CHRISTMAS TRUCE, 1914

Christmas Eve, 1914. The muddy trenches on the Western front witnessed one of the most civil acts in warfare. As it was December 24th, the germans were singing carols. Across from no-mans land, The British soldiers sang back. The brits heard a confused shouting from the other side— a German speaking his best english was saying “come over here!”

A british sergeant responded “You come half-way. I come half-way.”

Enemy soliders climbed nervously out of their trenches to meet in the barbed-wire-filled No-Man’s Land.” They exchanged handshakes, and words of empathy. The soldiers traded songs, and tobacco, joining together in a spontaneous holiday party. All across the Western front, pockets of german, belgian, french and British troops imposed impromptu cease-fires. Certain accounts suggest a few of these truces remained in effect for days.

Various diary entries and letters describe German soldiers using candles to light christmas trees around their trenches— There were also accounts of men helping enemy soldiers collect their dead. Hundreds of them took part in a makeshift soccer game. 

I was in conversation the other day of mans humility in war and how it’s diminished over time— War is a gentleman’s conflict. To shake your enemies hand and look him in the eye before killing him is one of the most honorable acts mankind could submit to— these men proved that.