The Second World War began on September 1, 1939, when the Germans invaded Poland. Though both the French and British declared war on Germany in response, little effort was made to confront the Germans militarily and no land battles ensued. This period has been dubbed the “phony war” because of the Allies’ inaction. The Germans decided to alter the standoff.
On May 10th, 1940, the German army swept into the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Belgium, and flanked French defenses at the Maginot Line. By 18 May, Antwerp and Brussels surrendered and the bulk of the Allied armies began falling back to the French coast. The Germans had accomplished in less than a week what they failed to accomplish during World War I in four years.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of French and British troops were surrounded in the French coastal town of Dunkirk. Winston Churchill, who had been the British Prime Minister for less than three weeks, ordered a cross-channel naval operation, hoping to rescue even a small percentage of the hundreds of thousands trapped by the Germans. The majority of the British Army’s combat forces, and all of the French forces, faced capture or death.
Strong winds and heavy seas were normal during May and June and the British Navy had to anticipate the tragedy of seeing British and French soldiers, saved from the Germans on the beaches, being lost at sea. Yet, there was no choice in the matter, France was lost and Churchill and his military leaders would not leave these men to deprivation and death at the hands of Hitler.
The evacuation began in earnest on May 26. On the same day, King George VI called for a national day of prayer and the churches throughout the British Empire overflowed with worshippers who prayed for the safe return of their soldiers and committed their cause to God. By May 28, it was clear that the evacuation would be a matter of “too little too late.” German aerial bombardments and the limited docking facilities available at Dunkirk made it impossible to rapidly embark the stranded forces with large troop ships. Brave men guarded the perimeter and others held on to pockets of resistance to give more time for the evacuation, but time was running out.
Winston Churchill, realizing the inability of large transports to reach the coast for the evacuation, ordered as many boats as possible to aid in the rescue. Over 600 small vessels were volunteered or commandeered by the British Navy. These ‘little ships’ included merchant boats, fishing vessels, and pleasure craft. Even lifeboats from civilian steamers were sent to the beaches of Dunkirk. The conditions in the channel over those dangerous days were unusually calm. For the planners and many old hands at sea, the calm waters were a miracle. British meteorologists watched closely as an Atlantic storm that was heading into the English Channel turned north and headed up the west coast of Ireland.[Meteorological Center, United Kingdom]. Each day, the Germans delayed their final assault and each day thousands of Allied soldiers were picked up by this massive flotilla—on their way to safety.
In spite of brutal air attacks by the German Luftwaffe, between May 26 and June 4, over 338,000 troops were evacuated by this unlikely armada.
Climate Change
Many strategic battles throughout history have been decided by a critical factor that no army on either side of a conflict can alter—the weather. The “Miracle at Dunkirk” was not the first time in English history that the weather proved amazingly advantageous for the British.
In 1415, King Henry V of England invaded France and won an astounding victory in the Battle of Agincourt where heavy rains turned the battlefield to mud, slowing the heavily armored French knights, and providing an ideal target for the arrows of the English and Welsh archers. The French losses were ten times that of the English. William Shakespeare, in his play Henry V, captures the English view of their victory over the French nobility, ascribing these words to King Henry: “God fought for us.”
In 1588, the Spanish Armada was forced to retreat from its planned invasion of Britain by the bold attacks of Francis Drake and the British Navy. In order to avoid Drake’s British ships blocking the English Channel, the Spanish sailed north around Scotland where they were hit by a devastating storm that forced dozens of ships to crash into the shoreline. The Spanish would never again threaten the English dominance of the seas. The British struck a medal to commemorate the victory, and on it was engraved, “God blew and they were scattered”.
A day before the final defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, rains fell so hard that the roads turned into streams, slowing Napoleon’s advance. As one modern historian wrote, “… fate was against the Emperor, for rarely has this storm been given sufficient credit for the part it played in retarding the Emperor’s fiery, if tardy, pursuit of his foe. Given good weather, then June 17 might have seen very different happenings.” That ‘happening’ would likely have been the tyrannical rule of the Emperor Napoleon over all of Europe.
June 4, 1944
The American army and navy had come to rescue the British and to free Europe from the death grip of the Nazis. The long-planned invasion of France was set for June of 1944. Two periods of time offered the optimal conditions for the landings—June 5-6 and June 17-20. These days offered the greatest amount of moonlight, essential for night parachute drops, and low tides, allowing the allies to detect German obstacles on the beach. Gen. Eisenhower’s chief meteorologist was a British military officer, Group Capt. James Martin Stagg. Though facing a great deal of internal dissent from other forecasters, Stagg advised against the original target date of June 5 due to the likelihood of heavy seas and low visibility. Though realizing that every day of delay threatened that the deception operations initiated to mislead the Germans as to the location of the landings could be compromised, Eisenhower reluctantly agreed to the postponement. Stagg advised that the weather should clear around noon on the 6th, giving the Allies a great window of opportunity to land more of the 135,000 troops that were ready to storm the beaches. Eisenhower decided on the morning of June 5 to launch the invasion on the 6th. He gave the order to “embark on the Great Crusade” setting in motion the largest amphibious invasion in human history
On June 5, as predicted by Group Capt. Stagg, the English channel was stirred up by gale force winds, which, coupled with low visibility would likely have caused the invasion to fail. Massive gale force winds would again lash the English Channel on June 19, far greater than even the tempest on the 5th. Again, the invasion would most certainly have failed if the later date had been selected.
On the other side of the Channel, the weather forecasts of the German meteorologists matched that of many of the Allied forecasters. The German meteorologist’s dire predictions gave the German defenders a brief respite, or so they thought, until the landings would begin. The German weather forecast gave Edwin Rommel, the German commander at Normandy, the opportunity to go home for his wife’s birthday. German reconnaissance planes were grounded on the 5th due to high winds, and the usual submarine patrols along the coast were halted. The Germans were blinded to the Allies’ plans.
Chance or Destiny?
Are these historical events a string of chances? Are they a quirk of history? The absence of God in the calculations of many historians leads us to that conclusion, ascribing to chance or impersonal forces of fate occurrences of events which plainly show the hand of divine orchestration.
The observations and reflections of many war-time leaders recognized the presence of providential power of God, and the need for His gracious protection and provision. In his D-Day message to the “Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force,” General Eisenhower wrote: “And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.” Once the invasion was announced, President Roosevelt called upon Americans to pray, ”It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join me in prayer:
“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.”
Americans back home did pray, while on the beaches, in the towns, and on the farmlands of France, over 4,000 ships were supporting the landing of 135,000 men on the shores of Normandy. Over 20,000 paratroopers had already landed in occupied France.
In churches, in public squares, in railroad stations, on busy streets and on lonely avenues, and in homes where everyone knew a soldier, a sailor, marine or airman, Americans engaged with God, asking favor on our cause and on our country. The Lord draws men and women back to Him through such historical and cataclysmic events, reminding them that He controls history, punishing evil and offering grace to those who humbly seek Him. As General Eisenhower later said after becoming President, “Without God, there could be no American form of Government, nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the first—the most basic—expression of Americanism. Thus the Founding Fathers saw it, and thus, with God’s help, it will continue to be” [Remarks Recorded for the “Back-to-God” Program of the American Legion, 2/20/55].
Charles Hodge (1797 – 1878) was a Presbyterian theologian at Princeton Theological Seminary between 1851 and 1878. Hodge went to great lengths to explain God’s sovereign design and control over the affairs of men. Hodge wrote, “…[I]t is not to be supposed that in the higher sphere of his [God’s] operations, which concerns the destiny of men, everything is left to chance and allowed to take its undirected course to an undetermined end. We accordingly find that the Scriptures distinctly assert in reference to the dispensations of grace not only that God sees the end from the beginning, but that He works all things according to the counsel of his own will and according to his eternal purpose.”
Who Commands the Weather?
The Psalmist declares that the phenomena of nature are messengers and servants of God and that lightning, hail, fog, frost, and stormy winds obey His orders (Psalm 148:8). We read in the Book of Jonah that the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea to stop Jonah’s attempts to flee from His presence. (Jonah 1:4). We also know the answer to the exclamatory question posed by the disciples of Jesus after He calmed the wind and the waves on the Sea of Galilee: What manner of man is this! for he commands even the winds and water, and they obey him (Luke 8:25).
Jesus Christ controls the wind and the waves. He did in the first century and he does the same today—directing history—“working all things according to the counsel of His own will, according to His eternal purpose.”
On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the American Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen were the servants of God, weapons of righteousness in the hands of the Almighty; wielding the sword of the Lord; executing wrath upon him that doeth evil (Romans 13:4).
America has been a great nation because we have worshipped a great God.
Harper sends
The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to the LORD.
Proverbs 21:31