A Christmas Day special where we leave our biased opinions and poorly curated content at the door. Have a good one.
FORM THE ARCHIVES
December 1914: The Christmas Truce
The Christmas Truce is one of the most talked about moments of the First World War (Sainsbury’s even made an advert about it). But what actually happened and how gen was it?
On an ‘effin cold Christmas Eve in 1914, the lads from the British Expeditionary Force on sentry that night heard something they definitely weren’t expecting: carols being sung from the German lines. Shortly afterwards the Germans lit candles that lined their trenches on the far side of No Man’s Land.
Accounts vary on the exact sequence of events that night, but we do know with reasonable certainty that up to 100,000 British and German soldiers downed tools on Christmas Day itself, with gifts being exchanged, photos taken and even football played.
Sadly the truce was far from universal. In many areas of the Western Front the war raged on with men on both sides killed on Christmas Day. Senior officers on were uneasy about the truce, concerned it might weaken discipline and the will to fight.
British and German troops in No Man’s Land
After 1914, head shed worked hard to stop any further spontaneous truces happening. Even so, smaller, unofficial pauses continued to occur later in the war. In quieter sectors, a “live and let live” system emerged where both sides unofficially agreed to let repair and stretcher parties to carry on without getting hit.
Henry Williamson, then a young lad in the London Rifle Brigade, wrote to his mum on Boxing Day:
Dear Mother, I am writing from the trenches. It is 11 o'clock in the morning. Beside me is a coke fire, opposite me a 'dug-out' (wet) with straw in it. The ground is sloppy in the actual trench, but frozen elsewhere. In my mouth is a pipe presented by the Princess Mary. In the pipe is tobacco. Of course, you say. But wait. In the pipe is German tobacco. Haha, you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured trench. Oh dear, no! From a German soldier. Yes a live German soldier from his own trench. Yesterday the British & Germans met & shook hands in the Ground between the trenches, & exchanged souvenirs, & shook hands. Yes, all day Xmas day, & as I write. Marvellous, isn't it?
To those serving abroad today - hope you enjoyed a different kind of gunfire this morning. Have a good day. That’s us signing off until January, where we’ve got big plans afoot for Forces Assist. Cheers for the support so far.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.