Cited in Practical Christianity No 120 of March 1946, pages 17-20.
His aircraft having been set on fire by enemy action one day in February 1945, the author gave the order to his crew to bail out.
In less time than it takes to tell, the whole wing was a blazing inferno. Leaving my seat, I was thrown against the fuselage side before being able to get out into the slipstream and pull my ripcord.
With an almighty jerk the parachute opened. There was a gentle swaying motion and a strange silence after the rush and roar of flying and, drifting slowly down in the night sky, I thanked God for sparing my life… and prayed God that the crew might have escaped too. How appropriate to me were the words of the ancient prophet Micah, ‘Rejoice not against me O my enemy; when I fall, I shall arise; when I see darkness the Lord shall be a light unto me’ (Micah 7:8).
Though remaining in hiding the remainder of the night and spending all the next day spying out the lie of the land, I was unfortunately captured the following night. Next day I was taken to Munster, where I met some American aircrew and we were kept in cells in a guard house for four days, where I met two of my crew whose escapes from the burning plane had been even more remarkable than mine.
Thank God I was a prisoner for only a few months but that was ample time in which to experience His power fully to supply all our need. The greater our need, and the more we prayed, the greater was His power to supply it. How true it is that if we had no needs in this world, we should never know how great can be His power to supply them. Time and again I have felt my own weakness and the truth of the gracious words, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).
During the months that followed when we were hungry and depressed, in solitary confinement, on the march or in danger of attack by our own aircraft, how real and comforting were the words, ‘My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my hear, and my portion for ever’ (Psalm 73:26). Finally, when at last we were liberated, what a joy it was to say with David, ‘He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bands in sunder. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!’
*Photo credit: https://www.pexels.com/@triemli