A summer edition of BBC’s Songs of Praise remembered the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, despite a lifetime of pain due to the horror of war.
PO George Hinkins was on HMS Formidable from 6 January 1942 and was killed by a kamikaze on 9 May 1945. At a reunion of crew and family his son, David, who was only five months at the time of his father’s death, was told the full story of that day on the boat and how he had saved a number of young sailors lives by sending them away from the gun and into shelter. Unfortunately the kamikaze hit the ship and killed George who had continued to fire the gun single handed until the plane hit.
Years of bitterness
David had been very bitter for a number of years and then attended a church and was challenged by the song ‘Father God I wonder I managed to exist’. This led to his conversion and he later became a missionary to Africa. After enquiring about the attack, a Japanese news association heard of David’s search and tracked down the brother of the kamikaze pilot.
After hearing the pilot’s brother express a desire to meet and be reconciled, David said: ‘We can join hands in peace and reconciliation, which is what our Lord Jesus teaches; that is fulfilment in itself’. A few months later, David did just that, meeting Muneyoshi Kuroshi in Japan. At that meeting Muneyoshi read out the letter that his brother had written to his parents prior to getting into his plane: ‘To father and mother. Today I am going to leave the base and attack into the fleet. It is a great honour for me to die for my country. This is the Japanese Samuri spirit, Japanese chivalry. Thank you very much for 22 years to raise me up with your greatest love.’
On Songs of Praise David noted that formal recognition was not needed for his father, as, in his own words: ‘Who needs a medal when you’ve got the Lord.’
