I have been preparing some “thoughts” about travelling on public transport and the things that happen to us as we journey from A to B among other people.This week is a little different as I wanted to think about some transport that was used in wartime for this special week of Remembrance.
The first vehicle that I thought about is the simple lorry – not the large HGV variety – but a smaller lorry of the kind that my grandad drove throughout World War One. He had learned to drive in Suffolk at a very early stage of the motor vehicle coming into use, as he was employed as a chauffeur out at Hollesley by a man wealthy enough to own a car. When he joined up in early 1915 he was sent to France to drive a lorry that took supplies up to the front for the soldiers. This proved to be a huge benefit as he never had to live in the trenches where so many soldiers perished from disease as well as from enemy fire. At times he slept in his lorry and even remembered washing his socks in the radiator water! A naturally friendly man, he enjoyed getting to know French families who offered him hospitality and sometimes a billet. One could argue that his lorry saved him, as well as delivering much needed supplies of food to the soldiers.
My second vehicle brought rescue and safety to soldiers, this time in the 2nd World War. On a recent visit to the Imperial War Museum in half term I saw a rowing boat, the smallest of the many boats that went to Dunkirk to rescue tbe soldiers trapped on the beach in 1940. It was used to take soldiers from the beach out to larger ships which then took them back to England. All this under heavy enemy air bombardment. My father was among the soldiers rescued and I would not have come into being if he had perished on that beach, so seeing an actual boat used in that rescue was quite an emotional experience for me.
The third vehicle I want to write about was used for a very different purpose. In the 2nd World War the cattle truck was used to transport Jews and other prisoners across Europe to concentration camps, sometimes keeping the captives inside without food, drink or sanitation, for days. A half, one sided model of a truck is featured at the Imperial War Museum and strikes a chill into the heart. What suffering took place in those trucks, involving children, adults, pregnant women and vulnerable elderly and disabled people. What relief it must have been when they were finally let out, only to find themselves herded towards the concentration camps and many to the gas chambers.
Just 3 of many forms of transport used in war, some for good purposes and others for evil.
Prayer: Heavenly Father we remember with thankfulness all those people who had the courage to try to rescue others during the horrors of 2 World Wars, sometimes losing their lives in the process.
We remember the suffering of those who were persecuted and murdered because of their race and religion. May we learn from the mistakes that were made then.
In Jesus name we ask it. Amen