NMBS have been providing Bibles and associated literature to the Armed Forces since 1779, making it the oldest Bible Society in the world. Bibles were placed on Royal Naval ships from the end of the the 18th Century including on the HMS Bounty, whose crew mutinied in the South Pacific in 1789. The Bounty was scuppered and burnt on the remote Pitcairn Island but the Bounty Bible can still be seen in the island’s museum.
Over nearly 250 years, the Society has cared for the spiritual and moral welfare of mariners and Service personnel through major conflicts such as the Napoleonic Wars, Crimea, South Africa (Boer War) and two World Wars to more recent conflicts in the Middle East and beyond. Bibles, or portions of Scripture have often been a means of comfort and strength to military personnel engaged in conflict, particularly far from home. Though the UK is now a more diverse and pluralistic culture, the Holy Bible remains a source of inspiration and guidance for many, with a younger generation still seeking answers to life’s deepest questions in its pages.
