The Miracle of Salerno

The birth of Clarence Hagerty—my father-in-law—was a surprise and something of a miracle. His mother had had an operation designed to prevent her from having any more children. And his survival during World War II was also something of a miracle. He was on the front lines at Salerno, Italy, on September 9, 1943.

On that very evening at the Bible College of Wales, students met to pray for the Allied troops. At 9:45 PM they met a second time. The director of the Bible College, Rees Howells, announced that the Lord had impressed upon him the need to pray for the Allied troops in Salerno. “Soon everyone was on their knees imploring God to intervene. Suddenly at 11 PM they broke into spontaneous singing and rejoicing, believing that God had wrought a miraculous intervention…. Then they all listened expectantly to the midnight news. The radio announcer said that unless some miracle happened, the Allies would be pushed back into the sea…. The next day the newspaper headline read, ‘The Miracle of Salerno.’ It reported that the pounding by the Nazi artillery on the first day was so heavy that it was obvious that unless a miracle occurred the beachhead could not be established. Then suddenly, for no accountable reason, the enemy artillery ceased firing—at eleven o’clock.” ” ((The One Year Book of Christian History, p. 506))”

I’m sure the Lord had many reasons to move the students at the Bible College of Wales to pray for the troops in Salerno. But one of them was the survival of my father-in-law. We recently asked him about the battle of Salerno. He remembered all too well, and it was evidently too painful for him to talk about. We are thankful the Lord preserved his life. Not only has he been a great blessing in God’s kingdom, but so have his children—one of whom I was privileged to marry—and their children, including my own.