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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsChristmas Truce of 1914
During World War I, on and around Christmas Day 1914, the sounds of rifles firing and shells exploding faded in a number of places along the Western Front in favor of holiday celebrations in the trenches and gestures of goodwill between enemies.
Starting on Christmas Eve, many German and British troops sang Christmas carols to each other across the lines, and at certain points the Allied soldiers even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-mans-land, calling out Merry Christmas in their enemies native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.
Some soldiers used this short-lived ceasefire for a more somber task: the retrieval of the bodies of fellow combatants who had fallen within the no-mans land between the lines.
The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. It was never repeatedfuture attempts at holiday ceasefires were quashed by officers threats of disciplinary actionbut it served as heartening proof, however brief, that beneath the brutal clash of weapons, the soldiers essential humanity endured.
During World War I, the soldiers on the Western Front did not expect to celebrate on the battlefield, but even a world war could not destory the Christmas spirit.
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/christmas-truce-of-1914
Merry Christmas everyone!
Historic NY
(37,452 posts)that is a new one to replace the wooden cross. The bunkers and repaired trench are near by including the CWG Cemetery
[link:https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1924381-d7290613-Reviews-Christmas_Truce_Memorial-Comines_Warneton_Hainaut_Province_Wallonia.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=351604237|
[link:https://www.centenarynews.com/article?id=3088|]
And yes that is how close the trench's were....I just wonder how many ended up buried there once the fighting began anew.
Crutchez_CuiBono
(7,725 posts)We don't know death on the battlefield in numbers like WW1 anymore, thankfully. Hard to imagine trenches stretching from the Northern Coast to the Southern Coast in Europe, and living in them for years with war all around. Rain, snow, death, heat, disease, hunger, and fear. The loss of life would stagger todays man. This episode, in my mind, always stood for the prospect that men don't hate each other by nature, it's society and culture and war that brings men face to face in mortal combat. When given a choice, mankind will chose love, especially after a brush w the opposite, in battle.
Quite a story. I forget it until Christmas every year. Great post.
Have a good holiday season.
hamsterjill
(15,223 posts)It's a play about the Christmas Truce of 1914 which uses lines written from actual letters soldiers sent home to tell the story. It's amazing and very relevant for today.
Last weekend was our third year seeing it at a local community theater. I bawl my eyes out. Such a simple concept, yet so unattainable by mankind.
Merry Christmas!