Saved by the Bible


George Vinell: Saved by the Bible
George Vinell served as a Bombardier in the Royal Artillery. He carried a Bible in his pocket which gave him spiritual comfort even in hard times during the War. It also saved his life. On 17th July 1915 he wrote home to his mum and dad sending a pocket Bible with his letter. The Bible had a hole in it, made by a piece of shrapnel.
George came into his sleeping compartment and took off his tunic at about midday when he heard a shell flying in close. It exploded and threw bits of metal around the compartment. One went straight into his tunic, but because the Bible was in the pocket it didn’t get through. George threw himself to the floor while another shell exploded on the compartment and then ran for the protection of the trenches. He wrote ‘as soon as we heard the next shell coming I flattened myself in the bottom, not caring about the dirt, until it was over.”
When he got back to the sleeping compartment, there were ten men dead. As well as the shells, four bullets had come in: George felt hugely fortunate because one had hit his pillow, one had hit the floor where he had been lying just a moment earlier. Then he picked up his tunic, and found the shrapnel, aimed at his heart, but stopped by his Bible. He reminded his mum and dad of his last letter, where he had written that he felt ‘safe in the hands of God’ and wrote: ‘Here I am, without a scratch, safe and well’. The shrapnel had gone through the whole Old Testament, and the point of it stopped at Isaiah 49 verse 8. George read the verse, which said ‘I will preserve you.’
It felt like a miracle.
from Hear My Cry’: A book of prayers and readings published by the Bible Society and the Royal British Legion.

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