I realise that Jim posted this as an example of Christmas spirit and not as a topic of discussion, but to truly understand the sentiment, you really have to understand the the situation that the front line troops were facing.....to understand that in the blackness of war....a few....bravely, lit candles of hope.
“…….The early trenches were often hasty creations and poorly constructed; if the trench was badly sighted it could become a sniping hot spot. In bad weather (the winter of 1914 was a dire one) the positions could flood and fall in. The soldiers - unequipped to face the rigours of the cold and rain - found themselves wallowing in a freezing mire of mud and the decaying bodies of the fallen……
…The man at the Front could not help but have a degree of sympathy for his opponents who were having just as miserable a time as they were….
….On the eve of the Truce, the British Army (still a relatively small presence on the Western Front) was manning a stretch of the line running south from the infamous Ypres salient for 27 miles to the La Bassee Canal.
Along the front the enemy was sometimes no more than 70, 50 or even 30 yards away. Both Tommy and Fritz could quite easily hurl greetings and insults to one another, and, importantly, come to tacit agreements not to fire. Incidents of temporary truces and outright fraternisation were more common at this stage in the war than many people today realise ….
With their morale boosted by messages of thanks and their bellies fuller than normal, and with still so much Christmas booty to hand, the season of goodwill entered the trenches. A British Daily Telegraph correspondent wrote that on one part of the line the Germans had managed to slip a chocolate cake into British trenches.
Even more amazingly, it was accompanied with a message asking for a ceasefire later that evening so they could celebrate the festive season and their Captain's birthday. They proposed a concert at 7.30pm when candles, the British were told, would be placed on the parapets of their trenches.
The British accepted the invitation and offered some tobacco as a return present. That evening, at the stated time, German heads suddenly popped up and started to sing. Each number ended with a round of applause from both sides.
The Germans then asked the British to join in. At this point, one very mean-spirited Tommy shouted: 'We'd rather die than sing German.' To which a German joked aloud: 'It would kill us if you did'….
……Along many parts of the line the Truce was spurred on with the arrival in the German trenches of miniature Christmas trees - Tannenbaum. The sight these small pines, decorated with candles and strung along the German parapets, captured the Tommies' imagination, as well as the men of the Indian corps who were reminded of the sacred Hindu festival of light.
It was the perfect excuse for the opponents to start shouting to one another, to start singing and, in some areas, to pluck up the courage to meet one another in no-man's land…..
…..Christmas day began quietly but once the sun was up the fraternisation began. Again songs were sung and rations thrown to one another. It was not long before troops and officers started to take matters into their own hands and ventured forth. No-man's land became something of a playground.
Men exchanged gifts and buttons. In one or two places soldiers who had been barbers in civilian times gave free haircuts. One German, a juggler and a showman, gave an impromptu, and given the circumstances, somewhat surreal performance of his routine in the centre of no-man's land….
….The Truce lasted all day; in places it ended that night, but on other sections of the line it held over Boxing Day and in some areas, a few days more. In fact, there parts on the front where the absence of aggressive behaviour was conspicuous well into 1915….”
http://www.firstworldwar.com/feature...stmastruce.htm
As to the postcards....mostly political propaganda....produced to demonise the enemy. They actually make the ceasefire even more of a miracle....it shows the extent of the propaganda ...which was still ignored by a number of soldiers on the front.
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Originally Posted by Dmitry
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In my book the whole Christmas cease fire is nothing but a load of bull. These same soldiers were more than happy to kill one another the next morning.
Your story would have a moral, if the belligerents just dropped their weapons and walked home. Otherwise the X-mas cease fire is pretty meaningless, especially in the pedagogical aspect of it.
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Dmitry, if a soldier refused to fight, for any reason, he would be branded a 'coward' or 'deserter' and excecuted by firing squad. The fact that this 'extreme' punishment was implemented, demonstrates that many must have wished to 'lay down their arms' and instigate peace..... The details of the ceasefires were surpressed by the opposing governments .....they wanted to demonise their 'enemy' ....not humanise them. Perhaps, if the higher powers had not 'covered up' the incident or made out that the ceasefire was a stragetic action to gather information about the enemy....the war would have ended sooner.
Below is a picture entitled…..
British and German troops meet in no man's land. Boxing Day, 1914. Photographed by 2nd Lt Cyril Drummand, RFA.