Courtesy of the National Memorial Arboretum
War Cry THE
Est 1879 No 7039
FIGHTING FOR HEARTS AND SOULS salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry
20p/25c
NIGEL BOVEY
12 November 2011
– page 3
NEWS
The War Cry 12 November 2011
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PROTESTERS UNHAPPY AT EGYPT DEBT
Skeletons have bone to pick about arms
Q
Eco building plugs into current thinking
UK hears of North Korea abuses
THIS ISSUE:
NATIONAL MEMORIAL ARBORETUM p8
PLUS
MEDIA/COMMENT p6
Annual subscriptions Q to The War Cry can be ordered online at sp-s.com LIFESTYLE p7
PUZZLES p12
Silly money causes problems
LETTER
of Commons, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams. After hearing about Shin Dong Hyuk’s 23 years of being kept in a political prison camp, Jeremy Browne said: ‘The secretive nature of the regime in North Korea often makes it difficult to verify events within the country with any certainty. However, testimonies such as Mr Shin’s give us an insight that we would not otherwise get.’
NEWS that pay for FTSE 100 directors rose by 49 per cent in the past year makes me wonder whether we need to learn from Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. People who are paid as much in a week as some people are paid in a decade simply can’t spend all their money sensibly. That some choose the ‘riotous living’ of the prodigal son story suggests that they are paid too much. Furthermore, how many yachts or mansions does any one person need? Jesus warned: ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasure on earth.’ If people can’t spend responsibly, what is the point of them being paid so highly? Wesley Paxton Annan
INNER LIFE p13
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
p14
RECIPES p15
Christian Aid/LEE THOMPSON
ANTI-POVERTY campaigners dressed up as skeletons and protested outside the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in London, urging Secretary of State Vince Cable to reveal the skeletons in the cupboard of the Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD), which he oversees. The protest was organised by the Jubilee Debt Campaign – a coalition of church-based groups and other organisations – which says that the ECGD is still demanding payments from Egypt for loans used to fund arms for General Mubarak. On the day the protest took place, supporters of the Jubilee Debt Campaign BEVERLEY GETS IN TUNE WITH CHILDREN also lobbied their MPs on SINGER Beverley Knight gave an impromptu performance the issue. to schoolchildren when she visited a music-based HIV/ The ECGD has said that Aids project in Malawi. it no longer has the inforCENTRE GOES SOLAR The charity In Tune for Life, which is partly funded by mation on what the loans in UK-based agency Christian Aid, provides local musicians the 1970s and 1980s were – some of whom are HIV-positive – with instruments and made for, but the Jubilee recording facilities so that they can make music to educate Debt Campaign points to people about HIV/Aids. An ambassador for Christian Aid, documents in the National Beverley listened to a group of children who sang songs about A SALVATION Army church centre in Newark Archives that reveal losing close family members as a result of the disease – and is raising money through its new building’s they were made to Hosni then was persuaded to sing herself. environmentally friendly design. Forty-five solar Mubarak and his predecespanels on the building’s roof enable it to generate sor Anwar Sadat for arms. its own electricity. The Salvation Nick Clegg has promised £5 million of CAMPAIGN GROUP HOSTS DEFECTOR Army receives a rebate from UK money to help Egypt, but the Jubilee the National Grid for electricity Debt Campaign says that Egypt is paying which is not used and which is effectively pumped back into the more than twice that amount every year in network. debt repayments. As well as holding worship, the Tim Jones of the campaign says: ‘It is CAMPAIGN group Christian Solidarity Worldwide hosted a North Korean Newark Salvation Army centre unjustifiable for the UK Government to defector who visited London to tell political and religious leaders about runs community activities for demand that the people of Egypt contin- human rights abuses in the country where he once lived. During his visit, people of various ages. ue paying off loans which arose from the Shin Dong Hyuk met Jeremy Browne, the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, John UK’s backing of arms sales to Mubarak’s Bercow, the Speaker of the House oppressive regime.’
12 November 2011 The War Cry
Names once ranked, numbered, ordered, filed Fell in conflict’s chaotic carnage, Shrouded by the fog of war. Deep within time’s spectral mist Lie the named. Names, called into service, summoned to action In gunmetal skies, desert sand, foaming sea, silent depths; Charged by duty, wreathed with honour Stand the named. Names, purposely chosen by parental process, Identity tags, labels to faces, short cuts to characters, Some mother’s son; a father’s little girl Are the named. One name offered for all – Jesus, given so none need die. His name – Heaven’s unencrypted password, where those forgiven Find in God’s generous, gracious hand that They are named. Nigel Bovey
Courtesy of the National Memorial Arboretum
NIGEL BOVEY
Names
– characters cut, carved in timeless stone – Mark that moment, instant, last-gasp breath When time stopped and eternity dawned For the named.
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4 The War Cry 12 November 2011
Ann, you headed Jubilee 2000, an international campaign to persuade governments to write off the debts of the world’s most heavily indebted nations. How did the campaign start? In 1994, I met Martin Dent, a retired politics lecturer. He explained to me the biblical idea of jubilee, when every 50 years debts were cancelled. As 2000 was a jubilee year, he thought this was a great opportunity to do something. I was inspired. The world’s poorest countries were in debt to the rich nations to such an extent that they could never repay them. It was a radical idea and we had just six years in which to persuade governments to cancel $100 billion of debt. All around the world Christians got angry, got organised and got involved. Don’t forget, the Church went global long before McDonald’s. Did the campaign achieve all you hoped? I was absolutely blown away. We got about $100 billion written off. That has made a huge difference to governments that are now able to spend money on health and education instead of paying back rich creditors. I wish we’d pushed for $300 billion but we didn’t have enough time. What is your current campaign? We need a jubilee year in the UK. The average person in the UK owes five times their income. Debt is crippling people. Over the years, banks have thrown money at us – easy money. There was a time when the Bank of England regulated how much money banks could lend. Then the Government lifted those regulations, and credit became too easy. The result was personal debt. People are now losing their jobs and thereby the means to pay off their debt. Not everyone gets into debt through personal fault. The system is to blame. We need a regulated economy, but first the Government needs to write off unpayable debt in this country.
In-debt jubilee year Last month a global protest against financial inequality was unleashed. Debt was also on the agenda in the 1990s. Back then, one of the voices calling for a new financial order was ANN PETTIFOR. Today, she still is, as she tells Nigel Bovey
Is there evidence that a regulated system would benefit living standards? From 1945 to 1971, with regulations a financial system that is based on in place in the UK, there was not a social justice. single financial crisis anywhere in the world. What are the characteristics of Gradually, bankers persuaded Sabbath economics? politicians to lift the regulations and Sabbath economics is based on debt has built up as a result. regulation. In the Old Testament, the We won’t get regulation without Sabbath was a day of rest, when the land political intervention and that won’t and the labour force were rested. The happen until the public demands it. Sabbath extends to every seventh year, when the land is rested. Who must you Also, in the year persuade that a following the sevenjubilee-style times-seventh year, cancellation is viable? people were to write off Even though they debts, restore property made the initial mistake and start again with a of making credit too clean slate. easily available, the Sabbath banks won’t want to economics means write off debts. The not consuming public has to be more than we persuaded that a need. It financial system based means giving on the periodic ourselves a chance to rest. It cancellation of unpayable debt – means respecting the land. Sabbath economics – is just. They need In today’s 24/7 economy, to tell politicians that they won’t vote it is too easy for life to get for them unless they agree to introduce
Sabbath economics means not consuming more than we need
NIGEL BOVEY
CAMPAIGNER: Ann Pettifor
12 November 2011 The War Cry
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economy needs a out of balance – in our personal lives and within the environment. It does not suit us. It is causing injustice. It is not working. Your commitment to challenging debt is inspired by the Bible and your faith. When and how did you become a Christian? I was born and brought up in South Africa. My father was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church and my mother was an Anglican. My parents were opposed to apartheid and sent me to a convent school. One of the things impressed on me was to love my neighbour as myself. I started to notice that my neighbour didn’t go to my church because my neighbour had black skin. The hypocrisy hit me, and I questioned my faith. Eventually, I realised that the Bible was right and that society was wrong. And hypocrisy still gets to you? Yes, structural sin gets to me. The apartheid system was evil. It was a system of structural sin. It made it impossible for me to love my neighbour as myself. It made it impossible for me not to be racist. I wasn’t allowed to sit on the buses that black people sat on. I wasn’t allowed to sit on the same park bench as them. I couldn’t mix with black people. If a white woman had a relationship with a black man, she could be sent to prison. I was obliged to sin because the system made me sin. An economic system based on debt is structural sin. When society pushes young people into debt because they need a roof over their heads and there’s no other way to get it, that is structural sin. When that society then blames that young person for getting into debt, that is the sin of hypocrisy. What does your Christian faith give you? It gives me drive. It gives me optimism, and belief that transformation is possible. It teaches me that the greatest thing in the world is love – love for the world and love for people. Do you have a mission in life? Under apartheid in South Africa I felt inhuman. I can’t live happily with social and economical injustice. My mission is social justice. HIGH FINANCE: Canary Wharf
G Ann Pettifor is director of Prime Economics
MEDIA
6 The War Cry 12 November 2011
Martin Sheen is on a pilgrimage
DVD
Comment
Lest they forget DVD E H T WIN
‘Way’ out
Last month, the Wiltshire market town received the royal honour in recognition of the way in which it paid respect to repatriated servicemen and women. From 2007 until August 2011, townsfolk stood in silent tribute as cortèges bearing sons and daughters killed in Afghanistan passed through from nearby RAF Lyneham. Over the years, the town witnessed 167 repatriations and paid respect to 345 service personnel. After receiving the Letters Patent from the Princess Royal, the Mayor of Royal Wootton Bassett, Paul Heaphy, said: ‘We did not ask for recognition and we find the attention rather humbling. The royal status is a privilege, yet it is received with sadness, mindful of the high price paid by our Armed Forces.’
A REAL-LIFE father and son explore a father-andson relationship in the film The Way, which has been released by Icon on DVD. Martin Sheen plays American dad Tom, whose son Daniel, played by Emilio Estevez (who also directed the film), has died in a storm while walking the Camino de
Film preacher tells story
Poignant
of the big issues of God, life, death and what it means to be a pilgrim. The War Cry has five copies of The Way to give away to readers who can answer the following question: What was the saintly title of a Brat Pack film starring Emilio Estevez? O St Andrew’s Cross O St Swithin’s Day O St Elmo’s Fire Send your answer on a postcard to The Way Competition, The War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN or email your answer to warcry@ salvationarmy.org.uk with the subject line ‘The Way Competition’. Include your name and address in your entry. Entries must be received by Monday 21 November. The senders of the first five correct entries drawn will receive a copy of the DVD. The Editor’s decision is final.
THE Sun told the story of clergyman Sam Childers, whose mission to rescue child victims of war in Africa has been turned into the film Machine Gun Preacher, starring Gerard Butler. According to the paper, Childers has saved more than 1,000 children from ‘a life of horror’ since his first visit to Uganda in 1998. While on a missionary trip to the country, the former drug-dealer learnt about a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army. He discovered that it kidnapped boys and forced them to become child soldiers, while girls were made into sex slaves. Childers made further visits to Uganda, where he preached the gospel in villages before taking his gun to go out on rescue missions. He eventually raised enough funds to set up a children’s orphanage in the town of Nimule. Today, Angels of East Africa: the Children’s Village ACTRESS Patricia Routledge Orphanage is home to more compared Bible stories with co than 200 young people. PA EastEnders in an interview with The EastEn ‘I was not a very nice Guardia Guardian. Saying how much she had person before I found God enjoyed taking part in readings of and that is shown in the the Kin King James Bible at the National film,’ said Childers, who today is a preacher in rural Theatre, she spoke about ‘David Theatre Pennsylvania. ‘But God a an and d Sa Saul and Jonathan, and the PA taught me that everyone Q Qu Queen ee of Sheba, and Bathsheba … deserves a second chance. Terrible T Te r people – it’s worse than photo I had a second chance and EastEnders! ... If you don’t like E that is why I wanted to help anybody, you get them popped a the children in Africa.’ off.’
Q
IN THE PRESS
As repatriation flights no longer land at RAF Lyneham, the days of the profound and poignant ceremony in Royal Wootton Bassett are over. Sadly, repatriation flights are still happening. Young men and women are still being injured, maimed and killed. Their loved ones still grieve. Councillor Heaphy is right – it is the members of the Armed Forces who are paying the price. Their families are also bearing the burden. In a democracy, Armed Forces do not wage wars on their own account. They are at the sharp end of political decisions. Politicians govern by the will of the voters. British military deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan did not carry the judgment of many of the electorate. With exit strategies in place for Helmand, politicians must never be allowed to forget the high cost paid by those they expect to carry out their will. A cost that is paid in blood.
Santiago, or Way of St James, a pilgrimage route along the French-Spanish border. On learning of his son’s death, Tom decides to walk ‘the Way’ himself. Along the way he contemplates the difficult relationship he had with Daniel; and, with other pilgrims – including Irish writer Jack (played by James Nesbitt) and spiky Canadian Sarah (Deborah Kara Unger) – he thinks
DAVID ALEXANIAN
REMEMBRANCE commemorations are particularly significant this year. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. It is also the first year Royal Wootton Bassett is remembering the fallen.
LIFESTYLE
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Run life on snooze control GETTING enough sleep? Too much or too little sleep can be uneasy on the heart. While too much sleep could indicate impaired mental and physical health, too little sleep can release the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin, which increase heart rate and blood pressure. Hormones that help to control a person’s appetite can also be disrupted by a lack of sleep. This can lead to an increased risk of obesity, type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Seven to eight hours of sleep a night may be an ideal amount of time, but a recent study suggests that timing is important. Early birds are thought to burn more calories per day and spend less time on the computer or watching TV than night owls, who go to bed later and lie in longer. Heart Research UK advises people to go easy on their heart by getting good-quality sleep at night, so they can be energised for the day ahead. Here are some helpful, sleep-easy tips: O Get your heart beating faster. Exercise is great for a good night’s sleep. As well as resulting in a trimmer waistline, blood pressure and cholesterol provide a potent, heart-healthy mix levels will improve too. of monounsaturated fatty acids, O Choose non-stimulating drinks, vitamin E, selenium, calcium and such as herbal teas or diluted fruit zinc. juices, before going to bed. A glass O Wind down by switching off of milk can offer a steady release televisions, computers and mobile of energy that will help to curb phones. Open a window, fluff late-night hunger and thirst. up the pillows and listen to some O Avoid overeating in the eve- soothing music or doze off with a nings. Protein-based foods are good book. good for a light supO When the alarm goes off, rise per, as they digest and shine. Keep the snooze button more slowly than out of reach. sugary snacks. Health tip provided by Heart A handful of Research UK. For more information email lifestyle@heartresearch.org.uk walnuts can
Good health? Take a walk! 1. Walking can help to prevent diabetes. People who are overweight have a significantly greater risk of developing type-2 diabetes than those of a healthy weight. Just two hours of walking a week and losing 12–15 pounds can reduce the risk of developing type-2 diabetes by more than 50 per cent. 2. Walking is a great way to help prevent cancer. Women who walk for 1–2 hours a week have an almost 20 per cent lower chance of developing breast cancer than inactive women. 3. Walking is good for your heart. Men who walk more than two miles a day are nearly half as likely to die from heart disease than those who walk less than one mile. Women who walk for three hours or more a week can reduce their risk of heart attack or another type of heart disease by more than a third compared with those who do not walk. 4. Walking is good for your brain. Women who walk at least one and a half hours a week have significantly better cognitive function and less cognitive decline than women who walk less than 40 minutes a week. Walking for 30 minutes, three to five times a week for 12 weeks can reduce the symptoms of depression by nearly 50 per cent.
Tips provided by the National Trust and PruHealth
Herbal tea can aid sleep
Library pictures posed by models
5. Walking is good for your bones. Post-menopausal women who walk approximately one mile each day have higher bone density than women who walk shorter distances.
8 The War Cry 12 November 2011
Where leaves NIGEL BOVEY visits the National Memorial Arboretum, where every tree tells a story Maynard Scott remembers fallen comrades; (right) chief executive Charles Bagot-Jewitt
NIGEL BOVEY
S
ET among 50,000 trees in a reclaimed gravel pit, the National Memorial Arboretum is helping people rebuild their lives. Part of the National Forest, its healing greenery and big open skies offer visitors unhurried time and space to reflect, to remember, to miss and to mourn. As well as the centrepiece Armed Forces Memorial, which commemorates those who have been killed on duty since the end of the Second World War, there are more than 200 other official memorials within the 150-acre site. While most recall aspects of armed conflict, the arboretum is not exclusively a military operation. Civilian groups, such as the Women’s Institute, the RNLI, the Boys’ Brigade and the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (Sands), are represented in stone and wood. One tree is a memorial to those killed in motorway accidents in the Midlands. In effect, though, every tree is a memorial. A first-time visitor, I am joined on my tour by volunteer guide Maynard Scott and chaplain the Rev Vic Van Den Bergh. Before we set off, I ask the centre’s chief executive, Charles Bagot-Jewitt, what he considers to be the main purpose of the arboretum. ‘We’re here to honour the fallen, to recognise service and sacrifice and – to a lesser
12 November 2011 The War Cry
do heal
The Sands memorial (right) and the Armed Forces Memorial
NMA
extent – to enable people to have a sense of pride in the achievements of our country. The centre accommodates any organisation that has a national reason for remembrance. We also welcome individuals who wish to place a memorial here. ‘A huge part of our role is education, whether for schoolchildren and academic researchers or older people who have their memories restimulated by coming here.’ Part of that educative process, says the former Royal Navy commander, is for the centre to be ‘spiritually uplifting’. ‘We help people deal with their grief, whether it is raw or a result of a wartime tragedy,’ explains Charles. ‘A sense of place is a very important element in helping people deal with grief and loss. Soldiers injured in Afghanistan come here to reflect and remember. We want people to leave here feeling better than when they arrived.’ After a fortifying coffee in the wellappointed café, we head along St Dunstan’s Pathway – edged with fragrant sage, lemon balm and lavender – towards the chapel. As we do so, Maynard points out a whiteflowered garden to our right, laid out like a child’s jigsaw puzzle – the Garden of the Innocents. ‘The garden is dedicated to child victims of conflict,’ says Maynard. ‘The pieces of the puzzle don’t fit together because they represent broken lives. One corner piece is dedicated to the children who were massacred at Beslan; another to the children of Dunblane. The centre tree is dedicated to Anne Frank. On 12 June, the anniversary of her birthday, the buds are cut, so the tree never flowers – just as Anne never flowered into womanhood.’ On the other side of the path is the War Widows’ Rose Garden. Its four coloured sections chronicle the journey of grief. Red anger precedes the purple of despair, followed by the pink of acceptance and the white of peace, which in turn neighbours anger. Entering the chapel, I am welcomed by the warmth that comes from a timber building. Eight Douglas fir pillars stand majestically, bearing with their four hidden
Turn to next page
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10 The War Cry 12 November 2011
From page 9 companions the weight of this spiritual oasis. The pillars represent the 12 apostles, each of whom is depicted in wood. The Millennium Chapel for Peace and Reconciliation is open to people of all faiths and none. It is the only place in the UK that observes a twominute silence every day. Every morning at 11 am a light shines on the altar from where the sun is situated on Armistice Day (11 November) to mark the commencement of the silence. On the wall above the altar is the cross – or sword of sacrifice – that is found in British and Commonwealth war cemeteries the world over. On the floor, two Dutch elm crosses tell the story of those who were crucified with Jesus. Leaving the reminder of a green hill far away, we head up the grass mound towards the Armed Forces Memorial. Surrounded by reminders of history, I wonder how the arboretum came into being. ‘It goes back to a conversation between Group Captain Leonard Cheshire and Commander David Childs,’ says Maynard. ‘Cheshire was very concerned about the 80 million people who had lost their lives through conflict in the 20th century. He wanted people not only to know it, but also to reflect upon it. ‘Childs, meanwhile, was aware that his parents’ generation had built memorials throughout the country to their war dead. He thought there should be a central place where the nation could acknowledge the great debt we owe to the wartime generations of the 20th century. ‘In 1988, David Childs visited the Arlington Cemetery and the United States National Arboretum and thought about combining the ideas behind those centres into a national arboretum for the UK, where the trees themselves would be memorials. ‘He spoke to representatives from the Armed Forces, emergency services, the Royal British Legion and other exservicemen’s associations to see if there was any support for the idea.’ There was. In 1994, Prime Minister John Major launched an appeal and Redland Aggregates (now Lafarge) gave 82 acres of reclaimed gravel workings, a stone’s throw from the busy A38, on the outskirts of the Staffordshire village of Alrewas. Officially opened by the Duchess of Kent on 16 May 2001, the year-round arboretum welcomes some 200,000 annual visitors. I am standing where most of them stand. Overshadowed by Portland stone, I look up to the top of the curved outer wall to see the first in the tragic litany of names The Millennium naming ceremonies,’ explains Vic. – carved with pride – of men and women Chapel for ‘Names are read out by representatives of who have given their lives for their coun- Peace and the Armed Forces. After the Last Post is try. ‘Royal Navy. Evans H. R.’ Reconciliation sounded, wreaths are laid by the chiefsThere are no ranks in death, just 16,000 of-staff and then the families lay their names. With space for as many again, the tributes. blank walls speak volumes. ‘Many will be wearing the Elizabeth Every year from 1945 to 2010 is Cross, the medal given to the next-of-kin represented. Palestine. Korea. Malaya. in recognition of a life given in service of Northern Ireland. Falklands. Iraq. the country. It is a very moving occasion. Afghanistan. This is a place of tears. This is a place for The most common name is neither tears. It is a place of healing.’ Smith nor Jones. It is Rai – a Gurkha On Armistice Day, the memorial name. becomes an open-air cathedral. Part-way Every summer, a naming ceremony along the right-hand wall there is a slit. At marks the addition of new names. the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of Members of the Royal Family, the the eleventh month a shaft of sunlight Government, the Armed Forces, the splashes the central wreath. Royal British Legion and families unite Remembrance Sunday is similarly in grief and remembrance. marked with a service within the ‘At the ceremony we pray and commit memorial. ourselves to a future that doesn’t have ‘Some people come to pay respects to
This is the nearest they can get to visiting a loved one’s grave fallen comrades for whom they’ve been grieving for more than 60 years,’ says Maynard. ‘The memories are still alive. For many people, this is the nearest they can get to visiting a loved one’s grave.’ As we prepare to move on, Vic, who is also an Army chaplain, draws my attention to two of the more recent names. ‘Olaf Schmid and Brett Linley were bomb disposal experts who were killed while trying to protect the people of Afghanistan,’ he says. ‘They went out there for no other reason than to help people and make the place safe.’ Solemnly, we move on. We pass groves, avenues and gardens. The Beat is an avenue of chestnuts, the wood of choice for the first police truncheons. There is a tree for each of the UK’s constabularies. At some of them, individual officers, killed on duty, are remembered. Some gardens are corporate concerns. Some trees are private tributes to a loved one. A garden commemorates the victims of the Christmas Island atom-bomb testing. One grove commemorates happy times – golden weddings. Other spaces speak of reconciliation. Encircled by stones retrieved from Dresden’s Frauenkirche, which was bombed by the RAF in the Second World War, is the British-German Friendship
12 November 2011 The War Cry 11
Garden. Nearby, amid a blend of European and Japanese maples whose leaves fall together in autumn, is the Anglo-Japanese Peace Grove. Symbolism is everywhere. Nowhere more so than in a tuckedaway area on the eastern edge of the arboretum. Resembling a forest clearing, the place where the day’s first sunlight strikes, is the evocative Shot at Dawn memorial. It is a solitary place. Too quiet a place. A place that takes my breath away.
The Shot at Dawn memorial and (below) a tribute on a stretch of the Burma railway
Standing before a yew-tree firing squad, a blindfolded, de-badged and targeted 17year-old British soldier awaits. Behind him 306 stark posts stand silent sentinel – the known Tommies who were shot for alleged cowardice or desertion during the Great War. It was not until 2006 that they – some of them under-age and many of them suf-
fering from shell shock – were pardoned by the British Government. This memorial played a part in that pardon. The symbolism hit home. My last stop is at a section of the world’s most infamous rail track – the Burma railway. The Railway of Death. The blue skies of my welcome have become leaden. Bitter, wind-driven rain spits on my face. At my feet, 30 metres of original sleepers and track. First laid by Allied prisoners of war in merciless jungle heat and under merciless Japanese oversight, here the symbolism ends. There is blood on this track. On this very track. It is reckoned that each sleeper on the 257-mile route between Rangoon and Bangkok cost one man his life. Some 94,000 died. I am looking at a section that cost 24 men. How many of them touched these pieces of wood as they found release in death? Whose DNA has long since been weathered away? And for men unknown, lost in time, buried in someone else’s memory, tears fall with the rain. G Part of the Royal British Legion family of charities, the National Memorial Arboretum opens every day except Christmas Day. Admission is free. For more information visit thenma.org.uk or call 01283 792333
NIGEL BOVEY
PUZZLEBREAK
12 The War Cry 12 November 2011
SUDOKU
Solution on page 15
WORDSEARCH
Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9
Look up, down, forwards, backwards and diagonally on the grid to find these words which can be preceded by ‘under’ ACHIEVE ARM BRIDGE BRUSH CARRIAGE CHARGE CLOTHES COOK COVER CURRENT CUT DEVELOPED
QUICK CROSSWORD by Chris Horne ACROSS 1. Chasm (5) 5. Consecrate (5) 8. Leg bone (5) 9. Reddish-brown dye (5) 10. Wooden shoe (5) 11. Veracity (5) 12. Jug (4) 15. Uproar (6) 17. Computer language (5) 18. Cashier (6) 20. At one time (4) 25. Impudence (5) 26. Swiss potato dish (5) 27. Mennonite sect (5) 28. Desert watering hole (5) 29. Myrrh or frankincense, for example (5) 30. Edit (5)
ANSWERS
I C A D W T C P S M E C T A M T G
E R I W D U D B S H I A D T O S F
V N S E T O N R C D K N N D S R L
O D N N S D U L E E O E E A R H R
DOG DONE ESTIMATE FED FOOT GO GRADUATE GROUND HAND INSURED
S O R T O U O F S V S G P V D E R
T I G O D T R M E E E D S K W F D
U E S A H O G E R L N I T O O K I
D A I E R C T P I O G R H O T G F
Y A S C C A E V F P F B T C T F O
LAY LINE MANAGER MINE NOURISHED PAID PASS PERFORM PIN PRIVILEGED
C R N O U R I S H E D R D O A N A
P H W D O R E S T D S C E T I R W
B R A E P I R T H I N G S P M O D
O R E R I A S E A O M A A E R E C
G I U U G G I O N R O A T E N O D
REPRESENT SEA SECRETARY SHOOT SPEND STAFF STAND STUDY TAKE THINGS
K S L S A E H D D T Y T T S V I C
I I A N H E P T M A N A G E R G L
N A V I N R I U L I W E R R V N P
TONE TOOK USE VALUE WATER WEIGHT WENT WIRE WRITE
HONEYCOMB Each solution starts on the coloured cell and reads clockwise round the number 1. Fred Flintstone’s best friend 2. Tube that carries blood around the body 3. Process of flying DOWN 1. On land (6) 2. American Civil War soldier (6) 3. Declare (5) 4. Regarding (5) 5. Diffident (7) 6. Newly conceived human (6) 7. Resolve (6) 13. Distress (3) 14. Rocky outcrop (3) 15. Reynard (3) 16. Fabulous bird (3) 17. Yield (7) 18. Dread (6) 19. Ends (6) 21. Indigenous (6) 22. Engraved (6) 23. Pedantic (5) 24. Let (5)
4. Film starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis (3, 3) 5. Far away in space or time 6. Monetary unit of Israel
QUICK QUIZ 1. What is the name of the hole in the middle of a guitar? 2. Which musical film includes the song ‘Good Morning’? 3. In which city is Headingley Cricket Ground? 4. How many prongs does a dinner fork have? 5. Who wrote stories about a little mermaid, an ugly duckling and an emperor’s new clothes? 6. Complete the saying: Never send a boy…?
QUICK CROSSWORD ACROSS: 1 Abyss. 5 Bless. 8 Tibia. 9 Henna. 10 Sabot. 11 Truth. 12 Ewer. 15 Furore. 17 Cobol. 18 Teller. 20 Once. 25 Sauce. 26 Rösti. 27 Amish. 28 Oasis. 29 Resin. 30 Emend. DOWN: 1 Ashore. 2 Yankee. 3 State. 4 About. 5 Bashful. 6 Embryo. 7 Settle. 13 Woe. 14 Tor. 15 Fox. 16 Roc. 17 Cession. 18 Terror. 19 Lapses. 21 Native. 22 Etched. 23 Fussy. 24 Lease. QUICK QUIZ 1 The soundhole. 2 Singin’ in the Rain. 3. Leeds. 4 Four. 5 Hans Christian Andersen. 6 To do a man’s job. HONEYCOMB 1. Barney. 2 Artery. 3 Flight. 4 Top Gun. 5 Remote. 6 Shekel.
INNER LIFE
12 November 2011 The War Cry 13
emember emember
In a three-part series, PHILIPPA SMALE recalls the importance of remembering
Jesus said: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.’ John 11:25, 26 New International Version
I REMEMBER a few years ago going with my father to a service of remembrance in a village in Cornwall. Besides my father, only a couple of men there wore service medals. Those men were of a generation that is dying out. During the service, I knew that my father was holding many people in his memory – soldiers, sailors, RAF personnel and civilians who paid the ultimate price for freedom. My father was 16 when the Second World War began. He was already in the Navy, so he spent the next six years on active war service. He never spoke much about what he did, although we do know he spent quite a lot of the war seconded to the RAF in Egypt. He did come back home, though. So many did not. He also stayed in the Navy, all in all serving for 29 years. Even after the carnage of two world wars, this planet still does not know peace. There are still men and women willing to put their lives on the line for a cause in which they believe, and still we read the names of people who
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Death need not be the end People who put their faith in Jesus glimpse hope
Olaf Schmid
have lost those lives in the fight. Oz Schmid was simply the bravest and most But many people who put their faith in Jesus still also glimpse courageous man I have ever hope in his assurance that, met. Under relentless IED and through him, they can have a new small arms attacks he stood life when they come to the end of taller than the tallest.’ This year, let us remember all their lives in this world. It is right that we do not forget those who stood ‘taller than the the people who have lost their tallest’. lives in conflicts. On Remembrance Day CAN WE HELP? we remember Just complete this coupon and send it to people such as The War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, bomb disposal London SE1 6BN expert Staff Sergeant Olaf Please send me Schmid who was Basic reading about Christianity killed in action in Information about The Salvation Army Afghanistan and Contact details of a Salvationist minister was posthumously awarded the Name George Medal. His Address commanding officer said: ‘Staff Sergeant
FOOD DF FOR OR THOUGHT
14 The War Cry 12 November 2011
Been there, got the T-shirt! I’M fascinated by the slogans on T-shirts. Some of the ones I have seen are quite amusing, saying ‘Be nice to your kids – they choose your nursing home’ or ‘Please do not sell this woman anything’.
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God is available to help us cast off our selfish nature
one. He can turn us from victims who feel defeated by life into victors who can overcome any obstacle. We won’t always get things right. Sometimes, we will try our best and still make mistakes. As God continues to refine us, perhaps we should be wearing the T-shirt that says: ‘Please be patient – God ain’t finished with me yet.’
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Editor: Nigel Bovey, Major Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow Production Editor: Stephen Pearson Editorial Assistant: Claire Brine Editorial Assistant: Renée Davis Chief Designer: Gill Cox DTP Operator: Denise D’Souza Secretary: Joanne Allcock War Cry office: 020 7367 4900
Library picture posed by model
The War Cry
personality problems, we do not have to struggle alone. There is help. God said: ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5 New International Version). Day by day, God is available to help us cast off our selfish nature and clothe ourselves with a compassionate
B LO
by CLIFF KENT
One day I saw a man on the train whose T-shirt slogan grabbed my attention. It said: ‘There’s no solution when you’re the main problem.’ The statement seemed so hopeless, so despairing, so final. And I don’t agree with it. I believe that however big a problem is, a solution can be found. I once met a man whose big problems were gambling and womanising. He confessed that he’d once spent £50,000 on women and horses. But he made a U-turn and completely changed his lifestyle for the better. His transformation of character may be more extreme than most people’s, but in all of us there is room for improvement. Many of us would admit that we could step up a gear in our effort to become better people. We could be less judgmental and more patient; slower to anger and quicker to encourage. We can be thankful that as we try to find solutions to our
SA
A
LVATION
WHAT’S COOKING?
12 November 2011 The War Cry 15
FOR STARTERS
Chestnut velouté Ingredients: 500g tinned or fresh chestnuts 50ml virgin olive oil 1 bay leaf 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 1tsp salt 2tsp black ground pepper 5 fresh sage leaves 500ml semiskimmed milk 500ml water
THE MAIN ATTRACTION
Method: If using fresh chestnuts, score an ‘x’ through the bases and grill for 5–7 minutes. Set aside. When they have cooled, remove the skins. Heat the olive oil in a pan and add the bay leaf and onion. Sauté until lightly golden. Add the chestnuts, salt, pepper and sage to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Pour in the milk and water, then bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 10 minutes. Empty the mixture into a liquidiser and blend until smooth. Return the mixture to the pan and add more water to create a soup consistency to your preference.
Vegetable stir-fry with cashew nuts
Serves 6
Recipes reprinted, with kind permission, from the Vegetarian Society website vegsoc.org
SUDOKU SOLUTION
Ingredients: 1tbsp groundnut oil 1 onion, peeled and sliced 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 red pepper, sliced 1 yellow pepper, sliced 100g broccoli florets 175g baby sweetcorn, halved 2 courgettes, sliced 50g water chestnuts, sliced 2tbsp shoyu 1tsp arrowroot, mixed with 2tbsp light vegetable stock 5cm piece fresh root ginger, grated and the juice squeezed out 1tbsp sweet chilli sauce 50g cashew nuts, lightly toasted
Method: Heat the oil in a wok and fry the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the peppers and fry for a further 3 minutes. Add the broccoli florets, sweetcorn and courgettes, and continue to fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the water chestnuts and mix in. In a small bowl, mix together the shoyu, arrowroot with the stock, ginger juice and sweet chilli sauce. Make a well in the centre of the vegetables, ensuring that the base of the wok is visible. Pour in the sauce and bring to the boil, stirring all the time until it starts to thicken. Toss the vegetables to coat thoroughly with the sauce. Transfer the stir-fry to a serving dish and sprinkle the cashew nuts over the top. Serve immediately with boiled Thai jasmine rice. Serves 4
We need never be alone
ITV
TRIALS AHEAD! writes RENÉE DAVIS DESIGNER handbags and flash cars out. Rucksacks and wooden footbridges in. I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! returns to ITV1 tomorrow (Sunday 13 November). Familiar hosts Ant and Dec are back with a new cast of celebrities who will be leaving behind a life of luxury to spend up to three weeks in the Australian jungle. The celebrities’ experience will involve eating rationed food, sleeping on uncomfortable hammocks and washing clothes – and themselves – in a lake. As well as voting for which celeb they think is worth keeping, the public will be choosing which celeb will undergo the dreaded Bushtucker Trials. The trials are challenges during which the celebs have to collect stars to exchange for food for themselves and their fellow campers. During the trials the celebs have to tackle, and at times eat, some of the jungle’s most notorious inhabitants. They soon discover that surviving in such an environment takes a new kind of mindset. They just have to get on with things. The same thing can be said of many people’s everyday lives. A change of circumstance can often mean a change of lifestyle. Some people leave family and friends behind and relocate to somewhere
PRESENTERS: Ant and Dec prepare to welcome celebrities to the jungle unfamiliar. A person may lose their job and have to cut down on things they previously thought they couldn’t live without. Adapting to change can be difficult. But those who know God have his word that he will be with them whatever they face. He says: ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze’ (Isaiah 43:2 New International Version). When we call out to God, we can be sure he will be with us – through whatever. He will not abandon us. He will help us to get through. With him, we can survive any trial.
YOUR LOCAL SALVATION ARMY CENTRE
Adapting to change can be difficult The Salvation Army (United Kingdom Territory with the Republic of Ireland) on behalf of the General of The Salvation Army. Printed by Benham Goodhead Print Ltd, Bicester, Oxon. © Linda Bond, General of The Salvation Army, 2011