Eric’s Knife
Wooden boats made good minesweepers because they were invulnerable to magnetic mines. HMS Cloughton Wyke was a deep sea fishing trawler converted to this use early in the war. The little ship also came with her civilian crew. One of the members was a young man named Eric, noted for his large blue eyes and baby face. Eric’s pride and joy was a standard issue pocketknife, which he spent hours honing to a fine edge. He got a lot of ribbing over this little ritual, but kept to his self-appointed task every day.
In early 1942 the Cloughton Wyke was working with a group of other minesweepers in the English Channel on a rough winter day. Suddenly, out of the clouds a German bomber bore in on the small ship. One of several bombs exploded beneath the hull, breaking the ship in two and sending the crew scrambling for the lifeboat. Eric made it, but was knocked unconscious. The other crewmen realized they were in great danger when they found the lifeboat still lashed to the sinking ship. As they tried frantically to loosen the ropes, someone remembered Eric’s knife. Digging through the unconscious man’s pockets, a sailor found the knife and was able to slice through the large ropes as if they were butter. The lifeboat was free, thanks to Eric and his diligence in keeping a sharp blade.108
A long time ago, there was a mother who was diligent in taking care of her duty. When her son went off for the day, she packed him a lunch of five small barley loaves and two small fish. This was her simple, self-appointed task that she performed joyfully and with no expectation of reward. Little did she know that her small offering would be used by the Son of God in performing one of his greatest miracles. Jesus would take those loaves and fishes and make them into a feast to feed five thousand hungry followers. We never know how God will use our efforts to glorify him. It is up to us to faithfully and diligently perform the tasks, no matter how simple, that he puts before us.
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
—Ephesians 2:10
Survivors of torpedoed ship being rescued. (National Archives)
Arctic ice coats ship. (U. S. Naval Historical Center)