Angels In War (The First World War) Part 2

Dr Victor Pearce

'Arise, shine for your light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See darkness is on the land and deep darkness on the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.' We live in days when this scripture is beginning to be fulfilled. But the time of darkness and light together, will bring about a greater time of 'spiritual warfare' and will necessitate a deeper call to prayer. To help us get a sense of the power of prayer and the revealing of God during warfare we need look no further than WWI and WWII. These were extraordinary days in our nation to live through. Dr Victor Pearce (now 94) lived in both wars and chronicled the amazing stories of the revealing of the power of prayer and the intervention of the Lord during warfare. This is the fourth in a series of articles revealing these stories. I think you will be moved and inspired, and I pray the Spirit of God will speak into your spirit through what you read - Jonathan Bellamy, Cross Rhythms CEO.

Angelic Intervention Reports

My father was in the first expeditionary force, which fought in the dramatic battle of Mons, about which strange reports began to filter through of angelic intervention. Dad was one of the 'Old Contemptibles', so called by the Kaiser when he referred to Britain's small force of seasoned soldiers as 'a contemptible little army'. Dad wore a special medal on his chest.

When war broke out unexpectedly, Britain was unprepared, so this hurriedly equipped force was sent across the Channel. It was far weaker in guns and manpower than the opponents who had shocked the world by massacring helpless Belgian home-dwellers, but our army fought a dogged rearguard action as they fell back before the terrific impact of massed enemy attacks.

A big thrill was when Dad came home on his first leave, after the battle of Mons. I remember when he lifted me up on his broad khaki-uniformed chest. I did not know how many Old Contemptibles would never return.

Dad was surprised that the 'contemptible little army' managed to hold up the German advance during two days' fighting around Mons.

Those two days were vital, because the war could have been lost there and then. Those gallant Old Contemptibles did not know at first that there was more to tell about what happened behind the scenes.

The First Angelic Intervention

Individual stories and official reports began to filter through about strange happenings at Mons in Belgium. A lieutenant colonel reported:

On August the 26th, 1914, the battle of Le Cateau [near Mons] was fought. We came into action at dawn and fought until dusk. We were heavily shelled by artillery during the day, and all our division had a horrific time of it. Our brigade, however, retired in good order. We were on the march all the night of the 26th; and on the 27th with only about two hours rest, the brigade to which I belong was rearguard to the division, so during the 27th we took up a great many different positions to cover the retirement of the rest of the division, so we had very hard work and by the night of the 27th we were all absolutely worn out with fatigue - both body and mental fatigue - but nevertheless we moved in excellent order and were not being routed.

There must have been a reason why they were not overwhelmed. What was it?

I was riding along in the column with two other officers, and I became conscious of the fact that in the fields on both sides of the road along which we were marching, I could see a very large body of horsemen. These horsemen seemed to have the appearance of cavalry, and they seemed to be riding across the fields and going in the same direction as us and keeping level with us. The night was not very dark, and I fancied that I could see squadron after squadron of these cavalrymen quite distinctly. I didn't say a word about them at first, but I watched them for about twenty minutes. The other two officers stopped talking. 'Did you see anything?' one asked. I told him what I'd seen. 'I've been watching them for the last twenty minutes,' he said. When we reached the next halt, another officer took out a party of men to investigate the mystery. They found no one there, and yet the same phenomenon was seen by many men in our column.

The Sound Of Marching

In the First World War, a soldier's wife received a letter from her husband, which said: 'During the battle I saw the angels all around. It's nothing short of a miracle.'