Hollywood, MD – The confounding juxtaposition of war and Christmas relentlessly plagues mankind. Even today, scores of men and women in the armed services will spend this sacred occasion in harm’s way. In 1914, when Europe was torn in conflict, a Christmas miracle occurred—or so the legend goes.
According to History.com, on Dec. 7, 1914, Pope Benedict XV suggested a temporary hiatus of the war for Christmas Day. The pontiff asked “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sing.” Long story short—the leaders of the warring countries said no.
As it turns out, those from both sides who were fighting in the trenches throughout the Western Front took matters into their own hands. According to Imperial War Museums’ writer Amanda Mason, what became known as the “Christmas Truce” was “one of the most famous and mythologized events of the First World War.” Mason indicated in her essay that the unofficial ceasefire did not occur everywhere on the Western Front and there were casualties on Christmas Day.
“Their truce was unofficial and illicit,” wrote the Smithsonian’s Mike Dash. “Many officers disapproved and headquarters on both sides took strong steps to ensure it could never happen again. While it lasted, though, the truce was magical, leading even the sober Wall Street Journal to observe, ‘what appears from the winter fog and misery is a fine Christmas story that is inspiring.”
According to some accounts, approximately 100,000 British and German troops took part in the Christmas Truce—singing carols, exchanging gifts, and—although there are conflicting reports to the contrary—playing a game of football (soccer).
A British Rifle Brigade private named Henry Williamson—who went on to become a nature writer after the war—wrote to his mother, “Dear Mother, I am writing from the trenches. It is 11 o’clock in the morning. Beside me is a coke fire, opposite me a ‘dug-out’ (wet) with straw in it. The ground is sloppy in the actual trench, but frozen elsewhere. In my mouth is a pipe presented by the Princess Mary. In the pipe is tobacco. Of course, you say. But wait. In the pipe is German tobacco. Haha, you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured trench. Oh dear, no! From a German soldier. Yes a live German soldier from his own trench. Yesterday the British & Germans met & shook hands in the Ground between the trenches, and exchanged souvenirs, and shook hands. Yes, all day Christmas day, and as I write. Marvellous, isn’t it?”
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com
