No Fear

by Jean M Hale

I knew fear when I was a schoolgirl in south-east London during World War II. However, there was one time when I felt no fear in a dangerous situation because of the faith of our headmistress Miss I. O’Zanne.

At the time, we were being bombarded by V1 and V2 rockets. They came night and day, and we just carried on as best we could. We all knew there was little safety even in a place of worship because churches had been hit during services.

Miss O’Zanne insisted we have assembly every school morning. We sang a hymn, had a short Bible reading, and a prayer. Our hall was thought to be as safe as possible because it was reinforced with steel girders and all doors and windows had netting. One morning the 500 of us were standing, and Miss O’Zanne had started The Lord’s Prayer. A V1 rocket (doodlebug) came roaring overhead. Miss O’Zanne hesitated a second and them kept praying in a firm voice. The V1 cut out. There was a mass intact of breath. Miss O’Zanne confidently prayed the beautiful familiar words. The explosion blew in the doors but the glass held. Black clouds of smoke blew in. We were all blown on top of each other like dominoes. There was the sound of falling masonry. Above all  this, our headmistress finished The Lord’s Prayer in a loud voice, ending with a triumphant ‘Amen’.

On this occasion, I didn’t care what happened to me because I felt at peace. Upon talking with my friends afterwards, I believe that most of us felt the same. I am quite sure that God used our headmistress’ faith as a channel of peace, and there was no panic among the 500 girls. The bomb fell on the school fence, destroying homes and lives. In our enquiring minds, that raised questions about why we had been spared and they had not. However, in all the confusion of that era, Miss O’Zanne’s faith stood out and I have never forgotten her or God’s blessing in sparing so many of us to live long lives. Hopefully our lives have been of service to the Lord.