their hands (both individually and collectively). As followers of His Way, where do we stand on the matter?
A graduate in Mental and Moral Science, The Revd Brian McAvoy served as an RAF chaplain for 28 years. Following retirement, he established, with a team, a support system for RAF Chaplains and their families with emphasis on postdeployment care and has researched extensively into PTSD and its management. He now continues ministry as an associate priest in Melton Mowbray, where he is also Officiating Chaplain to the Defence Animal Centre. His major research project ‘Soldier-priest, an irresolvable tension?’ was published by St George’s House, Windsor in January 1985.
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Mike’s Blog
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L i v i n g
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or RAF aircraft, the fuel used is really important. Before it even reaches the aircraft it passes through multiple filters and is checked for quality no less than three times.
In my role as an RAF Logistics Officer at RAF Marham, I manage some 115 personnel who make up the diverse Material Management Flight. And it is this Flight which is responsible for the receipt, storage and onward distribution of aircraft technical spares and fuel. During routine quality testing last summer, we found that one of the additives in the fuel was too high and therefore made the fuel unsuitable to issue to the aircraft. The cause was the weather! This particular additive increased in concentration as the temperature warmed up. The only thing we could do was to complete the quality tests each day until the concentration of the additive had reduced. This meant extra work for the Fuels Section, and frustrating work at that, because on some days it would reduce a little only to increase again the next day.
As the Flight Commander for Fuels on the unit I had to reassure my guys that the work they did was not in vain, and that if they continued to test the fuel each day eventually it would become suitable to issue to the aircraft. At the same time I had to explain to my boss that we were doing everything possible to ensure that there would soon be safe fuel available.
Sometimes it felt like one day I had good news, that we had seen an improvement and the end was in sight, only to return the next day to explain that actually we were still facing the same problem with no real explanation or solution. I think that whenever we have to do something over and over again with no real sign of change it can become very frustrating. Often the most difficult challenge can be when this frustration comes from a relationship you have with someone. There can be a feeling of going over the same issue and not seeing any change. If someone has hurt or offended you, or
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abused your trust, it can be very difficult to keep forgiving when we see no change in their behaviour.
In Micah 6:8, we are told that the Lord requires us to ‘love mercy’. This is something that He has already shown us. We are required to live the example God has set before us. God’s people chosen to live God’s way. The story of the prodigal son explains the grace God shows to those He has called His children. What the prodigal son has done is unthinkable. The son is asking for his father to be dead so he can live an independent life with the inheritance. It is odd to think of a father today even contemplating this request. We can see the parallel of this within our world today. We want everything God has created for us, only without God in it. I had previously thought that the prodigal son came back to the father seeking forgiveness, and this pointed to our need to do likewise. However after recently considering the sequence of the prodigal son’s actions he does not come back seeking forgiveness, he returns to the father wanting to earn his way. The prodigal son does not want to be reinstated as the father’s son again. Perhaps he does not think it possible; his solution is to work for his keep.
Instead we see the father in the story showing mercy to the prodigal son; when he was still in the distance the father goes out to meet him with a robe and a ring for his finger. The father delights in showing mercy to the son who has returned. I cannot think of a situation where I have delighted in showing mercy, rather I have delighted in the restored relationship from showing mercy. However the instruction in Micah 6:8 is to ‘love mercy’. God shows us unconditional forgiveness, and requires us to do likewise.
Like the fuel which had to be tested over and over again until it was suitable for use, we are required to delight in showing mercy to others, over and over, until we see that relationship restored. Love mercy is literally to show loving forgiveness, not that begrudging forgiveness because we know as Christians we have to forgive. Rather the forgiveness the father shows when the prodigal son returns home.
Flt Lt Mike Forsyth is a member of the AFCU and is currently working as an RAF Logistics Officer at RAF Marham. He is married to Rachel and they live in Norfolk. Together they like going for walks in the countryside and mountain biking.
What does God consider as a Godly lifestyle? (part 1 of 3) by Flt Lt Mike Forsyth
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admiring the view ?
‘ ’ think about what you do in secret
S
o, the good ideas club was in full swing in the Chiefs’ Mess on HMS Beaver … it was just after Live Aid, back in the mid-80s, and someone decided they would follow it up with ‘Run the World’ … where everyone would be encouraged to run for charity. We were in the Gulf on Armilla patrol, and we thought that it would be a great idea to join in. Have guys running everywhere on the ship at the same time, all around the upperdeck, bridge wings, flight deck … film it and send it to the BBC.
Then I stupidly said, “Why not start with someone running on the top of the main mast?’” - up and down the 6ft diameter radar platform. Good idea … NOT. We would start filming from the helicopter, focused on this bloke running on the radar platform, then pan out to see matelots running everywhere. So that’s what we did. The resultant film was a masterpiece. Starting off on me, we all had to run for about 30 mins to ensure they got enough footage. So I ran up and down this 6ft platform ducking under the radar aerial every two steps for half an hour – the cameraman focused on me for 10 seconds, then panned down and I was never seen again. But I kept running.
Life can be like that, especially with the Christian faith. Things that never get noticed, acts of kindness, things you do for others, prayers that you say that others don’t realise you are saying, but actually that’s what God wants us to be like … he doesn’t want us to stand in the Mess spouting off about how good we are or what we have done. Jesus said this ‘Here’s what I want you to do …. find a quiet secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to
God and you will sense His grace’. I thought that the camera would be on me, so I kept running. It wasn’t, but I kept going – to be honest if I had known I was not in shot I would have stopped running and admired the view from the top of the mast (and probably shouted abuse at the rest of the guys running around below me!). God wants us to keep going with our prayers, with doing good stuff, living a life style that he wants us to even though we KNOW that the camera is not on us.
Let’s take an example that is very real to guys in the military … pornography. I know that loads of guys (and girls) watch it but years ago, when you had to go to a shop or watch it on a video it was very difficult to keep it a secret … but now with the internet it’s so easy to watch hard core stuff on your own. In secret. No-one knows, and I know of loads of Christians who have a problem with watching porn. But no-one knows. The camera is not on them. The wife doesn’t know, the Bish doesn’t know, it can be completely secret. In those quiet places though, that’s where God is. In the secluded places, on our own. Let’s put it a different way. I recently bought a new car, well a new old one. A 1985 2.8 I Ford Capri. In white. Paid a good price for it. Runs well, looks good. Last week it had to go for its MOT. I took it to my mechanic who restores and race tunes old Escorts for some of the top rally drivers in the UK, so he knows his Fords. He rang me and said that it was a very good example, sound car. It was not like many he sees that look good, but underneath are all rust and filler. Rust buckets. I was chuffed with that. There is nothing secret about it, nothing rusting away under the paint job. That I think is what God wants from us … as a Christian I believe that God has
taken all that stuff away and forgiven me for it, BUT and here’s the thing I’m still a bloke, with all the challenges and temptations of life pulling me in every direction. My Capri is still made of metal and can rust unless I keep on top of it.
Like when I was running on the stupidly small radar platform … I didn’t know the camera was off me – so I kept going, but if I’d known …. Have a think about what you do in secret … is it stuff that you are not proud of? Watch porn maybe? Why not ask God to sort that out, He will forgive you and then you can start to have no hidden stuff except those times when you are talking with God …. And those times are just between you and God and much better than watching porn for example.
Which reminds me of when I was in a POs mess where porn always seemed to be on the video in the mess. I often had to be up in the middle of the night to fix stuff (I was the ‘command system maintainer’ and it was not THAT reliable) … they never realised that somehow their porn films ended up getting erased in the VCR when I had been called out over night … what’s done in secret …. Cheers all!
by Steve Martin, Operations Director Christian Vision for Men contact 13
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coffee break filming with help from above
T
he voice on the phone was one of concern. It was the camera director. "Clive, I think we have lost the Navy." I hesitated to point out that a fair few chunks of it were likely sitting alongside in Portsmouth, Plymouth or various Scottish inlets and what wasn't was identifiable from the elegantly crafted RN website indicating our worldwide naval commitments. But that was not what he meant, writes Clive Langmead.
We had been drawing to a close our complicated film shooting schedule for Defenders and OMG, two looks at modern military Christians intended for the benefit of a non military public on Remembrance Day and the AFCU respectively. As Co-Producer I had been asked to work with Christian Vision for Men to help gain access to military bases and conduct and direct interviews. With help from many AFCU and NCF members it had gone well and we seemed to have it well sorted.
various restrictions on the movement and work of the ship's company as they prepare for sea. It seemed the ship was now too busy to permit us to come on and film. With a sinking heart the quartermaster confirmed the bad news. Then the angels turned up.
A passing comment over the phone a little later led me to HMS Portsmouth, the ship I had served on a matter of four months before. I had regularly gone to morning prayers with several of the ship's company and I knew the Chaplain. I wondered... Phone calls and emails flew. Yes, he could help. Day after tomorrow? If I could get a dockyard pass. I got the camera director on the phone and asked him to pray too. A pass for a civilian camera crew always required a LOT of notice not a mere 48 hours. Fortunately there were a lot of angels about that day.
The next morning we were humping camera equipment up the gangway and lining up interviews on the flight deck. The Chaplain joined us later and spoke eloquently about his work on board. We quietly thanked God for steering us back on course and answering our prayers.
The results you can see in Defenders and OMG - on the AFCU website: www.afcu.org.uk. Greater Love - 100 years on from WW1 is available to order from: http://www.cvm.org.uk/greaterlove But the thing is with God, He does like to show His hand is crucial in the business. I had arranged shooting dates and a rendezvous in Portsmouth for the strong, interviewee on our radar who would represent the Navy. There were one or two others, but they kept slipping off to sea which was something we unfortunately had to live with. All of which rather came home to roost 48 hours before our planned trip to the dock side. The gist of the director's call was that the ship in which our interviewee served was required to sail unexpectedly - the day after our intended shoot. It was shortly 'under sailing orders' a naval term placing
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AFCU member, Rhett Parkinson, who helped with the research and filming of Greater Love, said: “The DVD is a fantastic resource for churches to engage with the commemoration of 100 years since the start of WW1. As well as focusing on the sacrifice of those who fought in WW1, it also has contemporary links with those who serve in today’s Armed Forces. The DVD comes with a selection of interviews as well as church service plans, liturgy, ideas for children and youth groups as well as sermon outlines. I highly commend it to all those wishing to engage with WW1 in a thoughtful and Christ centred way.”
What is the Armed Forces’ Christian Union (AFCU)?
AFCU is a British military Christian fellowship. It is a tri-service, all-rank, inter-denominational fellowship of Christians who wish to grow in their faith and share it with those with whom they serve. The basis of membership is prayer.
Who can join?
Anyone who believes in prayer to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and who is willing to pray regularly for the spiritual welfare of the Armed Forces, is welcome as a member. Those serving in regular or reserve sections of the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army or Royal Air Force join as Serving Members. All others, including those who have retired from the services, join as Associate Members. Serving membership is open to officer cadets and recruits under training, while those serving in foreign armed forces are welcomed as ‘honorary’ members. AFCU welcomes as Associate Members those who are not part of HM Forces, but who have a concern for the spiritual well-being of Service personnel and their families.
What will it mean to me?
Members receive regular mailings of Contact magazine, AFCU News & Views and other literature. You can also have access to information and resources on the website and link with a network of Christian contacts across the Armed Forces. There are teaching and fellowship events and holidays with a Christian emphasis. Serving members are invited to be linked to an Associate group for regular prayer support and encouraged to make contact with other AFCU members in their location.
Will it cost me anything?
AFCU does not have a membership subscription. Members are simply asked to give as they can and as the Lord leads. Clearly the costs of running AFCU, inc staff costs, sending out regular publications, the cost of the app etc all mount up.
How do I join?
You can apply for membership on the AFCU website www.afcu.org.uk by clicking on the ‘Join’ button and following directions. Or you can email (office@afcu.org.uk) or phone (01252 311221) the office and ask for a membership form.
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competition
what a pic!
£25 e Priz
What is happening in photo to the left?
Send in your Caption... Thank you
to all of you for entering this competition. We get some really good captions. Congratulations to the winner. Please send your funny caption to: rachel.reay@gmail.com and get them in before 30th September 2014.
Having had several glasses of communion wine, the padre’s attempt to do the sign of the cross went a bit messy... F.P.
the big read to be delivered in the event of my death: ten letters by Chris Russell Every birthday, Chris Russell wonders whether the year to come will be his last, and what legacy he will leave behind. Ten Letters comprises the things he would most want to say in the event of his death. This brilliantly original book with an uncompromising message, is both funny and tragic, as the author cuts to the heart of honest, biblical Christian faith for the world we live in today and offers inspiration and challenge. . £10.99 Darton Longman and Todd
The Question that Never Goes Away: What is God Up to in a World of Such Tragedy and Pain? by Philip Yancy Philip Yancey’s face-to-face meetings with survivors and the bereaved in trauma-struck communities such as Columbine, Fukushima and Sandy Hook stop him providing glib answers on suffering in this book. His sensitive and practical approach help us to understanding the brokenness around us and how to respond as God's presence in the lives of the hurting.
Christ in the Wilderness: Reflecting on the Paintings of Stanley Spencer by Stephen Cottrell In this small, attractive illustrated book, Stephen Cottrell reflects on five of the Christ in the Wilderness paintings, showing us new ways to engage with God through art. He invites the reader to slow down and enter into the stillness of Stanley Spencer's vision. By dwelling in the wilderness of these evocative portraits, Stephen Cottrell encourages us to refine our own discipleship and learn again what it means to follow Christ. £6.99 SPCK
Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung I'm too busy. We've all heard it; we've all said it. Sometimes being busy seems like the theme of our lives. In this mercifully short book about a really big problem, best-selling author Kevin DeYoung rejects the 'busyness as usual' mindset, arguing that a life of constant chaos is far from what God intends. DeYoung helps us figure out a better way forward, as he strikes a mature and well-reasoned balance between doing nothing and doing everything.
Please send letters and captions and ideas for articles to:
£9.29 Hodder
rachel.reay@gmail.com
£8.99 ivp
Photographs © Crown Copyright from www.photos.mod.uk are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. All photographs are copyright. Every effort is made to trace copyright holders of the images reproduced. We apologise for any unintentional omission and would be pleased to insert appropriate acknowledgement in the next issue. Please note: 1.Pictures of service men and women and those not members of the AFCU reflect our prayers and support to all members of the Armed Forces. 2.Not all articles are the view of the AFCU General Committee.
Contact Editorial Team: Sqn Ldr S Priestnall RAF, Mrs S Sandy, Mrs Y Cobbold, AFCU staff, the Editors
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Contact magazine is published by AFCU three times per year - Contact ISSN 1359 - 1726 - Registered Charity (No. 249636)