It is one of the great legends of World War l. Re-told in many books and even remembered in a song titled – “Christmas in the Trenches”. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle referred to it as, “one human episode amid all the atrocities which have stained the memory of the war". It happened on December 24 th, 1914, between British and German troops stationed along the Western Front.

In the opening months of the Great War (1914 thru 1918), those involved in the conflict had no conception of the bloody horror they were involved in. Because of intricate alliances set up by treaties the great European Powers were at war with each other. Essentially the main players were the empires of Great Britain , France and Russia (Allied Powers or the "Triple Entente") in conflict against the German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire , and the Kingdom of Bulgaria (Central Powers). During those early months Germans troops were on the move advancing thru Belgium and the north-eastern regions of France . It all came to a grinding halt at the Battle of the Marne (5th-9th September). French and British troops were able to force a German retreat by exploiting a gap which appeared between the German 1st and 2nd Armies. With no option but to make a fighting withdrawal, German forces retreated to the river Aisne . It was on the high ground of the Chemin des Dames ridge north of Soissons and the river Aisne , where the Germans dug in. It was the beginnings of a virtually static Western Front. The trenches quickly extended from the French coastline on the North Sea south to the northern borders of Switzerland, as opposing forces attempted to outmaneuver each other.

By December 1914 the constant movement and fighting of armies was becoming a thing of the past having been replaced by Front Lines consisting of trenches, wire defenses, mined dugouts and deep bunkers along a distance of some 450 miles. Between them stretched a "No-Mans-Land" that in some areas was no more than 30 yards wide. At best, life in the trenches was a miserable existence, troops on both sides having to deal with continuous sniping, machine gun fire and artillery shelling. Harsh weather conditions like heavy rain, snow and freezing temperatures only heightened the misery. Soldiers on both sides suffered from frostbite and disease.

On December 7th, Pope Benedict XV, begged for an official truce between all the warring governments. He asked "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang." Though the Germany readily agreed, the other warring governments rebuffed the request. Other attempts at a ceasefire met with similar results. Seeing that there was no possibility for a Christmas truce, families and friends in the United Kingdom and Germany sent a tremendous volume of mail and gifts for their troops. Packages were filled with letters, warm clothing, food, cigarettes, and medications. This lifted morale on both sides. As if on cue the weather also improved. It had been particularly foul that December. Heavy rains had flooded the battlefield making it a mud pit in places and filling the trenches with freezing cold water. By Christmas Eve, the weather had turned frosty and clear.

Along the 27 miles of front manned by the British Expeditionary Force, Christmas Eve began as a normal day with firing on both sides. As the evening set in, something extraordinary happened. British soldiers risking brief looks out into No Man's Land were treated to an odd site.

Hundreds of Christmas trees lighted the German trenches and although British soldiers could see the lights, it took them a few minutes to figure out what they were from. German soldiers had put up Christmas trees, decorated with candles, on the parapets of their trenches. In some places British soldiers heard what sounded like singing coming from the German lines.

So began an unofficial and completely spontaneous cease fire up and down the lines. In some places, greetings were shouted back and forth full of holiday sentiments. In other areas Christmas Carols were sung on both sides.

They finished their carol and we thought that we ought to retaliate in some way, so we sang 'The first Noël', and when we finished that they all began clapping; and then they

struck up another favourite of theirs, 'O Tannenbaum'. And so it went on. First the Germans would sing one of their carols and then we would sing one of ours, until when we started up 'O Come All Ye Faithful' the Germans immediately joined in singing the same hymn to the Latin words 'Adeste Fidéles'. And I thought, well, this was really a most extraordinary thing - two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war. (1)

Frank Richards, a private in the Royal Welch Fusiliers wrote

"On Christmas morning we stuck up a board with 'A Merry Christmas' on it. The enemy had stuck up a similar one. Platoons would sometimes go out for twenty-four hours' rest - it was a day at least out of the trench and relieved the monotony a bit - and my platoon had gone out in this way the night before, but a few of us stayed behind to see what would happen. Two of our men then threw their equipment off and jumped on the parapet with their hands above their heads. Two of the Germans done the same and commenced to walk up the river bank, our two men going to meet them. They met and shook hands and then we all got out of the trench.

Buffalo Bill [the Company Commander] rushed into the trench and endeavoured to prevent it, but he was too late: the whole of the Company were now out, and so were the Germans. He had to accept the situation, so soon he and the other company officers climbed out too. We and the Germans met in the middle of no-man's-land. Their officers was also now out. Our officers exchanged greetings with them. One of the German officers said that he wished he had a camera to take a snapshot, but they were not allowed to carry cameras. Neither were our officers."(2)

Written accounts told of similar situations happening in other parts of No Man's Land.

We shook hands, wished each other a Merry Xmas, and were soon conversing as if we had known each other for years. We were in front of their Wire entanglements and surrounded by Germans - Fritz and I in the centre talking, and Fritz occasionally translating to his friends what I was saying. We stood inside the circle like street corner orators.

Soon most of our company ('A' Company), hearing that I and some others had gone out, followed us . . . What a sight - little groups of Germans and British extending almost the length of our front! Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches, a German lighting a Scotchman's cigarette and vice versa, exchanging cigarettes and souvenirs. Where they couldn't talk the language they were making themselves understood by signs, and everyone seemed to be getting on nicely. Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill!(3)

Football game in No Man's Land.

Some accounts even described a football game played in the middle of No Man's Land between the Bedfordshire Regiment and the Germans. One of the Regiment members produced a ball and the large group of soldiers played until the ball was deflated when it hit a barbed wire entanglement.

Similar truces took hold in some areas manned by the French and Belgians, but it was not as widespread as these nations viewed the Germans as invaders.

There were sad and bitter moments mixed in with this celebration of the holidays. Troops were organized to remove the dead from both sides that had become trapped in No Man's Land. On rare occasions joint burial services were held for both British and German Dead.

News of this unusual Christmas Truce filtered back to headquarters. Commanding Generals on both sides were incensed. Here were the makings of a serious threat to discipline - soldiers had chosen not to fight and declared brotherhood with those who were formerly their enemy. Quick action was taken. Orders were issued declaring those taking part in this truce could be charged with treason and subject to court martial. Results varied. In some areas the spontaneous truce ended Christmas Night, in others it ended the following day and in others it extended into January.

While similar although smaller truces occurred during Christmas the next year, the events of Christmas Eve 1914 remain unique. As the years past and different written accounts appeared, the events of that Christmas Eve took on the status of a legend. For a brief time in the midst of one of the bloodiest conflicts in history, the better angels in human nature declared, “Peace on Earth, Good will to ALL men!”

References:

1. Jay Winter and Blaine Baggett, The Great War: And the Shaping of the 20th Century (New York: Penguin Books, 1996)

2. Portions of Frank Richards account were found at "Christmas in the Trenches, 1914," EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com (2006). For further reading, check out Richards, Frank, Old Soldiers Never Die (1933); Keegan, John, The First World War (1999); Simkins, Peter, World War I, the Western Front (1991).

Links:

1914-1918
Eyewitness To History
The Great War
You Tube - Christmas in the Trenches - written and performed by John McCutcheon