Box Office Blockbuster
James Cameron's epic three-hour film Titanic, grossed an unprecedented one Billion dollars and music stores reported their number one selling disc as the soundtrack of the movie. Titanic was also the first film to equal the 11 Academy Awards record of Ben Hur, (although it did not win the best actor and actress awards and today there are far now more categories of awards than in 1959).

History According to Hollywood
The newly released 3D version of Cameron's Titanic is technically brilliant. It has painstakingly ensured accuracy on clothing fashions, carpet designs and woodworking's abroad the luxury liner. The film captures and communicates the doomed majesty of the largest and most glamorous passenger ship ever launched. Unfortunately, the most expensive film ever made (it cost over $200 million) utterly fails to communicate the deeper spiritual significance of the tragedy. Most of the incidents of heroism and chivalry abroad the Titanic, were inexplicably ignored by the film.

Class Warfare
Titanic exploits the distinctions between the first and third class, and completely ignores the second class passengers. In emotionally explosive scenes it portrays the third class passengers locked below decks being prevented from reaching the decks and lifeboats. As each class of passengers had unrestricted access to their own decks and allocated lifeboats those fictitious scenes were impossible. The official enquiries in 1912, by the British Board of Trade and the U.S. Senate Investigation found that allegations that third class passengers were locked below decks were false. In fact 115 men in first class and 147 men from second class stood back to make space available for women and children from third class and as a result died.

Facts Stranger Than Fiction
The best historical account ever written on the Titanic disaster, "A Night to Remember" (by Walter Lord 1956 - it has never been out of print since) records many incidents of diligence and courage not covered by Cameron's film. For example: crewmembers who struggled to rouse and shepherd the third class passengers to the boat decks. Many of these passengers were Swedish and Finnish emigrants who spoke no English. Many Catholic passengers preferred to gather in the dining room to pray the rosary - and would not move. Others stormed the bar and drank themselves into oblivion. Many jammed the corridors trying to drag their luggage - trunks included - down the passageways up the stairs, to the boat deck! Some got lost in the vast ship. Once on deck, many passengers flatly refused to climb into the small open wooden lifeboats to be launched onto the freezing ocean. Many preferred the bright lights and warmth of the Titanic and went back inside!

Opportunities Lost
For the first hour, the officers could not persuade enough women and children to climb into the first several lifeboats to be launched. With the ship sinking and time running out, many boats were launched only half or three quarters full! There were only 16 wooden lifeboats, and 4 canvas collapsible lifeboats, on the Titanic. All these boats together could carry a maximum of 1,178 people. On the fateful Sunday night there were 2,207 people on board. Although there had been no lifeboat drills, the crew worked efficiently to quickly equip each boat with lanterns and tins of biscuits, fit in cranks, uncoil the lines, swing out the boats, load and lower them. The crew was disciplined and seemed to sense where they were needed and how to be useful. However, the passengers were not always co-operative and confusion was inevitable.

Slandering Captain Smith
In the film, Captain Edward Smith silently wanders off, as if in a trance, and plays no active role in the launching of the lifeboats and saving of the passengers. History records him as vigorously active and involved with the radio room, the Morse lamp and the distress rockets trying to rouse the ship whose lights they could see 8 to 10 miles away. (Cameron chose not to deal with the fact that one ship, the Californian, was close enough to see the sinking ship's lights and their watch counted 8 distress rockets fired. Although Captain Lord of the Californian was repeatedly informed of this he rolled over and went back to sleep!) Far from Captain Smith standing passively on the bridge waiting fatalistically for the waves, survivors testified of the Captain swimming with a small child after the Titanic had sunk.

Women and Children First
The Captain's orders were: "Women and children first!" Second Officer Charles Lightoller, rigorously enforced this order ensuring that no male passengers boarded any of the 8 lifeboats he lowered on the port side (with the exception of Major Peuchen, a Toronto yachtsman, who was requested to fill out the crew on No. 6 which had only one seaman to handle the boat).

Chivalry
On the starboard side, First Officer Murdoch interpreted the order "Women and children first" to allow men to take any empty seats after all women and children who could be persuaded to climb aboard had done so.

Dan Marvin loaded his bride into a lifeboat, blew her a kiss and said "It's all right… you go and I'll stay a while."

Adolf Dyker helped Mrs Dyker across the gunwale with a cheery "I'll see you later."

Courage
Dr Minahan told his wife, "Be brave; no matter what happens, be brave", then he stepped back and joined the other men on the deck.

Mr Turrell Cavendish said nothing to his wife. Just a kiss… a long look… another kiss… and he disappeared into the crowd.

Gentleman
Mark Fortune, and his son Charles, placed Mrs Fortune and their three daughters onto a lifeboat and waved goodbye.

"Walter you must come with me!", begged Mrs Douglas "No," Mr. Douglas replied, turning away, "I must be a gentleman."

Conflict
Some wives refused to go. Mr and Mrs Edgar Meyer felt so self-conscious about arguing in public that they went down to their cabin. There, they decided to part on account of their baby.

Arthur Ryerson had to lay down the law to his wife: "You must obey orders… You must go when your turn comes. I'll stay here."

Mr Lucien Smith ended a very heated argument with his wife saying: "I never expected to ask you to obey, but this is one time you must." They kissed goodbye and as the boat was lowered he called out some final advice "Keep your hands in your pockets, it is very cold weather."

Coercion
Sometimes force was necessary: Mrs Emil Taussig was clinging to her husband refusing to go. Two men tore her loose and dropped her overboard into the lowering boat.

Two seamen yanked Mrs Charlotte Collyer from her husband Harvey. As she was carried, literally kicking and screaming she heard her husband's last words to her, "Go Lottie! For God's sake, be brave and go!"

Obstinate Refusal
But no amount of force or persuasion could move Mrs Hudson Allison to leave her husband. She put her baby Trevor and 3 year old daughter Lorraine into the boat with the nurse, but she stayed on deck with her husband.

Together in Life and Death
Mrs Isidor Strauss also refused to leave her husband. Although everyone tried to persuade her husband, in view of his age to enter the boat, he refused. "I will not go before the other men," he determined. His wife tightened her grasp of his arm, patted it and smiled up at him: "I've always stayed with my husband, so why should I leave him now? We have been living together for many years. Where you go, I go." They sat down together on a pair of deck chairs. Mr Strauss was a member of congress and multi-millionaire banker.

Not a Moment to Lose
But most of the women entered the boats - wives escorted by their husbands, single ladies by the men who had volunteered to look after them. Thomas Andrews, the charming, dynamic, ship builder worked vigorously to load ladies onto the boats. He was seen and heard helping everywhere: "Ladies you must get in at once! There is not a moment to lose, you cannot pick and choose your boat. Don't hesitate, get in, get in!" One lady suddenly cried out "I've forgotten Jack's photograph and must get it." Everyone protested, but she darted below and soon reappeared with the prized picture and was rushed into the boat.

What Would You Take With You?
What people chose to take with them was quite revealing. Adolf Dyker handed his wife a satchel with two gold watches, two diamond rings, a sapphire necklace and 200 Swedish crowns. Edith Russell carried her musical toy pig. Stewart Collett placed his Bible in his pocket, Lawrence Beesley stuffed his jacket pockets with books. Norman Chambers pocketed a revolver and a compass. Steward Johnson took four oranges. Mrs. Dickson Bishop left behind $11,000 in jewellery, then sent her husband back for her muff. Major Arthur Peuchen left behind $200,000 in bonds, $100,000 in stocks and chose warm clothes instead. The five mail clerks sweated their way up the stairs dragging over 200 mail sacks of correspondence - in the vain hope that the post could be saved!

Titanic Humour
In the midst of the crisis, some still found time for humour. One man told Mrs Vera Dick as he fastened a life jacket on her: "Try this on. They're the very latest thing this season. Everyone is wearing them now!"

Appointment Cancelled
Colonel Gracie found Fred Wright, the squash pro, and cancelled their 7:30am squash appointment. At that time the squash court on level F and G was under water.

The Band Played On
One man called out to Mrs. White: "When you get back you'll need a pass. You can't get back on without a pass!" To calm the people, bandmaster Wallace Hartley led his seven musicians in playing cheerful music and ultimately the hymn, "Abide with me," right to the end. No member of the band survived.

Uncooperative Passengers
Steward John Hart struggled to get third class passengers into life jackets and shepherded up the boats. Many still refused to go. As fast as he got them into the boats, they would jump out and go inside where it was warm.

Shots Fired
One, third class passenger, Daniel Buckley, disguised himself as a woman and succeeded in getting into a boat. One male teenager was discovered by Fifth Officer Lowe hiding in one of the lifeboats. Lowe drew his gun ordering the boy out. When the stowaway started crying, Lowe told him to be a man. That seemed to work because the boy then climbed out and gave his place to a woman. Then, as a wave of men tried to rush the boat, Lowe fired three warning shots to keep them back. "Stand back! Stand back! It's women and children first!" Purser McElroy also had to fire warning shots and drag third class men out of boats to make room for women.

In the Next World
Others were not so frantic. Rev. Robert Bateman helped his sister-in-law, Mrs Ada Balls into a boat. His last words to her were: "If I don't meet you again in this world, I will in the next."

Millionaire Gives His Life to Save Others
One of the wealthiest multi-millionaire bankers on the ship, Benjamin Guggenheim, worked tirelessly to help the ladies onto the lifeboats, then sent a last message to his wife: "Tell my wife I've done my best in doing my duty." He then went back to his cabin, dressed up in his evening clothes, with top hat, and declared that he was "prepared to go down like a gentleman!"

Sacrificial
Another famous wealthy passenger, Colonel John Astor, placed his wife on a boat and stepped back into the crowd. When Arthur Ryerson noticed that his French maid, Victorine, had no life vest he stripped off his own and buckled it on her. Then he placed his wife, son and their maid on the lifeboat and remained on the Titanic.

The Last Boat
When the last boat was being loaded, Miss Edith Evans gave up her seat to Mrs. Brown: "You go… You have children waiting at home." Edith Evans went down with the ship.

You’ve Done Your Duty
After the last boat had been launched, a curious calm came over the Titanic. Captain Edward Smith walked around telling his crew: "Well, boys, you've done your duty. Now every man for himself."

Abide With Me
Some passengers prayed with Rev. Thomas Byles. The band played "Abide With Me." Wireless Operator Phillips continued to try to raise the Californian (whose wireless had been switched off after 11pm), which was within sight, or any other vessel in the vicinity. The famous Evangelical journalist and writer, William Stead, sat reading. The Assistant Surgeon Simpson, Purser McElroy, Assistant Purser Barker and Second Officer Lightoller all shook hands and said, "goodbye." Most passengers stood waiting or quietly paced the boat deck. Some jumped into the water.

Destruction
Then, with the bow plunging steadily deeper into the water and the stern rising higher out of the water a tremendous cacophony erupted of breaking china and glassware, thuds of furniture, the clatter of sliding deck chairs. The lights went out and everything movable in the ship broke loose in a thundering roar. 29 boilers, 15,000 bottles of beer and wine, 30,000 eggs, 5 grand pianos and much more tumbled and crashed as the Titanic broke in half and disappeared beneath the waves.

The Lord's Prayer
Thirty men who had remained with the ship managed to swim to the two collapsible boats that had floated off the sinking boat deck, A was swamped and B was upside down. As they balanced precariously on, or around the keel, one seaman asked "Don't the rest of you think we ought to pray?" Everyone agreed. They prayed the Lord's Prayer out loud together, in chorus.

Rescued From the Water
Of the about 1,600 people who went down on the Titanic, 30 made it onto the capsized collapsible B and 13 others were picked up by other boats. Eight managed to reach boat 4, and boat B (a collapsible) hauled in one more. Boat 14 under Fifth Officer Lowe, rowed back and rescued four more survivors from the water.

A Race Against Time
The Titanic collided with the iceberg at 11:40pm on Sunday 14 April 1912. Orders were given to uncover the lifeboats, muster the crew and passengers at 12:05am on Monday 15 April. The first boat was lowered at 12:45am. The last boat was lowered at 2:05am. The ship sunk beneath the sea at 2:20am. The Carpathia which had raced at top speed from 58 miles away arrived at 4:10am. and began picking up survivors. The Californian which was just over 10 miles away only responded to the disaster at 5:45am, when their wireless radio operator woke up and tuned in to what had happened during the night.

Disaster
The official British statistics given in the House of Commons were 1,503 passengers and crew "not saved" and 703 "saved." This broke down to 1,347 men, 103 women and 53 children died in the Titanic disaster. 651 people were lowered into the lifeboats, 705 survivors were picked up by the Carpathia (therefore 54 who went into the water were saved).

A Turning Point in History
The sinking of the Titanic marked a monumental watershed in human history. She was the floating embodiment of the new age of scientific optimism. "Bigger! Better! Faster!" Many claimed that the Titanic was yet another proof of the evolutionary ascent of man - "salvation through technology." Man had finally conquered nature and was impenetrable to natural and supernatural forces - "a modern incarnation of the Tower of Babel!" The stunning arrogance of the age was epitomised by the frequent boasts of Titanic's indestructability by builders and promoters: "Not even God could sink this ship!"

Mankind’s Greatest Engineering Achievement
It is difficult for us to appreciate just how great an impact this disaster had. There are really no modern comparisons. In less than 3 hours the dreams and confidence of an entire generation sank with the great ocean liner. The human drama of the Titanic was to foreshadow the horrors of the most terror-ridden century with the greatest death tolls in history. The Titanic marked the end of a general feeling of over confidence. Never again would people be quite so sure of themselves. For the Titanic "man's greatest engineering achievement" - to go down the first time it sailed was a devastating blow. If this supreme achievement was so terribly fragile - what about everything else? If wealth meant so little on this cold April night, what value should we attach to it the rest of the time? It marked the beginning of a new and uneasy era of doubt and disillusionment.

Life is uncertain. The future is unknowable. The unthinkable is possible.

Lives Saved By the Titanic Example
On another level, in the decades that followed, the effect of the sinking of the Titanic was to save more lives than had been lost on that dark, cold April night. Never again would men fling a ship at top speed hell bent through an ice field, heedless of warnings. From now on Atlantic ships took ice warnings seriously. 24-hour radio operations on board passenger ships became a thing of the past. It was also the last time that a liner put out to sea without sufficient lifeboats for everybody on board. However, all that would have been of little consolation at the time.

Man Made Sunk by God Made
The sea, like the air, is a dangerous and powerful medium for travel. Time and again it has shown its disrespect for the best efforts of men. The largest, most invincible ship yet built had been defeated by an iceberg. The man-made had been sunk by the God-made.

Duty, Chivalry and Faith
Yet, while the Titanic before 14 April 1912, symbolised elegance, invincibility, unsinkability, and arrogance; after the sinking it became a symbol of duty, chivalry and faith. Amidst the widespread shock and bereavement, people worldwide were inspired by the many profoundly moving examples of courage and self-sacrifice of those men who faithfully honoured the command: "Women and children first." With few exceptions, most of Titanic's men willingly gave up their seats on lifeboats for others. Many husbands and fathers put their wives and children on to the lifeboats, looked into their eyes, whispered some last word’s and waved goodbye - with the full realisation that they would never see them again. They exemplified the teachings of Jesus Christ in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

Feminism and Barbarism
Tragically, Cameron's film minimises and ignores the incredible Christian courage and self-sacrifice of many men who went down with the Titanic. By focusing on a fictional, and far-fetched, love relationship of a first class lady with a young artist in steerage, the film has side-lined the real heroes of the Titanic. Even more seriously, the film failed to communicate what motivated so many men to give their lives so that others could live. For every woman who died on the Titanic, 13 times more men died.

Even Worse Modern Maritime Disasters
In recent years the Titanic's record as the worst peacetime, maritime disaster has been beaten. In 1945, the Soviet submarine torpedoing of the German civilian liner Hospital ship, Wilhelm Gustav, packed full of civilian refugees, mostly women and children, fleeing Red Army atrocities in the Baltic States, led to over 9,400 deaths. In a horrific ferry sinking in the Philippines in 1987, over 4,000 people, mostly women and children died. Unlike the Titanic, most of the survivors of this Philippines disaster were men. Similarly, when the ferry Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea, most of the survivors were men. When questioned why they hadn't helped the women and children to be saved, survivors were quoted as saying! "Hey, its survival of the fittest"; "It was every man for himself" and "If women want equality so much - they've got it!" Again, in 1996, a boat sank off the shores of Indonesia. Like the Titanic, the ship was inadequately equipped with lifeboats. Unlike the Titanic, the men received preferential lifeboat treatment ahead of women and children. Women died that men should live!

Feminist Protest Against Preferential Treatment for Women
In fact, feminists and suffragettes of 1912, actually argued that the Titanic women were wrong to have accepted seats on the boats from the men. To them the philosophy of men being protectors and defenders of women was offensive and an obstacle to their cause. "Boats or Votes?" was the title of one prominent newspaper article.

Why Women?
In an essay in the April 27, 1998 edition of Time, entitled "The Titanic Riddle", the writer asks the question: "Why women? …is not grouping women with children a raging anachronism? …patronising and demeaning to women… 'Women and children first' attributes to women the same pitiable dependence and moral simplicity we find in five year olds… But in this day of the most extensive societal restructuring to grant women equality in education, in employment, in government, in athletics, in citizenship… what entitles women to the privileges - and reduces them to the status - of children?"

Biblical Principle
The answer is found in the Bible: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her…" Ephesians 5:25. "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps." 1 Peter 2:21

Christian Civilization
For nearly 2,000 years this principle has guided Christian civilization. The groom dies for the bride. The strong suffers for the weak. The highest expression of love is to give your life for another. This is the true message of the Titanic.

Recognising Christian Chivalry
The US president's wife Nellie Taft mounted a national campaign to raise funds for a monument that would be inscribed: "To the brave men who gave their lives that women and children might be saved." That monument was dedicated by the First Lady in Washington DC "…in gratitude to the chivalry of American manhood."

An Age of Cowardice
No doubt such a message is too uncomfortable at the end of the 20th Century, when abortion targets preborn babies, pornography exploits women for profit, when cowardice is the norm and when even draft dodgers can be made president and send women into combat.

Facing Up to the Inevitability of Death
Life is short and uncertain. According to the designer of the Titanic, whereas decorations were discussed for many hours, the lifeboats were only discussed for "five or ten minutes!" It is an amazing thing that so often we give most of our time and attention to the trivial and we give so little attention to what is most important. When they set sail very few of the people on the Titanic could have realised how little time they had. We should set our priorities in the light of eternity and live our lives as those who know that one day we must stand before Almighty God and give an account.

Living in the Light of Eternity
There is nothing more certain than death and nothing as uncertain as the time of dying. We should therefore be prepared at all times for that which may come at any time. The Lord Jesus taught of a rich man who was proud and self satisfied with his achievements and plans to build bigger barns. "And I'll say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink and be merry! But God said to him, 'You fool! This very nigh your life will be demanded of you'… This will be how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God …life if more than food, and the body more than clothes… seek His kingdom and these things will be given to you as well." Luke 12:19-31.

Are You Prepared?
The Lord described this rich man as a fool because he was unprepared for death. Self centred, purposeless, obsessed with his possessions, prosperity and pleasures he was not prepared for eternity. If you are not prepared to die then you are not free to truly live. As Matthew Henry advised. "It ought to be our business everyday to prepare for our last day." George Whitefield declared: "Take care of your life and God will take care of your death."

What Really Matters?
At death we leave behind all that we have and we take with us all that we are. On the Day of Judgement, in the light of eternity, will any of regret praying to much? Or sacrificing too much for God's Kingdom? Being too generous? Too forgiving? To evangelistic? If you knew that you were to die next year - what would you do differently this year?

Peace With God
Do you know that your sins are forgiven and do you have a vibrant relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? If not, please do write to us or fax, or e-mail, requesting a complimentary copy of the excellent booklet "One Second After…" It is free to anyone who requests it - with no obligations or questions asked.

Dr. Peter Hammond

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​The recent Hollywood epic: Elizabeth – The Golden Age (a sequel to the earlier Elizabeth) has inspired greater interest in this famous queen and the tumultuous times in which she lived.  Numerous friends have asked just how much of these films are accurate history and how much is Hollywood fiction.  

England’s Greatest Queen
There is no doubt that Elizabeth I was England’s greatest queen.  She came to the throne of a country deeply divided, economically bankrupt and devastated by the persecutions and oppression of her half sister Mary Tudor (the infamous Bloody Mary whose fanatical obsession to return England to Catholicism so spectacularly backfired.  Bloody Mary condemned hundreds of prominent English Protestants to death by burning at the stake – including the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer, the most famous Protestant theologians and preachers Bishops Ridley, Hooper  and Latimer, the Bible translator John Rogers, and many others.) 

A True Golden Age
Under Queen Elizabeth’s 45 years’ reign England was united, strengthened, entrenched as a Protestant nation, prospered and flourished and it defeated the great military superpower of the age, Spain. 

Under Elizabeth England experienced a renaissance of art, literature and architecture.  Hers was an age of great men.  During her reign William Shakespeare, perhaps one of the most famous writers of all times, began a 20 year career in the theatre during which he wrote 38 plays, containing more than a million words of beautiful poetry, that have been recited over and over by great actors throughout the centuries worldwide.

Great seamen and explorers, such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, sailed the seas.  The decisive victory over the Spanish Armada signaled the rise of the Protestant naval powers of England and Holland and the decline of the Catholic naval superpower of Spain.  It was during the reign of Elizabeth that North America was first claimed for the Protestant cause with Sir Walter Raleigh’s naming of Virginia after the virgin Queen of England and pioneering the first settlements there. ​

A Terrifying Upbringing
Elizabeth was born in 1533 to a cold reception from her father King Henry VIII.  He had wanted a male heir to carry on the Tudor line.  Elizabeth’s mother, Anne Boleyn was condemned to death and beheaded on the scaffold for “treason.”  Elizabeth was only two years old when her mother was executed.  As a child Elizabeth experienced more sorrow, loneliness, bitterness and fear than any child should.  From her earliest days the fear of sudden death was always with her.  Her step mother Katherine Howard was also beheaded.  She spent much of her early years in virtual imprisonment.  However, she was surrounded with good tutors, plenty of books and the company of her young stepbrother Edward.  

In 1547, when Henry VIII died, Edward VI then aged 9 ascended the throne.  By Henry VIII’s will Mary Tudor, daughter of Catherine of Aragon, stood next in line of succession after Edward.  After Mary, Elizabeth.  However, in France, a menace to them all was Mary Stuart, granddaughter of Henry VIII’s oldest sister, Margaret, wife of the Dauphain of France.  Mary Stuart was also heir to the throne of Scotland.  Being wedded to France, and a dedicated Roman Catholic, Mary Stuart (also known as Mary, Queen of Scots, posed a serious, clear and present danger to not only Elizabeth, but to the Reformation and all the people of England.  

Edward VI’s premature death in 1553 led to plots, intrigues and counter-plots.  Edward VI, prior to his death, had changed the laws of succession in favour of his cousin Lady Jane Grey.  Desperate to avoid the religious persecution that would surely come with his Catholic half-sister Mary, Edward had endeavored to ensure the dedicated Protestant Lady Jane Grey be the next monarch of England. ​

Bloody Mary’s Reign of Terror
Tragically, however, the courageous young Lady Jane Grey was betrayed and Mary, the first daughter of Henry VIII, became Queen of England.  Like her mother Catherine of Aragon, Queen Mary was a fervent Catholic and determined to force England back to Catholicism.  Bloody Mary began a relentless campaign against the Protestants.  Her cousin, Lady Jane Grey, was beheaded.  Prominent Reformers, Protestant Bishops and Bible translators were burned at the stake.  For five tragic years Bloody Mary sought to bludgeon the people of England back to Rome.  

The Spanish Connection
Mary’s marriage to Phillip II, a member of the powerful Hapsburg family and brother of Ferdinand, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, endangered not only the Protestant Reformation, but the very independence of England.  Phillip II was soon to become King of Spain, and he was a fanatical enemy of Protestantism.  Phillip II had made it known  that his goal was to conquer the world for Spain and the Roman Church.  

Phillip II became the husband of Mary and the King of England in 1554.  In 1556 he became officially King of Spain.  However, by God’s grace, the marriage was fruitless and Mary died without having conceived a child.  ​

The Counter Productive Counter Reformation
The end result of Mary’s attempts to return England to Catholicism were rather to convince the vast majority of Englishmen in the resolution and determination never again to succumb to such tyranny, superstition, and intolerance.   By trying to exterminate the Reformation, Bloody Mary had only succeeded in entrenching it.  

A Ruined Realm
Bloody Mary ended her days in great agony, and fever and mental derangement.  The death of Bloody Mary on 17 November 1558 was an occasion of great public rejoicing in England.  Elizabeth became the queen of a country ravaged by pestilence and sickened by the sight of countless grey-haired men of God being callously burned at the stake for “heresy.”  During Mary’s short five-year reign the country had been ruined.  England’s credit was destroyed.  Her currency debased.  Her people oppressed to the verge of revolution.  Historians observed that the shouts of joy and cheers at Elizabeth’s Coronation were more a celebration of the death of Mary than of the new queen, of whom the people at that time knew very little. ​

King Henry’s Daughter
It was 15 January 1559 when the Protestant Elizabeth Tudor was crowned Queen of England.  Elizabeth was 25 years old.  Historians wrote that there was “no doubt who her father was.  A commanding carriage, auburn hair, eloquence of speech, a natural dignity proclaimed her King Henry’s daughter.  Other similarities were soon observed: High courage in moments of crisis, a fiery and imperious resolution when defied, and an almost inexhaustible fund of physical energy…She could speak six languages and was well read in Latin and Greek.  As with her father and grandfather, a restless vitality led her…” 

The Most Courted Woman in Europe
Visitors to her court described her as tall, beautiful, young, brilliant, hard-headed, with red-gold, curly hair, pale face, shrewd blue eyes and long white hands.  As the unmarried Queen of England, she became the main interest in diplomatic circles.  Almost immediately the English court was filled with ambassadors and emissaries for half the kings and princes of Europe seeking to court her.  

A Protestant Queen
Queen Elizabeth ended the horror of the English counter-Reformation.  Under Bloody Mary many Protestant clergy were either executed or forced to flee the country.  Elizabeth firmly established Protestantism as the national Faith and ended the Catholic persecutions.  It is notable that, although she herself had been imprisoned in the Tower of London and threatened with execution, she ended the religious persecutions without allowing retribution or revenge.  She steadfastly resisted all attempts to punish Catholics, insisting that, unless they broke the laws of the realm, they were entitled to equal protection under the law. ​

A Rebirth of Freedom and Industry
Elizabeth encouraged English enterprise and commerce, establishing a consistent legal code.  Her reign was noted for the English Renaissance, an outpouring of poetry and drama, led by William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser and Christopher Marlowe.  Their writings remain unsurpassed in English literary history.  It was during Elizabeth’s reign that England began to expand trade overseas and the Merchant Navy grew dramatically.  Ship building boomed under Elizabeth.  

She had the fiery red hair and bold spirit of her father King Henry VIII.  She also possessed his fierce temper and determination to rule.  The rule of Elizabeth I was marked by great achievements in the arts and sciences, by voyages of exploration to distant lands, and by unprecedented prosperity.  

Initially, to redeem her country, Elizabeth set in place a stringent economy with heavy taxation to reclaim the nation’s credit.  She sold the Port of Calais for 500,000 Crowns and juggled the diplomatic hot potatoes of marriage proposals from Phillip of Spain, Archduke Charles of Austria, Henry of Anjou, and many others.  ​

The Constant Threat of Assassination
Throughout her 45-year reign Elizabeth had to deal with constant treachery and intrigues, involving over 60 conspiracies and attempts to assassinate her.   Jesuit revolutionaries and assassins were sent from Spain to reconvert England, sowing the seeds of revolt and treason.  Elizabeth showed an astounding ability to survive countless conspiracies and assassination attempts. 

Living in such perilous times with so many international intrigues to assassinate her and to enforce the Catholic Inquisition back upon England, Elizabeth needed to establish an extensive intelligence system which was ably controlled by her brilliant spy-master Francis Walsingham.  

Privately she suffered the pain of betrayal, sorrow and loneliness, but she dealt with treason and threats to her life as calmly as she regarded the many suitors who sought her hand in marriage.  Elizabeth had a genius for surrounding herself with the best possible advisors and for taking their advice.  William Cecil, later Lord Burleigh, was her chief minister and remained true to her until his death 40 years later.  William Cecil has been described by historians as: “The perfect servant of a woman who preferred not to let her right hand know what her left was doing.” ​

The Threat Posed by Mary Queen of Scots
When Mary, Queen of Scots, fled from her defeat at Langside in 1568, and sought shelter and protection from her cousin Elizabeth, she was provided protection, but under an effective house arrest.  During the 18 years of Mary’s imprisonment, she became the centre of innumerable plots and conspiracies to assassinate Elizabeth and usurp the throne.  Mary Stuart imperiled Elizabeth and the Reformation in England.  One assassin could bring down the government and bring back the Catholic Inquisition.  Mary Stuart represented Spain, the vast Catholic international and the Guises of France. 

Jesuit Intrigues
In 1580 the Jesuits Edward Campion and Robert Persons infiltrated England to plan an uprising.  An army of Spanish and Italian “volunteers” bearing papal banners, invaded Ireland.  In 1583 a Catholic plot was uncovered that involved great English noblemen along with Phillip II of Spain, Mary Stuart and a Spanish plan for invasion.  Elizabeth expelled the Spanish ambassador and continued English support for the Dutch Freedom Fighters seeking to throw off the oppression of Spain.  At that time Holland was a colony of Spain.  

Parliament Intervenes
When Mary, Queen of Scots, was finally placed on trial at Fotheringay Castle, Elizabeth sought to stop the proceedings.  Parliament intervened and insisted that Mary Stuart continued to be tried for treason.  When the court found Mary guilty of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth and the overthrow of religious freedom in England, Elizabeth refused to sign the death warrant.  However, ultimately, under the pressure of Parliament, she was compelled on 7 February, 1587, to sign the sentence of the court.  ​

Phillip Launches the Armada
Mary Stuart was beheaded 12 February, 1587.  Mary’s execution was seized upon by Phillip II of Spain to arouse the Catholic world to a Crusade against Protestant England.  It was English gold and support that bolstered the anti-Catholic cause in Scotland and Netherlands.  With Phillip having conquered Portugal and expanded Spain’s Atlantic power, he ordered his admirals to assemble an Armada which could crush the Protestants in England once and for all.  

By May 1588 Phillip had prepared a fleet consisting of 130 ships, 2,400 cannon, and over 30,000 men.  This was the greatest naval force the world had yet seen.  And it was called “The Invincible Armada.” 

The plan was for the Armada to sail up the English Channel, pick up troops from the Spanish Netherlands under the Duke of Parma and escorting his invasion barges across the Channel to conquer England.  Queen Elizabeth ordered the entire nation to pray for God’s intervention and protection against the invading Armada. 

What was at Stake
Had the Spanish Armada succeeded, today’s world would be unrecognizable.  Spain was the Catholic superpower.  England led the Protestant cause.  All Europe feared Spain.  It had overwhelmed all of it’s adversaries – even the Turk.  Had the Armada succeeded the whole subsequent history of England and Scotland would have been changed.  There would have been no Protestant North America and no Anglo-Saxon civilization.  It would have made Spain the unrivaled world superpower and Spanish the world’s language. ​

One of the Greatest Speeches Ever Made
An English army of almost 20,000 men were assembled at Tilbury to appose the anticipated 30,000 men in the Spanish Armada.  In addition to this a further 15,000 Spanish troops under the brutal Duke of Parma were to be ferried across the Channel in barges.  

Queen Elizabeth addressed her soldiers at Tilbury with these words: “I am come amongst you, as you see, resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live or die amongst you all, to lay down for my God, and for my Kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust.  I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a King of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realm; to which, rather than any dishonor should grow by me, I myself will take up arms, I myself will be your general, judge and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field.” 

The Royal Navy
The Royal Navy had been under the control of Sir John Hawkins since 1573.  He had rebuilt and reorganized the Navy that had survived from the days of Henry VIII.  The castles which had towered above the galleon decks had been cut down.  The keels were deepened.  Designs concentrated on sea worthiness and speed.  Most significantly of all, Hawkins had installed heavier long-range guns.  Knowing that he could not out-produce the Spanish in terms of the size and number of galleons, Hawkins was determined to batter the enemy from a distance with the superior range of his cannon.  The Spanish Armada carried many cannon (2,400) but these were really only suitable for close-range salvos before grappling and boarding enemy vessels for hand-to-hand combat. 

To oppose the Armada’s 130 ships, Hawkins had 34 vessels, carrying 6,000 men.  His commanders were Lord Howard and Sir Francis Drake.  (It was Sir Francis Drake’s famous raid on the Spanish Armada in port at Cardiz in 1587 which had delayed the sailing of the Armada by destroying a large quantity of ships and stores.  This was described as “the singeing of the King of Spain’s beard!”) ​

The Spanish Armada
The Armada finally left Tagus on 20 May.  It was afflicted by severe storms.  Two of their 1,000 ton ships lost their masts.  They had to put in to refit at Carunna and could not sail again until 12 July.  

An Intelligence Report of 21 July from Howard to Walsingham reported sighting 120 sail vessels including galleys “and many ships of great burden.”  Beacons were lit all across England to alert the population to the danger.  Church bells rang.  Special services were held to pray for God’s protection. 

Engaging the Enemy
The English engaged the Armada in a four-hour battle, pounding away with their long range guns, but staying out of range of the Armada’s cannon.  There was a further engagement on 23 July, and then off the Isle of Wight on 25 July.  The guns of the English ships raked the decks of the galleons killing many of the crew and soldiers.  

On 28 July the Spanish Armada anchored in the English Channel near Calais.  As the English Navy lay upwind from the Spanish, they determined to set adrift 8 fire-ships, filled with explosives, to drift into the crowded Spanish fleet at anchor.  As the Spanish crews awoke to see these flaming ships drifting towards their anchored Armada, they panicked.  Spanish captains cut their cables, and made for the open sea.  Many collisions followed.  The surviving ships of the Armada headed eastwards to Gravelines expecting to link up with Parma’s troops and barges, ready to be escorted for the invasion of England.  But the tides and winds were against them, and they found no sign of Parma’s troops in Dunkirk harbour.  

At this point the Royal Navy caught up with the Spaniards, and a long and desperate fight raged for eight hours.  Howard’s men sank or damaged many of the Spanish ships and drove others onto the banks.  The English reported that at this point they had completely exhausted their ammunition, otherwise scarcely a Spanish ship would have escaped.  ​

The Devastated Armada
The remnants of the defeated Armada now fled northwards seeking to sail around the north of Scotland in order to reach Spain.  They faced mountainous seas and racing tides.  Westerly winds drove two of the galleons to wreck upon the coast of Norway.  Ships that had been shattered by the English cannonades were now struck by storms.  Another 17 ships were wrecked on the coast of Britain.  Most of the once mighty Armada were lost before the battered survivors finally reached Spanish ports in October. 

God Blew and They Were Scattered
Incredibly, the English had not lost a single ship, and scarcely 100 men in the ferocious engagements against the Spanish Armada.  Though limited in supplies and ships, the tactics of Hawkins, and his admirals Howard and Drake, had been crowned with success.  A medal struck to commemorate the victory bears the inscription: “Afflavit Deus et dissipantur” (God blew and they were scattered.) 

Answers to Prayer
While churches throughout England were holding extraordinary prayer meetings, devastating storms had wrecked the Spanish plans.  The Duke of Parma’s invasion barges from Holland were prevented from linking up with the Armada by Dutch action.  The English tactic of setting fire ships amongst the huge Spanish galleons created confusion.  Courageous action by the English seamen and continuing storms decimated and broke up the Spanish Armada.  Most of what was left of Phillip’s fleet was devastated by more storms off the coast of Scotland and Ireland.  Only a miserable remnant of the once proud Armada limped back into the Ports of Spain.  51 Spanish ships and 20,000 men had been lost.  The greatest superpower at the time had suffered a crippling blow.  The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 marked a great watershed in history.  It signaled the decline of Catholic Spain and Portugal and the rise of Protestant England and Holland. ​

A Victory for the Protestant Reformation
Before 1588 the world powers were Spain and Portugal.  These Roman Catholic empires dominated the seas and the overseas possessions of Europe.  Only after the English defeated the Spanish Armada did the possibility arise of Protestant missionaries crossing the seas.  As the Dutch and British grew in military and naval strength, they were able to challenge the Catholic dominance of the seas and the new continents.  Foreign missions now became a distinct possibility.  Had the Spanish Armada not been defeated, Protestantism could have been extinguished in England and Holland.  And then the whole future of North America would have been far different with Catholicism dominating instead of the Protestant Pilgrims. 

The victory of Protestant England and Protestant Holland against Catholic Spain was absolutely essential for the founding of the United States of America and of the Republic of South Africa.  

By the grace of God, the destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 saved the Protestant Reformation in England from Spanish invasion, oppression and the Inquisition. 

Defeating Spain
The policy of Elizabeth’s government continued to be to distract the enemy in every quarter of the world.  This was accomplished by subsidizing Protestant resistance in the Netherlands and in France and by attacking the forces and allies of Spain throughout the world.  The expeditions to Cadiz, to the Azores, to the Caribbean, and many other campaigns, were accomplished with very slender resources.  At that time the total revenues of the Crown barely exceeded £300,000 a year.  The cost of defeating the Armada was calculated to have amounted to £160,000.  An expeditionary force to the Netherlands, to help the Dutch in their fight for freedom against the Spanish, cost £126,000 one year.  Therefore, raiding Spanish ships not only denied the enemy resources which would have been used to threaten Protestant causes in Europe, and even the independence of England, but was much needed in order to finance the defence of the Realm and assistance to the Huguenots in France and the Dutch in the low countries. ​

A Magnificent Heritage
Under Queen Elizabeth England flourished spiritually, militarily and economically.  The Elizabethan years saw some of the greatest soldiers, explorers, scientists, philosophers and poets ever produced. Under Elizabeth Parliament had flourished and the Protestant Reformation had become entrenched in the Church of England and through the Puritan movement. 

Elizabeth was the last of the Tudor monarchs.  For over 100 years the Tudors had guided the country through tumultuous times and changes. With the death of Queen Elizabeth, 24 March 1603, the Tudor Dynasty ended and the crown now passed to an alien Scottish line, the Stuarts.  The co-operation between the Crown and Parliament, that the Tudors had nourished, would come to a fretful close.  The new kings would repeatedly clash with the Protestant majority of the country and with their Parliamentary representatives.  This would lead to the Civil War, the execution of Charles I and the triumph of Parliament over the monarchy. 

Research the Facts
Those who want to have a better understanding of what has been going on at KwaSizabantu Mission, need to read Dr. Kurt Koch’s landmark book, God Among the Zulus, or view the films, When God Comes Down and Erlo – 60 Years. One should also visit the www.kwasizabantu.com website, or contact mail@ksb.org.za to arrange to visit this extraordinary work of God.
 
Opposition is Inevitable
As Rev. Erlo Stegen declared: “Whenever God is at work, the devil is also there to do his dirty counter work. I am of the opinion that often, the depth of God’s work can be measured by the amount of opposition encountered.”
 
Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
mission@frontline.org.za
www.FrontlineMissionSA.org

See also:
40 Years of Revival at KwaSizabantu
Erlo Stegen and the Revival Among the Zulus
Testimonies of Transformations
God’s Word Above All Things
KwaSizabantu Mission
God Among the Zulus

​The Man-Eating Lions of Tsavo
The extra-ordinary true story of the two man-eating lions of Tsavo was dramatised by the Paramount Pictures film The Ghost and the Darkness.
 
The Facts Behind the Film
In the advertisements for the film the claim was made: "Only the most incredible parts of the story are true." A careful comparison of the 1996 film with the original 1907 book, “The Man-Eaters of Tsavo”, upon which the film is based makes that clear. It is a fact that two powerful 200 kg lions (one with a blonde mane, the other with a black mane) terrorised the railway construction workers at Tsavo in Kenya throughout 1898.

Missing the Main Message
The whole reason for the horrifying man-eaters of Tsavo was man's inhumanity to man - the callous practise of forced euthanasia - condemning the elderly and infirmed to be killed. The breaking of God's commands to honour the aged, to care for the sick and not to commit murder have terrible consequences. "A man reaps what he sows." (Galatians 6:7). His Christian Faith inspired Patterson's extraordinary courage and persistence.
 
Dangerous Distortions
The bias of all too many scriptwriters and film producers against Christianity is leading to a dangerous distortion of reality in the minds of those many people for whom Hollywood is their primary source of knowledge about the past.
 
We need to re-discover the importance and enjoyment of reading some of the great classics and history books - about what really happened. A correct understanding of the past is an indispensable aid in making a better future.
 
Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Email: mission@frontline.org.za
www.FrontlineMissionSA.org
www.ReformationSA.org

Challenge the Filmmakers
If you have contact with producer, Jack Williams, director, Ferdinand van Zyl, or editor, Jacques Le Roux, you could perhaps ask them: What on earth they were thinking and why they allowed this production to have been manipulated to give such a dishonouring portrayal of the men who fought Communist terrorism in South West Africa and Angola between 1966 and 1989. Why did they not make a film on one of the many real operations of the Reconnaissance Commando. Truth is stranger than fiction and cannot be fit into a politically correct narrative.
 
For important background information on the context of the conflict, see also: Who Won the War and Who Initiated the Peace?
 
Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
Email: mission@frontline.org.za
Website: www.frontlinemissionsa.org
​

1. Ben Hur - 1960, starring Charlton Heston. One of the greatest films ever. Powerful depiction of the clash of the humanist state with the Christian Faith in the 1st century AD.
2. The Fall of the Roman Empire - 1964, starring Stephen Boyd, Alec Guinnes, James Mason and Christopher Plummer on the disastrous events which led to the collapse of Rome.
3. Becket - 1964, starring Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole on the clash between church and state in the 12th century.
4. The Agony and the Ecstasy - 1965, starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison on Michelangelo's conflict with pope Julius II over the painting of the Sistine Chapel in the early 16th Century.
5. Joan of Arc - 1948, starring Ingrid Bergman, as the inspiring French heroine who changed history, by inspiring her people to resist foreign occupation (Early 15th  century).
6. Martin Luther - 1953, starring Niall MacGinnis. An excellent 1950’s Black and White award winning film which has Theological depth and historic accuracy (16th century).
7. Luther - 2003, starring Joseph Fiennes. A fast moving big budget (US$100 million) epic on the Great Reformer. An inspiring introduction to the Reformer but shallow and filled with anachronism and takes a lot of liberties with the facts of history.
8. God’s Outlaw - The Story of William Tyndale - 1986, starring Roger Rees. A drama on the English Bible Translator, Reformer and Martyr who gave his life that we could have the Bible in English (16th century).
9. Cromwell - 1970, starring Richard Harris and Alec Guinness, a tremendous epic on the English Civil War and Puritan general Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England. Invaluable insights to 17th century England.
10. A Tale of Two Cities - 1935, starring Ronald Colman and Donald Woods. Based on Charles Dickins’ 1859 classic historic novel. A powerful contrast between English Christianity and French Revolution Humanism.
11. Amazing Grace - 2006, starring Ioan Gruffudd. A big budget epic on William Wilberforce’s parliamentary battles to end the slave trade (End of the 18th century).
12. Waterloo - 1970, starring Rod Steiger and Christopher Plummer. One of the greatest war films ever made of one of the most important battles ever fought (1815).
13. Amistad - 1997, starring Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman on the 19th century slave trade.
14. Florence Nightingale – 1985, starring Claire Bloom and Timothy Dalton. Inspiring introduction to the Lady with the Lamp who launched modern nursing during the Crimean War (1854 - 1856).
15. God and Generals - 2003, starring Jeff Daniels and Robert Duvall on the American War between the States. Honest and historically accurate (1861 - 1863).
16. Zulu Dawn - 1978, starring Peter O’Toole and Burt Lancaster provides invaluable insights to the Anglo Zulu War of 1879 and the battle of Isandlwana.
17. War and Peace – 1956, Leo Tolstoy's literary masterpiece faithfully brought to the big screen depicting Russia during the Napoleonic Wars and the invasion by Napoleon in 1812. Starring Audrey Hepburn, Henry Fonda and Mel Ferrer.
18. Nicholas and Alexandra - 1971, starring Michael Jayston and Janet Suzman on the Bolshevik Revolution and the last Czar of Russia. Mostly true to history. Some disturbing scenes. Parental guidance advised (1904 - 1918).
19. Joyeux Noel - 2005 war drama depicts the Christmas Truce of 1914 during the First World War.
20. Bitter Harvest - 2017, starring Max Irons in a romantic action drama highlighting the Holodomor famine that killed millions of Ukrainians under Stalin’s communist land reform Dekulakisation campaign in the 1930s. Essential viewing to understand communism. Parental Guidance advised.
21. A Bridge Too Far – 1977, epic war film on Operation Market Garden – the largest airborne operation in history. 35,000 Allied airborne troops parachuted into the Netherlands led to some of the most fierce battles of the Western Front in 1944. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery, Gene Hackman, Hardy Kruger, Maximillian Schell and Laurence Olivier. One of the most authentic war films ever produced.
22. The Great Raid – 2005 war drama about the military raid in 1945 by US Rangers to free Prisoners of War in the Philippines. One of the very few war films which depicts the reality of what both prisoners and soldiers actually faced in that conflict. Starring Joseph Fiennes and James Franco.
23. Africa Addio – 1966, an unflinching book at the savage lawlessness that accompanied decolonisation in Africa, including the Mau Mau of Kenya and the Simbas in the Congo. Not for the sensitive viewer, this film documents the massacres and brutality of revolutionaries in Africa.
24. “How Should We Then Live?” - 1977, by Francis Schaeffer, monumentally important Worldview overview from the time of the Romans through to our present time.

Dr. Peter Hammond
​
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480

mission@frontline.org.za
www.FrontlineMissionSA.org
www.ReformationSA.org
www.livingstonefellowship.co.za
www.christianaction.org.za
www.hmsschoolofchristianjournalism.org
​

“…for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”
​Samson 13:5
 
It’s a story many of us grew up hearing. It’s the story of a man with unusually long hair, set apart, chosen by God, and given the gift of extraordinary strength. He was a Nazirite who had to live by a different set of rules: never to drink any wine, touch a dead body, or shave his head. We all know him by the name of Samson, and his story has just been brought to the screen unlike ever before.

Pure Flix (producer of God’s Not Dead) has just released the movie Samson, which gives us a unique glimpse into one of the most legendary narratives of the Bible, found in Judges 13-16. The film is filled with exciting drama and plenty of action sequences.
 
The story begins with the Hebrews under the tyrannical rule of the Philistines. Samson is the champion, divinely chosen by God to deliver the people of Israel from their oppressors. Armed with herculean strength, Samson is keenly aware of his calling, and yet he is reluctant to accept the life God has for him. His brother, Caleb, continually encourages and reminds him of his purpose in an attempt to keep him focused on his life’s mission. His physical proclivities do land him in trouble time and time again with the Philistines, however.

​“And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” – Esther 4:14
 
Frans Cronje’s latest film, The Roar, has a strong, God-centered message about finding one’s identity and purpose in Christ. Woven throughout the movie are clear themes of conviction and calling. This movie, packed with family values, portrays the importance of honesty, the pitfalls of deceit, and the essential need to humble one’s self before the Lord. Being a South-African made movie, there is also a strong anti-rhino poaching message throughout the film.

​Louise du Preez is an extraordinary singer with a beautiful heart who aspires to be a Broadway actress. The movie begins with her auditioning for a play in New York City. The judges are impressed and enthralled by her gift. They cast Louise for the show, but her excitement is dampened by the realization that now she’ll have to share the news with her father and fiancé who are otherwise ignorant of her venture to stardom.
 
Louise’s life is rooted in South Africa, where her dad, Ranger, runs a game reserve and her fiancé, Andre, is his right-hand man. She is torn between the choice of staying to live in the African home she loves and the choice of moving to New York to pursue a dream she never imagined could become reality.
 
Back in the Matingwe game reserve, accompanied by her uncle and friend (who reside in New York City), Louise is burdened with the knowledge that she needs to confess the truth she has hidden from the men she loves. Later that evening, Louise’s father bestows to the happy couple the deed to the game reserve. When a fellow guest at the reserve, Stone MacGregor, accidentally shares Louise’s Broadway secret, how will Ranger and Andre respond? Will this revelation bring harmony or disunity to the family?
 
When she needs it most, Louise is encouraged by family and friends to submit to God’s calling on her life. Her uncle Moose reassures her that everyone has a “for such a time as this” moment, and he suggests that this could be hers. Perhaps God has brought her to this moment for a specific purpose. He makes the interesting analogy that Louise is much like a rhino. Her horn is her talent and she must protect it from the poachers.
 
When Louise approaches Andre to further discuss the topic of Broadway, she admits she was wrong in keeping the audition a secret. Neither of them knows what to do, so Andre suggests they pray. This Christ-centered choice unites them as a couple again, bringing them closer together in their relationship.
 
The story of Queen Esther is read aloud to local school children, reinforcing the message that she, an orphan, was made for such a time as this. She risked her life to petition the King on behalf of her people. Louise encourages the young boys and girls that each of them are royalty in God’s eyes. Just like Queen Esther, Louise, too, needs to be brave in following God’s call on her life, rather than surrendering to the fear of all that is at stake.
 
Stone MacGregor reminds Louise of the importance in using the gifts God gives us. He tells her that fulfilling her purpose isn’t selfish; it’s worship. When she admits she cannot change the world, he says that we aren’t supposed to change the world. We just need to be obedient and trust God to do so. This conversation is ultimately what leads to her change in perspective.
 
Louise is convicted with the knowledge that she must confront her father. His clear and continued opposition to her pursuit of Broadway has driven a serious wedge between them. She longs to live out the life God has planned for her and cannot settle for her earthly father’s plan any longer.
 
Louise tells her dad in a passionate monologue, “When it comes to how I choose to live my life. I don’t need your permission or your blessing. I’d like both, but I can live without either. I’ve realized that there’s only one King I want to serve; one Kingdom I want to be a part of. So, I have to inform you: I’m surrendering, but not to you.” Will this be the wakeup call Ranger needs? Or will their relationship be strained for the foreseeable future?
 
The Roar is a must-see movie for more reasons than one. The themes anchored throughout are convicting and uplifting. Breath-taking panoramas of the game reserve are also carefully integrated throughout the film, showcasing the beauty and wonder of God’s creation. It’s vital to note that the music score was well chosen for the movie and helped to carry the themes of the film throughout. Bring your family and your friends to support this inspiring motion picture.
 
You can find out more about The Roar at The Purpose Campaign or on their Facebook page, Faith Film Hub Africa. To contact for more info, you can email info@globalcreativefilms.com.
                                                                                                                                   
The Roar is showing at Ster Kinekor until 22 March. Many requests from people who live in the "platteland" have been received, so they will make the movie available for screenings in churches, or school halls. Please send them an email frans@globalcreativefilms.com, or sms to 0828071812 if you are interested to host such a screening anywhere in Africa. You can find out more about The Roar at The Purpose Campaign, or on their Facebook page, Faith Film Hub Africa. To contact for more info, you can email info@globalcreativefilms.com. 

​A Time of Defeat and Retreat
Darkest Hour is a British war drama focusing on Winston Churchill’s first month in office as Prime Minister of Great Britain, May/June 1940. Darkest Hour is a suspense-filled and engrossing historic drama set against the backdrop of the German Blitzkrieg which sent the British and French armies in headlong retreat.

​A Time of Defeat and Retreat
Darkest Hour is a British war drama focusing on Winston Churchill’s first month in office as Prime Minister of Great Britain, May/June 1940. Darkest Hour is a suspense-filled and engrossing historic drama set against the backdrop of the German Blitzkrieg which sent the British and French armies in headlong retreat.
 
Peace or War - That is the Question
The near consensus of Churchill’s cabinet was to begin peace negotiations with Germany. Much of the suspense and drama of this film focuses on Winston Churchill’s determination to continue the war at any cost and to appeal directly to the people in the street to support his policy of “No surrender”, “No negotiations”, “Victory at all costs”.
 
Spate of Churchill Films
It is remarkable that in the last two years there have another three films on Britain in the 1940s: Dunkirk, Churchill and Their Finest (dealing with the British Ministry of Information assignment to produce a morale boosting film, presenting the debacle of Dunkirk as an inspiring victory).
 
Government Support
The film makers of Darkest Hour evidently received tremendous co-operation from government officials as a number of scenes are filmed in the Palace of Westminster, House of Commons, from within the underground War Room bunkers under Whitehall and even some scenes are shot within the grounds of Buckingham Palace.
 
Award Winning Box Office Success
Darkest Hour has done well at the box office, has been generally praised by critics and has been nominated for six academy awards in the American Oscars and the British Academy has nominated it for nine categories. Many are hailing Gary Oldman’s performance as Winston Churchill as the best of his career.
 
Mixing Fiction with Facts
Unfortunately, despite being set in authentic venues and at a most dramatic period of history, the film makers have taken some serious licences and introduced fictional events and fictional conversations, even from the lips of King George VI.
 
Censoring Out the Spiritual Realities
Even more seriously is what has been left out of the film, such as King George VI’s Empire wide called for Repentance and Prayer. On 26 May 1940, with the British Expeditionary Force in defeat and retreat, the king made an international broadcast, instructing all people of the British Empire to return to God in Repentance and humbly seek God for Divine intervention to enable the rescue of their beleaguered army from total destruction. Many millions of people across the British Isles and throughout the world flocked into churches, praying in shifts for deliverance. Churches were so packed that people were lined up for hours, waiting to get in to churches to take part in the organised national repentance. These would have made impressive scenes, but inexplicably are not even referred to in Darkest Hour.
 
Impossible Breach of Protocol
The film also includes a fictional scene of the king coming into Churchill’s bedroom and actually sitting on his bed to encourage him to press on with the war. Not only was such a breach of protocol unthinkable, but unnecessary, the king only needed to summon his prime minister to the palace if he wanted to talk to him. There is no hint in any historic record of such an anachronistic event taking place.
 
Unbelievable Anachronism
The film also takes a major detour from reality, by introducing a fictionalised event of prime minister Winston Churchill disappearing out of his vehicle in the midst of a crowd downtown in order to ride the underground in the tube and survey passengers as to their opinions regarding peace or continuing the war. Anyone who has read Churchill’s biographies would immediately recognise that this is another anachronistic Hollywood type of ploy. Winston Churchill was not a democrat and he never cared for the opinions of the masses, nor even of fellow parliamentarians.
 
Rewriting History to Reimagine Churchill as the Stereotypical Reluctant Hero
However, Darkest Hour seems determined to recast British legend Winston Churchill in a more 21st century mould, the reluctant warrior, filled with self-doubts and fears, determined to do the right thing, going to the common people to hear their concerns, choosing principle over politics and championing the cause of justice. If only all that had been true!
 
Reality Beats Fiction
The real Winston Churchill is far removed from the myth and legend built up by a never ending stream of hagiographical films. The truth is always stranger than fiction and more interesting!
 
The Missing Advisors and Bankers
In Darkest Hour, Winston Churchill seems to be an eccentric loner. However, the reality was quite different. Nowhere does Darkest Hour even hint at the existence of the Focus group of about a dozen key politicians and bankers who continuously advised and guided Churchill on every decision. Sir Henry Strakosch, the banker who regularly bailed Churchill out from his incessant and reckless gambling debts, makes no appearance in this film. Without Strakosch and the Rothchilds we would never have even heard of Churchill because they bankrolled his incredible political career.
 
A Track Record of Disastrous Decisions
At the start of World War One, it had taken just ten months for Churchill’s conduct as First Lord of the Admiralty to plunge him into political disgrace. In the Second World War, eight months sufficed to make him Prime Minister. It was not that his character had changed. Age had done nothing to temper his irrationalism and lend balance to his judgement. All the accusations of madcap, irresponsible schemes for disastrous action that had been made against him in 1915, could have been even more justifiably repeated in 1940.
 
Political Opportunism
However, he had been a prophet of doom in the political wilderness for seven years and with doom descending upon the heads of the politicians of Europe, Churchill had positioned himself for leadership, eloquent and pugnacious and as he put it, “untainted by appeasement”. Whenever the war went badly, the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain bore the blame and if the war went well, Churchill was likely to steal the credit.
 
Damage Control
The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, fought a brilliant series of delaying actions to block Churchill’s highly irresponsible projects, such as sending British warships into the Baltic Sea and invading neutral Iceland to seize control of their strategic sea ports. (Later when Prime Minister Churchill succeeded in invading Iceland.)

British Battleship Sunk at Naval Base by U-Boat
Even with the sinking of the British Battleship, HMS Royal Oak, in Scapa Flow, the chief Naval Base of Britain during the world wars, somehow the blame was attached to the Prime Minister, rather than the First Lord of the Admiralty!
 
Time Was on His Side
Churchill was not too disturbed at the disastrous defeats suffered by the British Army on land, he was convinced that, as with the First World War, the allies had time on their side and that no matter how many victories Germany might win on land, the Royal Navy would ultimately bring Germany to its knees through economic blockade alone.
 
Blockade and Bombardment
However, Winston Churchill had even more faith in the Royal Air Force’s power to reduce Germany’s cities to rubble and to wreck her factories by saturation aerial bombardments from the colossal 4-engine bomber fleets being produced in Britain even at this early stage of the war.
 
Violating Norwegian Neutrality
On 16 February 1940, Churchill ordered HMS Cossack to violate Norwegian neutrality, to capture the Altmark, a German ship taking refuge in a fjord. He then ordered the Royal Navy to mine Norwegian coastal waters to cut off Germany’s iron ore supplies from Sweden shipped via Narvick and planned a bold naval action to invade neutral Norway. In this the French eagerly joined in.
 
Disastrous Debacle
Unwise bragging by Churchill of this upcoming seaborne operation tipped off the German Abwehr and as the Anglo French Naval invasion force approached Norway, they found themselves out-manoeuvred and pre-empted by Operation Weserübung with seaborne landings and Fallschirmjäger (Para troop) assaults. Churchill had disastrously underestimated his enemy and the Royal Navy lost an aircraft carrier, 2 battle cruisers, 7 destroyers, a submarine and 112 aircraft with over 6,000 casualties. The French also lost 2 destroyers and 2 submarines in this failed Allied invasion of Norway. This was the immediate context behind the opening scene of the Darkest Hour film.
 
Bringing Down Chamberlain’s Government
As Churchill himself admitted, his optimism had led him to ignore the difficulties and drawbacks and he had fatally underestimated his enemy. He wrote: “Considering the prominent part I played in these events… it is a marvel that I survived and maintained my position in public esteem and parliamentary confidence.” Ironically, it was Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain who paid the price of Churchill’s failure. The Norwegian debacle forced Neville Chamberlain to resign.
 
The Crisis that Brought Churchill to Power
To restore confidence and unify the nation for war there would need to be a coalition government, but the Labour party refused to serve under Chamberlain. Lord Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, was the first choice of the king and was acceptable to all parties. However, Halifax declined the premiership on the grounds that the war should not be run from the House of Lords. The only other candidate willing to undertake the Prime Ministership in this time of defeat and retreat, was the very man, Winston Churchill, who had been most responsible for the debacle that was bringing down the government!
 
Irony
At 6pm on 10 May 1940, Winston Churchill was summoned to Buckingham Palace and instructed by the King to form a government. Virtually everyone in government distrusted or disliked Winston Churchill and there was general shock and depression at the news. However, his reputation as a prophet of doom had made him the natural choice when doom descended. Even though he was the primary architect of the disasters besetting the country at that time.
 
Sense of Destiny
Although many people in the country had great doubts about Churchill’s ability, he apparently had none. Churchill’s memoirs record: “As I went to bed at around 3am, I was conscious of a profound sense of relief. At last I had the authority to give directions over the whole scene. I felt as if I were walking with destiny and all my past life had been but a preparation for this hour.” 
 
Military Realities
On the very day that Chamberlain resigned and Winston Churchill was appointed Prime Minister, the German army launched its Blitzkrieg on the allied armies on the Western Front. The impression given in the Darkest Hour film is that the German army was the largest army in the world and greatly outnumbered all others. That is not actually true. The largest army in the world was most certainly the Red Army of the Soviet Union, but the French Army was also much larger than the German Army. Together the British Expedition Force and French Army greatly outnumbered the German forces with twice as much artillery and almost twice as much tanks and armoured cars.
 
Blitzkrieg
However, clearly the Germans made better tactical use of their limited resources. German casualties in the six-week Blitzkrieg that defeated France were 27,074 dead, 111, 034 wounded, total German casualties were under 160,000. Allied casualties were 2, 260,000. The Germans destroyed twice as many Allied aircraft as they lost and more than five times as many Allied tanks as they lost. Plainly the German army proved itself superior in quality, even though the Allies had the advantage in terms of quantity. Before the Battle of France in 1940, France would have been considered the military superpower of Europe, so the swift and decisive defeat of France stunned the world.
 
The Shocking Facts
Sir Max Hastings, Author of The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939-45, states in his conclusion that Allied commanders routinely complained that British Intelligence greatly underestimated the numbers of German soldiers and their resources, but time proved that in fact the intelligence departments were infallibly accurate due to the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) cracking the German Enigma codes early in the war. They provided a complete intelligence picture of all German dispositions and war plans throughout the war. The decrypts and analysis of enemy strength were accurate. However, as Hastings observed, the incredible tenacity and fighting spirit of the German forces made them worth many times their number of Allied forces.
 
Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat
Darkest Hour highlights Winston Churchill’s extraordinary eloquence and showcases some of his most famous war time speeches. In his first address to the House of Commons as Prime Minister on 13 May, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat… you ask, what is our policy? I will say, it is to wage war! By sea, land and air! With all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against the monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime… you ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror; victory however long and hard the road may be!”
 
Marshalling the English Language for War
As an observer noted, Winston Churchill marshalled the English language and sent it into war. Certainly his policy of war at all costs, meant an extremely long and hard ruinous road for the people of England, Europe and indeed the whole British Commonwealth.
 
Was it Really Necessary?
But the film Darkest Hour does raise the question: Was it necessary? Could Britain have chosen the road of peace and negotiation? That indeed is the whole premise of Patrick Buchanan’s book, Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War – How Britain Lost its Empire and the West Lost the World.
 
The Peace Option
As Darkest Hour depicts, most of the Cabinet, including Neville Chamberlain and Lord Halifax, favoured a negotiated settlement and indeed Germany repeatedly offered most generous terms. That is certainly what President Herbert Hoover in his Freedom Betrayed book documents. These authorities are convinced that Britain could have continued to be the greatest political, economic and military superpower in the world through to the end of the 20th century and beyond, had Churchill not been hell-bent on a policy of war “at any price, in spite of all terror, however long and hard the road may be.”
 
Peace Initiatives which were Spurned
Peter Padfield makes the same point in his Hess, Hitler and Churchill: The Real Turning Point of the Second World War – A Secret History book. When Deputy Fuhrer Rudolph Hess set off for Britain on his peace mission in May 1941, it was the most dramatic of 16 major peace initiatives launched by Germany to end the war in the West. As made clear in multiple other offers through 1940-41, through neutral countries, such as Sweden and Switzerland, the German leadership was committed to evacuating all occupied European countries in the West in exchange for an ending of the British naval blockade and aerial bombardment of Germany.
 
What Could One Lose by Accepting Those Peace Offers?
What would Britain have to lose from accepting such an offer? Absolutely nothing. There was so much to gain and without any need for further loss of life.
 
Crushing All Who Proposed Peace
However, Winston Churchill had everyone connected with the peace initiatives in Great Britain, including generals, admirals, members of parliament and Lords, arrested and incarcerated, without charge and without trial, under emergency security legislation. Over 6,000 people were detained without trial under the Emergency Powers Act of 22 May 1940.
 
Crushing Dissent and Imprisoning Dissenters
Under Winston Churchill, literally thousands of advocates for peace in Britain were imprisoned. All conscientious objectors on staff at the BBC were dismissed. Even members of parliament were detained for years, without charge or trial, under Churchill’s Emergency powers.
 
Rudolf Hess
Hess, who, as an unarmed peace emissary, should have been treated like an ambassador, was however, the last prisoner incarcerated in the Tower of London. Hess was completely muzzled, never allowed to speak to anyone concerning the war, or his peace initiative, for the rest of his life. Considering that he was the last surviving senior leader of the Third Reich, it is extraordinary that neither historians, nor journalists, were allowed any access to interview Hess, for decades, right up to his death under suspicious circumstances in 1987.
 
Who Gains from This War?
Peter Padfield makes clear in his book, Hess, Hitler and Churchill, the British people had everything to gain and nothing to lose from entering into such an agreement. Indeed many millions of lives would have been spared and much of the architectural and art treasures of Europe could have escaped arial destruction by bomber command. In fact, no soldiers needed to have died on the beaches of Normandy, or in the Battle for Arnhem, or indeed any of the battles from the Dieppe raid, onwards to the terror bombing campaigns that incinerated over 60 cities including Hamburg, Cologne, Dresden and Berlin. One person would have lost and that is Winston Churchill. He saw the war as his path to power and greatness. Ending the war early was against his personal ambitions. The only other “winner” or beneficiary of the disastrous World War was international communism, particularly Stalin’s Soviet Union.
 
War Lord
Even admirers and biographers of Winston Churchill acknowledge that he was more of a War Dictator than a Prime Minister. Never has any British prime minister consolidated more power and exercised it with greater influence than Winston Churchill did from 1940 to 1945. He even made himself Minister of Defence. As Minister of Defence he often bypassed the Chiefs of Staff and the War Cabinet secretariat by issuing personal instructions directly to squadron leaders and commanders in the field. Including ordering a series of “savage attacks” on the German capital, Berlin, in September 1941. When warned that such attacks would inevitably lead to counter bombing of London in reprisal, Churchill insisted the bombing go ahead.
 
War State
Churchill was in some ways, something of a Revolutionary. Formal hierarchies and normal procedures were no longer sacred in his administration. Anything that advanced the war effort was “good”. Anything that stood in its way was steamrolled or swept aside. Financial orthodoxy was thrown out the window. Britain went for broke. Limits on working hours in factories were ignored in the race for arms production.
 
Total War
While Germany never allowed mothers to be mobilised into the factories in the Second World War, Winston Churchill had no such compunctions and moved the country into a Total War-footing immediately, with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, factory production and absolutely nothing was held back. However, Germany, by way of comparison, only moved on to such a Total War-footing as late as 1943, when it was actually too late. As Air Marshall Arthur Tedder of the Royal Air Force observed, Germany lost the war because she failed to wage Total War.
 
Women at War
Mothers in Germany were excluded from factory work. Albert Speer, Reich Minister of Armaments and War Production, complained about the exclusion of millions of mothers from his work force, but was overruled by Adolf Hitler, who insisted that the primary duty of mothers was to be raising the children in the home. Churchill had no problem drafting women into war work by the Ministry of Labour and even using women in combat in anti-aircraft units and in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), which used many women in highly dangerous roles as secret agents, as Churchill put it, to “set Europe ablaze.”
 
Dictatorial National Socialism in Britain
After passage of the Emergency Powers Act of 22 May, Churchill had the legal power to do almost anything he liked with the citizens of Britain, or their property. As has been observed, Winston Churchill practised a national socialism in Great Britain in many cases more severe than that practised in war-time Germany.
 
Total Control of the Media
In those desperate days, Churchill dominated the radio and newspapers of Great Britain with calculated political acts and carefully prepared and rehearsed speeches designed to boost morale, denigrate defeatism and secure maximum work effort from farm labourers, factory workers and soldiers alike. ​

History in the Making
His speeches were also intended to resound through the ages as Churchill noted that he never forgot that he was an actor on the great stage of history. He commented that history would be kind to him because he intended to write it!
 
Surprising Success of Churchill’s Oratory
Professional broadcasters expressed their surprise at the success of Churchill’s speeches. Churchill’s style of oratory was at least 20 years out of date and considered most unsuitable for the intimacy of radio. They noted that he addressed not the real British people with their skepticism and materialism, but he addressed a heroic people of his own imagination, the living embodiment of great historic tradition. Churchill drew on the broad sweep of English history, recalling the Battles of Agincourt and Trafalgar, which actually meant little or nothing to most of his listeners. Yet he succeeded in evoking a pride in imperial glory and national destiny that for most British people had died long before, if it had even existed at all! Yet, Churchill’s speeches worked, despite their archaic language, the occasional colloquialism amidst high flowing phrases and flashes of cheeky humour delivered with a strangely compelling voice. Churchill’s speeches were resonant with high emotion, quite unusual for the British people at that time.
 
Effective Dramatic Simplicity
Churchill demonstrated an effective dramatic simplicity in his brilliant speeches, such as after the desperate evacuation of the British Expedition Force from the beaches of Dunkirk: “We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender!”
 
Was it Even Necessary to Wage War at All?
Churchill’s impressive speech making abilities may have clouded a more pertinent question: Was it even necessary to fight this war at all?
 
Facts that Undermine the Fiction
Germany had never declared war on Britain. Germany never wanted to fight Britain. Germany was offering the most generous peace terms imaginable for a victorious army. Why could Britain not just go her way and end the naval blockade and arial bombardment of Germany? What was to be gained? Indeed what was gained?
 
Their Finest Hour
After the dramatic and complete military defeat of France within a mere six weeks, Churchill demonstrated again his inspired journalist knack of coining an unforgettable phrase: “The battle of France is over. I expect that the battle of Britain is about to begin… let us therefore brace ourselves to our duty and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour!”
 
Was WW2 Really Britain’s Finest Hour?
Great words, inspiring. However, was it even true? In what way can one claim that one’s own times are the finest hour for an empire over many centuries? Many historians may say that Britain’s 19th century naval campaign against the slave trade, clearing the oceans of slave ships and setting countless captives free, was their finest hour. Indeed there are many more worthy contenders for the title: “Their finest hour”.
 
Memorable Exaggeration and Presumption
After the Battle of Britain there was the famous tribute to the gallant pilots of Fighter Command: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many, to so few.” Memorable, inspiring and unforgettable. However, again, surely gross presumption and exaggeration.
 
Thermopylae and the 300 Spartans
Would not those words have been more appropriately attributed to King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans? The Battle of Thermopylae 480BC, where an initial Greek force of 7,000 blocked the path of the Persian Army claimed to number over a million for 7 days. When their position was outflanked, King Leonidas dismissed the bulk of the Greek Army and remained to safeguard their retreat with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians and 400 Thebans, who all fought to the last man. This bold and sacrificial delaying action enabled the Greek Navy to withdraw to Salamis, where they later won a great victory against the Persian Navy and effectively saved Europe from Asiatic control.
 
Malta, Lepanto and Vienna
Similarly one could recount the courageous siege of Malta where a few hundred knights of St. John held out against a vast Turkish Army in a siege of almost 4 months, helping to save Western Europe from invasion. The decisive naval battle of Lepanto in 1571 and the successful raising of the siege of Vienna of 1683, are surely far more worthy recipients of such an accolade: “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many, to so few.”
 
War Propaganda
However, Churchill’s speeches were backed up by impressive press photos, rousing news reels and strategic personal appearances - all designed to promote war-propaganda and further mobilise the nation and the empire in a war at all costs, to the very end.
 
Self-Indulgent Decadence
It was extraordinary that Winston Churchill came to be so popular with the common people as he was probably the most ostentatiously self-indulgent leader who has ever been appointed to 10 Downing Street. He woke at around 8am to be served a copious breakfast with despatch boxes of telegrams and memorandums. He stayed in bed for most of the morning, dictating to his secretaries. His first bath of the day followed (he generally had two baths each day and changed his shirt three times a day). Each of the three meals a day were by all estimations, massive and included brandy and cigars. Churchill frequently embarrassed officials by appearing like a Roman Emperor in his bath towel, dripping from the bathroom, at all hours of the day. Daily, his secretaries had to take dictation from him while he luxuriated in the bath.
 
Obnoxious Rudeness and Bullying
He was described by those who worked for him as “rude, overbearing, loquacious, moody, insulting and arbitrary.” His long-suffering wife, Clementine, warned him: “There is a danger of you being generally disliked by your colleagues and subordinates because of your rough, sarcastic and overbearing manner.”
 
Explosive Temper
Desmond Morton, his long-trusted advisor, expressed horror at the “depth of selfish brutality” revealed in Churchill’s sudden rages against those who crossed him. His egotism and irascible temper were legendary and was mentioned in the diaries of many generals, including George Patton. Churchill’s intake of alcohol was continuous throughout the day. His comment: “I have taken more out of alcohol, than alcohol has taken out of me!”
 
Harassment and Intimidation
Churchill harried his subordinates with a never ending stream of queries and instructions which could seriously disrupt the vital work of whole ministries by his sudden importunate demands for information and action. Some officials later recorded that they felt they were fighting a war more against Churchill than Hitler! The Navy in particular was continuously trying to prevent Churchill’s dream of a successful re-run of the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign of 1915. As Minister of Defence, Churchill summed up his method in one witty phrase: “All I want is compliance with my wishes.”
 
Micro-Management
Churchill could simultaneously direct grand international political and military strategy and intervene to determine the size of jam rations, or demand an increase in the output of playing cards for gambling!
 
 
 
Ultra Secret Decrypts
Churchill insisted on being given a selection of ultra-secret decrypts every day. These were often delivered by the Head of Mi6, Sir Stewart Menzies, in person. Menzies tried to make sure that there was at least one juicy scandalous item a day to suit the prime minister’s palate. Churchill loved to spring secret information on the uninitiated to clinch an argument, thus triumphing in debate from an unassailable position of strength – as it was a breach of national security to query the source of his intelligence!
 
Blockade, Bomb and Sabotage
Churchill’s military strategy was summed up in two words: Blockade and Bombing, to which he later added Sabotage. This was then rearranged into a three S’s: Strategic Bombing, Sabotage and Subversion. Within just five days of becoming Prime Minister, he had already ordered Bomber Command to raid the industrial areas of the Ruhr in Germany. He diverted a high proportion of Britain’s limited resources to the strategic bombing of Germany. He was not at all put off by the fact that the bombing offensives of 1940 to1941 were a series of fiascos. The night attacks were costly and inaccurate, had no effect on German war production and killed more British flyers than even German civilians! When the French government surrendered Churchill showed his ruthlessness by ordering the sinking of the French fleet at Oran and seizing of all French ships in British waters.
 
Believing His Own Propaganda
Churchill continually sought to convince himself and those around him of the success of his strategies and of the truth of his own speeches. However, the generals and admirals around him were well aware that, contrary to his broadcasts and speeches, Britain was not winning, the German people were not demoralised, nor was the German economy anywhere near a breaking point, it was not even on a full war footing yet!
 
No Survival without Victory?
Darkest Hour showcases some of the great speeches of Winston Churchill, including: “Without victory there can be no survival!” which makes rousing patriotic speech, but is it true? There are many countries that have experienced defeat in war that have survived, even thrived. As Rev. Bill Bathman pointed out in his book, Going Through, when he first arrived as a missionary in Europe in 1951, Britain was economically depressed and looked like they had lost the war, whereas Germany, despite having been savagely bombed by almost non-stop thousand bomber raids, which turned their cities into rubble, Germany in the 1950s looked like they had been the victors of the Second World War. The phenomenal work ethic of the Germans rebuilt their country faster and better than Britain. France was defeated by Germany in 1871 and 1940 and survived much better than they did with their apparent victory in the First World War. French deaths from the First World War exceeded 1.3 million. French deaths in the Second World War were under 100,000, at least from the German Army. More than that were killed by Allied bombardments in the Liberation. Even Poland which suffered more than most countries in the Second World War and was decisively defeated both by the Germans and the Russians, survives and in fact thrives as one of the freest nations in Europe today. As my own father, who fought all six years of the Second World War in the Royal Artillery declared: “If we could have seen what would happen to Britain after the war, we would not have fought against one another, but together against the real enemy!”
 
Was it Worth the Cost?
As Darkest Hour so dramatically demonstrates, Winston Churchill used rhetoric to harden public opinion against a peaceful resolution. He really did marshal the English language and send it off to war! But was it worth it?
 
Why Was Negotiation so Unthinkable?
One of the most intense scenes in Darkest Hour is where Winston Churchill bellows at his War Cabinet: “You cannot reason with a tiger when your head is in its mouth!” Again, a great turn of phrase, but in what sense was it true? The vast British Empire was by no means in a tiger’s mouth. As the English Channel had stopped Napoleon’s forces 150 years before, so it would prove an insurmountable obstacle to Hitler’s panzers. As Patrick Buchanan points out in his Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War book, Germany never had an aircraft carrier, nor produced landing craft or four-engine bombers. It was evident by the very weapons of the Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe that world domination was never their aim, only domination on the European continent.
 
World Domination
World domination is what Britain, France, the United States and Japan had with their massive empires, predominance of aircraft carriers and huge naval fleets. If Germany wanted world domination, then it would have helped them to demand the surrender of France’s Naval Fleet. France’s Navy was more than 4-times the size of Germany’s Kriegsmarine. However, despite the Allies having demanded the German High Seas Fleet and Merchant Marine at the end of the First World War, Germany never demanded France’s Fleet, even after their decisive six-week Blitzkrieg victory over France.
 
We Cannot Compromise with Dictators
Winston Churchill famously declared time and again that it was impossible to compromise with dictators! A fine sentiment, except that he has once been a great admirer of II Duce, Mussolini, the dictator of Italy. Churchill praised Mussolini on 20 January 1927: “I could not help being charmed by Senior Mussolini’s gentle and simple bearing and by his calm, detached poise, in spite of so many burdens and dangers.”
 
Supporting Mussolini’s Fascism in Italy
On Mussolini, Churchill extolled “If I were Italian, I am sure I would have been with you entirely from the beginning!” “What a man! I have lost my heart! Fascism has rendered a service to the entire world!”
 
Fictional Stereotypes
A lot of war time lies and victors propaganda have now been scripted into official history. In Darkest Hour, a fictionalised consultation with commoners on an underground train in the tube and a stereotyped cultured black Briton quoting classic poetry is injected to give the impression that Winston Churchill actually cared about what common people thought. Not only did such an episode not happen, but Winston Churchill would not have cared what they said anyway.
 
Arrogant and Selfish
As many observed, Winston Churchill only came to parliament to make speeches, never to listen to what anyone else had to say. Prime Minister Baldwin declared of Winston Churchill, “We delight to listen to him in the house, but we do not take his advice.” Baldwin observed that Winston had imagination, eloquence, industry and ability, but no judgment.
 
Unfailing Bad Judgement
Winston Churchill’s public track record is one long litany of catastrophe. Amongst others, he supported King Edward VIII in his determination to marry the twice divorced Mrs Simpson and his public speech urging Edward to hold onto the throne, despite the constitutional crisis on 7 December 1936 while “filled with emotion and brandy” was shouted down by the rest of the House.
 
Bankrupting Britain and Betraying Eastern Europe
Yet, Churchill is acclaimed as the man of destiny who inspired Britain to keep fighting until the United States came to the rescue. The pertinent question was: Was that a wise and necessary move? In what way did Britain, or Europe, benefit from bankrupting Britain, devastating Europe, saving the Soviet Union from certain collapse during Operation Barbarossa with the Herculean Lend-Lease programme and betraying Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain in 1945? Or, betraying 3 million Russians, Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans in Operation Keelhaul – forcing them across the border into hands of Stalin’s waiting murderous NKVD.
 
Choosing an Ally Determined to Dismantle the British Empire
As Patrick Buchanan points out, Churchill chose as his enemy Hitler, who wanted the British Empire to survive and endure and chose as his ally, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was determined to dismantle the British Empire! As Captain Grenfell observed “What an extraordinary paradox that Britain’s principle enemy was anxious for the British Empire to remain in being while the principle ally, the United States, was determined to destroy it!” Few today could say that Britain and the world is a better place now than it was in 1939.
 
Hell Bent
Asked how he could ally with Stalin, whose crimes he knew so well, Churchill answered that he had only one single purpose – “the destruction of Hitler and my life is much simplified thereby. If Hitler invaded hell, I would at least made a favourable reference to the devil!” At Tehran, 1943, Churchill presented Soviet dictator, Joseph Stalin with a crusader sword! As though this communist persecutor of the Church was a defender of Christian civilisation!
 
Counting the Cost
When Churchill made his speech of victory at all costs, did he seriously consider that the cost could be the death of the empire and indeed of Christian Europe itself? For the war to continue for five more years after Dunkirk, the financial, strategic and moral costs mounted astronomically.
 
Violation of Solemn Promises and Principles
After Churchill returned from Yalta, Member of Parliament, John Rhys Davies, rose in the House of Commons, 1 March 1945, to declare: “We started this war with great motives and high ideas. We published the Atlantic charter and then spat on it, stomped on it and burned it, as it were, at the stake and now nothing is left of it.”
 
History’s Most Terrifying Peace
As Time Magazine observed at the time: “Europe has emerged from history’s most terrible war into history’s most terrifying peace!”
 
Factual Errors
At the end of Darkest Hour, the End Credits falsely claim that the 300,000 British soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk were transported by “Churchill’s civilian ships”. Actually 95% of the soldiers were evacuated by the Royal Navy and only 5% by civilian ships.
 
Barking up the Wrong Tree
The posters advertising Darkest Hour has the theme: “Never Give Up! Never Give In!” That is all very well, but what if you are wrong? Persisting down the wrong path is not wise but foolish. Who declared war on whom? Who started the war? Who started arial bombardments of cities?
 
Not That Far Sighted
Ironically Winston Churchill opposed Chamberlain’s re-armourment of Britain programme and mocked his deployment of radar, voting against the very weapons and technology which would later become so invaluable in his war.
 
Unprecedented Unconditional Surrender
Churchill’s demand for unconditional surrender was an unprecedented demand that greatly prolonged the war and immeasurably increased the death toll of World War Two.
 
Saturation Bombing of Cities
The saturation bombings campaigns which rained unprecedented death and destruction on the cities in Germany destroyed more than the rampaging hordes of Genghis Khan and Attila the Hun. His deportations of Russians and Ukrainians under Operation Keelhaul were amongst the greatest crimes committed in the 20th century.
 
Defending Britain from Imminent Invasion
Darkest Hour several times refers to the “imminent invasion” of the British Isles. This turns out to have been a Churchillian myth and propaganda statement, designed to keep the British in the fight. The war had been started ostensibly to defend Poland. However, while Poland had been invaded by both Germany from the West and the Soviet Union from the East, Britain only declared war on Germany. When the Soviet Union attacked Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Churchill still sought an alliance with Stalin. With the British Army defeated in Norway, Belgium and France, there was no real reason for the country to remain at war. Generous peace terms were being offered. So Churchill invented the myth of Operation Sealion that Germany was planning to invade Great Britain. In fact this was never seriously considered and as many historians, including Patrick Buchanan, have pointed out, Germany never even produced landing craft suitable for such an operation.
 
Misled by Disinformation
Most British soldiers, including my own father, who fought all 6 years of WW2 in the Royal Artillery in the 8th Army, assumed they were defending Britain. They did not know that Germany never wanted war with Britain and never even developed the weapons necessary for such an invasion. As Ian Smith declared, if they had known what the war was being fought for, they would not have fought against one another, but together against the real enemy – the communist Soviet Union.
 
Shocking Track Record
When one considers Churchill’s personal conduct in the Afghan Campaign, the Anglo Boer War, the Disaster of the Gallipoli campaign, how Churchill orchestrated the sinking of the Lusitania, the hunger blockade of Germany, the Bengal famine in India, the saturation bombing of Germany, the assassination of General Sikorski, the betrayal of all of Eastern Europe to the hands of the Soviet NKVD, the colossal aid channelled to Stalin’s Soviet Union and the ethnic cleansing of over 15 million Germans at the end of the Second World War, it appears that rather than a war hero, Winston Churchill should rather be considered a war criminal.
 
Disastrous Consequences are with Us to this Day
The Churchill cult and mythology has been used to justify many unjust wars, such as the war against Iraq and the present one against Syria. The deifying of Winston Churchill and his indefensible hell-bent determination to save the Soviet Union and ally with Stalin, in order to bring down Germany, precipitated the downfall of Western civilisation. Today we live with the catastrophic consequences of Churchill and FDR’s disastrous policies. “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption…” 2 Peter 2:19
 
Dr. Peter Hammond
Reformation Society
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
mission@frontline.org.za
www.ReformationSA.org

 
See also:
Dunkirk – Separating Fact from Fiction
How Capitalists Saved Communism from Collapse
The Bombing of Cities in WWII
The Katyn Forest Massacre
Freedom Betrayed
How Propaganda Changes Perceptions and People
How the New World Order is Hijacking Civilisation
​

Not since Ben Hur have I seen a film so respectful of the Christian faith. In God's and Generals the Bible is reverently read and quoted from. Fervant prayers are offered - and answered. The vibrant Christian faith of General Robert E. Lee and especially General 'Stonewall' Jackson are powerfully portrayed.

All the complexities and depth of character of Stonewall Jackson are depicted: his lecturing at Virginia Military Institute before the war, his intense affection for and devotion to his wife and child, his intimate walk with the Lord, his fearlessness under fire, his Bible study, his brilliant military strategy, his tenacity and aggression in battle, his ruthlessness with deserters (he had them shot), his tenderness towards children, his conflicts with other officers, his humility, his friendships with black people, his anger towards the treachery of the Union invaders. All this and more is graphically portrayed in this, over 3 hour, masterpiece.

God's and Generals is produced by Ron Maxwell as a prequel to his highly acclaimed Gettysburg. Whereas Gettysburg focused on the bloody 3 day battle which was the turning point in the war, God's and Generals covers the first 2 years of the war - when the Confederate armies were victorious.

The film begins with Robert E. Lee being offered the overall command of the Union forces. Lee refuses because of his "higher duty" to his state, Virginia. At first critical of the secession and unwilling to join it, when President Lincoln makes clear his intention to raise a Union army to invade and crush the Southern states, the Virginia legislature votes to resist. Geographically in the middle, Union troops had to go through Virginia in order to invade the Confederate states. Lee then accepts command of the Confederate forces to resist this.
General Robert E. Lee stands out as an exemplary Christian gentleman, deeply loved and revered by all sides. Like Field Marshal Rommel in WWII, Lee was even respected by his enemies - who provided an honour guard and saluted him at the end of the war at Appomattox.

To this day, Lee remains the only cadet in the two centuries of the US Military Academy at West Point, to have completed the 4 year programme without receiving a single demerit. For his courage and accomplishments in the Union army, as an engineer and in the Mexican War, Lee was acclaimed by the Commander in Chief as "the greatest soldier in the American Army". Lee's humility, brilliant strategy and dynamic Christian faith are honoured in this new film. What only gets passing mention, however, is Lee's opposition to slavery and attempts to have it abolished before the war even started.

'Stonewall' Jackson received his nickname after the first chaotic battle of Bull Run when fleeing Confederate soldiers were inspired to rejoin the attack by the sight of General Jackson sitting prominently on his horse with bullets whistling by and canon fire exploding all around.

As Jackson commented afterwards: "… my religious beliefs teach me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to always be ready, no matter when it may overtake me … that is the way all men should live …"

The film also powerfully depicts the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville when Jackson electrified the world with one of the most stunning large scale ambushes in military history. Commanding a force only a fraction the size of his foe, Jackson moved his men through the woods to outflank the Union forces. Achieving complete surprise the Confederates stampeded the colossal Union invasion army of 143 000, routing and throwing them back in headlong retreat. 
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Tragically Jackson was shot - by his own side - in the confusion of this tumultuous battle. When Jackson died as a result of these wounds, inflicted by 'friendly fire', the cause of the Confederates was doomed.

As Winston Churchill observed in his history of the war: "on such agate points do the balances of the world turn." Almost all historians of the American War Between The States agree that had Jackson been alive for the battle at Gettysburg - two months later - the South would have won. Lee and Jackson together had been unbeatable.

However, at Gettysburg, Lee's generals failed to secure the high ground after the first day. Jackson, had he been there, would have fulfilled Lee's orders and secured the high ground. That night the Union forces moved in and began to entrench themselves on the high ground. Even at that point, Jackson would have moved to outflank them, or retired to choose to fight on ground more favourable to them. His successors, however, went into the same kind of trap Lee and Jackson had set for the Union forces at Fredericksburg. The devastating result of Pickett's charge - courageous but futile - cost the South the war.

As General Lee declared: "We have appealed to the God of battles - and He has decided against us." As Jackson taught: "Duty is ours. The results are God's." Ultimatly we can see God's hand of judgement on the South. Better soldiers, incredibly brave, but failing to heed Lee's plea to free all the slaves - invited God's Judgement.

I highly recommend this superb film: "God's and Generals" and the book by Ted Baehr and Susan Wales: "Faith in God and Generals".

Dr. Peter Hammond

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