The Christmas Truce

The First World War was a horrific and bloodthirsty war resulting in the deaths of millions. In spite of this horror ( and this is true of most wars) some romantic legends became famous after the war. Two of the most memorable of these are the Christmas Truce and the Angels of Mons.

It was a cold, frosty evening on Christmas Eve in 1914. The men had been excited about going to war, ready and willing to defeat their enemies. Now they were homesick, suffering in the uncomfortable and muddy trenches, and facing the realities of what would be an incredibly nasty and lengthy fight. Morale was still high, however, on both sides at this early stage.

On the Western front at Ypres the German and Allied trenches were very close to each other and the English were able to see the tiny Christmas trees or tannenbaum in German, which the Germans placed on the parapets of their trenches. In many sections of the line, the Allies heard carols and songs emanating from the German side, and then were surprised to hear friendly shouts from the Germans inviting them to join them in a celebration of Christmas goodwill and what was to become a Christmas truce. The soldiers agreed to cease the exchange of fire for Christmas and joined in the singing of carols and exchanging gifts. In one section the English heard the beautiful voices of the Germans singing 'Silent Night' across No Man's Land and joined in in English.

Many of the Germans could speak English and some German and English officers found they had known each other before the war. It must have been a heartbreaking discovery to be now fighting against each other.

The soldiers exchanged cigarettes, cigars, plum pudding which was an English tradition, cakes and letters. Stray cattle were killed so that the soldiers could share a feast. Captain Sir Edward Hulse of the Scots Guards ordered the men to rejoin their lines, but went out to meet four unarmed Germans himself with one of his ensigns. They had come over to wish the English a Happy Christmas. In his famous account, he wrote that: "Scots and Huns were fraternizing in the most genuine possible manner. Every sort of souvenir was exchanged, addresses given and received, photos of families shown, etc. One of our fellows offered a German a cigarette; the German said, "Virginian?" Our fellow said, "Aye, straight-cut", the German said "No thanks, I only smoke Turkish!"...It gave us all a good laugh."1.

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