The 1914 Christmas Truce.

[doublethink]

On Christmas Day 1914, the first Christmas of The Great War, an amazing cessation of hostilities took place in some sections of the British front-line. Below is the account of the truce in the Sailly - Armentiers sector manned by George Anderson, George Gordon, William Milne, Alexander Pirie and their comrades of 6th Btn, The Gordon Highlanders.



"At Christmas 1914 there took place in some parts of the British line what is still regarded by many as the most remarkable incident of the War - an unofficial truce. During the winter it was not unusual for little groups of men to gather in a front trench, and there hold impromptu concerts, singing patriotic songs. The Germans, too, did much the same, and on calm evenings the songs from one line floated to the trenches of the other side, and were received with applause, and sometimes with calls for an encore. On quiet nights, at points where the trenches were quite near, remarks shouted from one trench system were audible in the other. Christmas Eve the Germans spent singing carols, and, the night being calm, they informed our men they did not intend to shoot on Christmas Day, asking at the same time that we also should refrain from violence. "No shoot to-night, Jock!, Sing to-night!" was one of the remarks they made on Christmas Eve. Little attention was given to this, but on Christmas morning, when our men were at breakfast, a cry was raised that the Germans had left their trenches. Springing to arms, they could scarcely believe their eyes when they looked over the parapet and saw a number of the enemy standing in the open in front of their trenches, all unarmed. Some of the enemy shouted "No shoot!" and after a little, a number of our men also got out of their trench.

rest here .... http://www.kinnethmont.co.uk/1914-1918_files/xmas-truce.htm


WW1 account of historic football match between British and German soldiers goes public]


London, Dec 23 (ANI): Much has been written about the Christmas Eve armistice of 1914 when feuding British and German soldiers celebrated Xmas together and engaged in a friendly soccer match in the icy mud of No Man's Land in France.

Now, military historians have dug out the diary of one Regimental Sergeant Major George Beck, who chronicled the remarkable events in his notebook.

His account titled 'Not a shot fired' vividly details the events when soldiers of the Kaiser's army came forward to hand out drinks and cigars to British Tommies and invited them over to a friendly game of soccer.

"Christmas Eve, 1914, and not a shot fired. The Germans ask to play football and hand out drink and cigars. They are eager to swop almost anything for our bully beef," the 34 year old veteran of the Boer War, who spent Christmas in a trench near the Belgian village of St Yves, near Ypres, writes in his diary.


rest here ...... http://www.dailyindia.com/show/96287.php/WW1-account-of-historic-football-match-between-British-and-German-soldiers-goes-public


Peace on Earth, Good Will toward Men.