The christmas truce...

There was a time when armed conflicts halted during the celebration of a holiday, say like Christmas or the Olympic games; that is not the case anymore, and has not been for a while.
One of my favorite stories along this line is that of the so called Christmas truce of WWI.

It was December , 1914, the war had been going on for less than four months, and no party had yet taken any advantage. In the region of Ypres, Belgium; German soldiers were being held off by their British counterparts. Ducked behind their trenches, separated only by a few yards of unclaimed territory, know as "no man's land", shivering soldiers had to withstand the cold European winter, covered in mud, and wary of the new and powerful machineguns that had already made the new war, the bloodiest the world had ever seen.

The rifles weren't working, jammed by the freezing dirt. People on both sides were struggling, keeping themselves from getting trapped inside the trenches. Unable to work, the artillery stopped firing altogether, giving soldiers a rest from the tiresome fight, and with it, time to start reminiscing about Christmas at home. And so they started decorating the trenches, as their rations waned along with their spirits, the cold grew ever more intense and their minds flew away, finding solace in the memory of Christmas back home.

The proximity of the two fronts gave way to strange happenings, unofficial ceasefires, brought in by the impossibility of anything else became everyday events. Some soldiers recalled how they every morning raised a white flag, and not even a single bullet was fired until everyone had finished their meals.

Hatred was slowly replaced by a shared sense of misfortune, after all, many of the men there were only doing what they were told to, and held no personal grudge against anyone. Friendly shouts were exchanged across the land; here and there a question about a familiar place was thrown. Someone wanted to know if that old place was still next to were he used to work. Someone was curious what England looked like; someone else remembered his old trip to Germany back in the day. In a sense, soldiers befriended each other without ever seeing each other's face.

Much to the officers' dismay, who didn't want their men to even get acquainted with the enemy, the "truce" was ongoin on Christmas eve.

On the afternoon of that day, British troops noticed a lineup of small lights twinkling inside the German trenches. They turned out to be candles glowing in the night, decorating the trees along the German line. On hoarse German voices, carols were heard. As soon as the Germans finished their rendition of 'Stille Nacht', the British, not to be left behind, started singing The first Noel, which was received by loud applauses and cheering from the other side; and replied to with 'O tannenbaum'. The caroling went along for many more songs, until the British began singing 'O come all ye faithful', instantly, the Germans began singing along, with the Latin lyrics 'Adeste fidelis'. And so it was, that men who once thought of themselves as enemies, were caroling at the tune of the same song.


Adeste fidelis, laeti triumphantes…

The Christmas truce had begun.
Still cautious, soldiers ventured into no man's land. Met face to face for the first time, and shook hands.
Many men followed suit, in some points along the trench-line, opposing soldiers could be seen conversation as if they had been friends for a lifetime. Laughs were heard, men trying to make themselves understood with signs and laughter when they could not speak the language. Lighting each others cigarettes, exchanging small gifts: tobacco, pudding, and whatever they had at hand.

"We won't fire if you don't fire" and no one did. "not a shot was fired". In some places the truce lasted till midnight, in some others until the new year. Each side buried their own; since it had been impossible to do so before. Some letters sent home even tell of burial services held for British as well as for Germans .

Some say there even was a soccer game between the Bedfordshire regiment and the Germans. And to some accounts the Germans won that one 3 to 2.

by Gabriel® All rights reserved. 2008

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For more information visit http://www.christmastruce.co.uk Also, many sites on the web have different accounts of the story, and I learned recently that the History Channel made a documentary about it. Haven't seen it, though.