Does God choose sides in war?

 


Does God choose sides in war?

This image of a soldier before the Battle of Kursk in 1943 intrigues me.  

I have always wondered whether his faith and clasping his cross before the battle, provided him any comfort.

Reading the letters of soldiers, who fought in Somme Battle in 1916, provides glimpses into their inner-most thoughts about God. 

Many soldiers, such as Sergeant Philip Browne, appealed to God prior to battles. He wrote, ‘Please god we will come through safe.’ 

Philip was killed that day, his body never recovered. 

Prior to an attack, Captain Charles Dawkins wrote, ‘God, I hope it’s a success and I come through all right,’ while his comrade, Lieutenant Len Wadsley wrote, ‘I leave myself in the hands of the Almighty and trust him absolutely.’ 

Both men died in the failed attack. 

Many soldiers who survived the Somme could not fathom how they got through unscathed.  Some attributed their luck to God’s providence. ‘The Lord seems to especially look after us doesn’t he,’ wrote Allan Leane. ‘It is remarkable the luck we have, let’s hope it lasts.’

It didn’t; Leane died at Bullecourt in 1917. 

Alfred Stewart thanked God for bringing him through the Somme alive. In return, he promised to devote the rest of his life to God’s work. 

The rest of his life was short; he was killed in September 1917.

These incidents have you wondering whether God, in fact, perhaps favoured ‘the enemy’. 

This account of a soldier clearing trenches of dead Germans suggests not. He asked his officer what the inscription on the Germans’ belt buckles said. The officer roughly translated, ‘God with us for King and Fatherland.’

‘Well, God doesn’t seem to have done much for these blokes,’ the soldier replied.

Perhaps God had no favourites. 

Or perhaps, as Napoleon noted: ‘God favoured the side with the best artillery.’ 

My recently released novel, ‘Night in Passchendaele’ out now

📚 Sources & References

Soldiers’ letters from the Battle of the Somme (1916), Imperial War Museums collections

Personal correspondence of British WWI soldiers, including Philip Browne, Charles Dawkins, and Len Wadsley

Eyewitness trench accounts published in postwar memoirs and regimental histories

German military belt buckle inscription: “Gott mit uns” (God with us), standard issue in both World Wars

Napoleon Bonaparte, attributed quotation on warfare and artillery

Secondary historical analyses on religion and belief among soldiers in wartime



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