Sunday 19 September 2021
16th After Trinity
Sung Eucharist
Revd Nicholas Mercer
One of the most striking images in the recent evacuation from Afghanistan was a US Marine standing on the perimeter of Kabul Airport
She was cradling a baby in one hand whilst holding a M27 Infantry Rifle in the other
Not only did this image remind us, starkly, of gender equality in the Armed forces but also symbolised some of the complexity of warfare itself
The Marine held life in one hand and the means of taking it in the other
War, which is so often humanitarian in motive, also has the ability to kill on an industrial scale
It is, seemingly, such a paradox and so difficult to navigate for all those concerned
The evacuation of any defeated army is always immensely difficult
And it was inevitable that an enemy would try and inflict damage in Afghanistan
It was equally inevitable however that those under attack might over react or panic
And we saw the tragic results when a drone strike killed an innocent family in the confusion
Getting the balance right is immensely difficult
And those in the line of duty have an enormous responsibility upon their shoulders
Today is designated as “Battle of Britain” Sunday
It was the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces
Starting in July 1940, with the German Forces targeting coastal shipping convoys
The Luftwaffe then changed their focus onto RAF airfields before specifically targeting civilians which we know, separately, as the Blitz
The primary aim of the campaign was to compel Britain to reach a negotiated peace by paving the way for a seaborne invasion
It never came about
It marked a dramatic turning point in the war and was the first major German defeat in World War II
However, at the end of the battle, 544 pilots and aircrew were dead – the average age was just 20
They cradled the life of this nation in their arms and we remember them and salute their courage this morning
It was a heroic and noble chapter in our nation’s history –
Which we should not readily forget
By stark contrast howver, a parishioner gave me a book last year about another chapter of our air warfare
It was called “Dresden” and was written by a man called Sinclair McKay
And, as you might have guessed, the book was about the bombing of Dresden in 1945
Sir Max Hastings said “I have never seen it better described” however, it is hard to escape the gruesome facts
The city of Dresden was the capital of the German State of Saxony
Known as “The Jewel Box”, it was furnished with cultural and artistic splendours
It was also densely populated with a civilian population of 500,000 civilians
Nevertheless, British and American bombers dropped nearly 4000 tons of high explosives and incendiary devices on the city
This caused a firestorm which led to the estimated death of 25,000 people
One eye witness said of the event
“We saw terrible things: cremated adults shrunk to the size of small children, pieces of arms and legs, dead people, whole families burnt to death, burning people ran to and fro, burnt coaches filled with civilian refugees, dead rescuers and soldiers, many were calling and looking for their children and families, and fire everywhere, everywhere fire, and all the time the hot wind of the firestorm threw people back into the burning houses they were trying to escape from. I cannot forget these terrible details.
The war memorial to civilian casualties in the City says
“How many died? Who knows the count? In your wounds one sees the agony of the nameless, who in here were conflagrated, in the hellfire made by hands of man.”
The raids caused consternation at the time, not least among the military community
The philosopher A C Grayling described the raids as “immoral”
And the bombing of Dresden remains deeply controversial to this day
Unlike the Battle of Britain, this does not constitute a just and noble act
Mercifully, I hope, we can all feel it in our very being
As I mentioned at the beginning of my sermon, getting the balance right in war is enormously difficult
If you like, a child in one hand and an infantry rifle in the other
And there is a huge weight of responsibility on those who are in charge of prosecuting such wars
But the parishioner who so kindly sent me a copy of the book
Was, above all, trying above to make sense out of the dreadful events of February 1945 and of warfare itself
The parishioner wrote
“I need the benefit of your wisdom and experience to help me to answer how war of any kind can be made subject to constraints of humanity and decency, when by its very nature it is posited and conducted on a basis which is surely the very antithesis of precepts of that kind? Is there an innate tension here, or have I got it wrong?”
The question is very challenging
However, I attempted an answer, not least because of my legal background in this arena
There are constraints on war which are based on the principles of “humanity and public conscience”
Indeed, the whole edifice of how we conduct our wars is based on the Just War tradition
Laid down 800 years ago by a Dominican Friar called Thomas Aquinas, it set out on the basis on which Christians might go to war
And those Christian principles, were largely codified in the twentieth century, under what is termed International Humanitarian Law
Tragically, for the citizens of Dresden, the rules of aerial warfare were not codified until the 1970’s
The Hague Draft Rules on Aerial Warfare 1923 remained just that – it came too late to save Dresden
But I wanted to put the two side by side this morning
There is a sometimes a temptation in this country to glorify our military past but forget the rest
But putting the two side by side reminds us that, just as we can use force for good, we too can use it for bad
We must give our eternal thanks to those who saved these Islands
And we do so with grateful hearts today
But, equally, we need have the maturity to reflect on those events which might shame us too
Otherwise we risk glorifying war to the exclusion of all else – and that helps no one
Dresden remains very difficult, not least because we were waging a total war
But the enduring image of the Marine – with a baby in one hand and carbine in the other
Reminds us all, as Christian men and women, that we need to conduct ourselves with the utmost propriety when we wage war against our adversaries
Our faith permits us to wage war but this comes with a very heavy responsibility to our fellow men and women –
On whichever side