Author Topic: Christmas Truce, 1914 (Read 5063 times)

Lorenzo · « **on:** December 13, 2012, 02:50:46 AM »

Through the week leading up to Christmas, parties of German and British soldiers began to exchange seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches; on occasion, the tension was reduced to the point that individuals would walk across to talk to their opposite numbers bearing gifts. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, many soldiers from both sides â€“ as well as, to a lesser degree, from French units â€“ independently ventured into "no man's land", where they mingled, exchanging food and souvenirs. As well as joint burial ceremonies, several meetings ended in carol-singing. Troops from both sides were also friendly enough to play games of football with one another.

Source: Wikipedia

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #1 on:** December 13, 2012, 02:52:13 AM »

British and German troops hold a temporary truce on Christmas Day 1914 during World War One.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #2 on:** December 13, 2012, 02:52:53 AM »

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #3 on:** December 13, 2012, 02:53:14 AM »

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #4 on:** December 13, 2012, 02:55:37 AM »

English, French and German soldiers cease fighting and smile in front of a camera during Christmas Day, 1914. During the height of World War I.

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #5 on:** December 13, 2012, 02:57:10 AM »

The animal-friendly version:

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islander · « **Reply #6 on:** December 13, 2012, 08:48:47 PM »

this is one of the most inspiring stories i've come across. i never tire of going through the details of this awesome event in no man's land that knew only horror and brutality, from the initial steps to reach out to how the lives of those involved turned out.

books/articles:

â€œChristmas Truce: The Western Front, 1914,â€ by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton (New York: Hippocrene, 1984)

â€œSilent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce,â€ by Stanley Weintraub (New York: Plume, 2001)

â€œThe First World War: A Complete History.â€ by Martin Gilbert (New York: Henry Holt, 1994)

â€œThe Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century,â€ by Jay Winter and Blaine Baggett (New York: Penguin Studio, 1996)

â€œRemembering a Victory for Human Kindness; W.W. Iâ€™s Puzzling, Poignant Christmas Truce,â€ by David Brown (The Washington Post, Dec. 25, 2004)

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islander · « **Reply #7 on:** December 13, 2012, 08:56:32 PM »

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #8 on:** December 15, 2012, 04:29:21 AM »

Its surreal to know that these boys are all gone now. Life is so short...

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islander · « **Reply #9 on:** December 18, 2012, 09:55:07 PM »

Last soldier serving in 1914 Christmas truce dies, aged 109

Alfred Anderson

By Auslan Cramb
Scottish Correspondent
22 Nov 2005

The last veteran of the Christmas truce during the First World War died in his sleep yesterday, aged 109.

Alfred Anderson, who was born in 1896, was 18 on December 25, 1914, when British and German troops climbed out of their trenches and crossed no-man's land to shake hands, sing carols and share cigarettes.

The soldiers famously played football together, kicking around empty bully-beef cans and using steel helmets as goal posts. The unauthorised truce spread across much of the 500-mile Western Front, where more than a million soldiers were encamped.

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islander · « **Reply #10 on:** December 18, 2012, 09:57:59 PM »

Recalling the truce last year, Mr Anderson said: "All I'd heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking and whining of bullets in flight, machinegun fire and distant German voices.

"But there was a dead silence that morning, right across the land as far as you could see. We shouted 'Merry Christmas', even though nobody felt merry.

"The silence ended early in the afternoon and the killing started again. It was a short peace in a terrible war."

A holder of the LÃ©gion d'Honneur, France's highest honour, Mr Anderson received his 19th telegram from the Queen in June this year, but was too frail to take part in the recent Remembrance Day ceremonies.

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islander · « **Reply #11 on:** December 18, 2012, 10:03:03 PM »

Speaking two weeks ago from his nursing home in Newtyle, Angus, the former sergeant with the Black Watch, who was also Scotland's oldest man, described himself as "the last man standing".

He said he found the two-minute silence on November 11 "remarkably poignant" because of the "terrible constant noise in the trenches".

"It's special to think that Britain is united in silence remembering a time that I will never forget," said Mr Anderson. "The country stops for a few minutes each year and remembers those who fought and died but there's not a day goes by that I don't think of those I left behind. Young men I went to school with, played football with and trained for war with. All dead, all gone."

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islander · « **Reply #12 on:** December 18, 2012, 10:13:51 PM »

A private visit from Prince Charles, 2002
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/)

The Rev Neil Gardner, of Alyth Parish Church, said that Mr Anderson was a "very gracious and unassuming man" who remained lucid until the end.

"He was the last surviving veteran anywhere to have served in the First World War in 1914 and lived a truly remarkable life," he said.

"Alfred was quite philosophical about his wartime experiences. He took everything in his stride.

"He had a great sense of humour but also a terrific sense of wisdom which came from his great age."

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islander · « **Reply #13 on:** December 18, 2012, 10:17:59 PM »

"Alfred was quite philosophical about his wartime experiences. He took everything in his stride.

"He had a great sense of humour but also a terrific sense of wisdom which came from his great age."

Neil Griffiths, of the Royal British Legion of Scotland, said Mr Anderson was a fine old soldier and a "brilliant example of old world courtliness".

He said: "He was gentle and very humorous, with a quick wit. He used to say until recently that his ambition was to die shot in bed by a jealous lover.

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islander · « **Reply #14 on:** December 18, 2012, 10:21:35 PM »

"But I think also there was a great sadness in his heart that he had outlived his generation.

"He was one of those who represented the finest aspects of the Scottish character and his departure is a sad moment for this country."

Mr Anderson's unit, the 5th Battalion of the Black Watch, was one of the first to be sent to France in October 1914 when the First World War broke out. He was billeted in a dilapidated farmhouse away from the front line at the time of the truce.

He had reached the rank of sergeant when he was invalided out of action in 1916 by a shell explosion that left him with serious shrapnel wounds. He later helped to set up Home Guard units during the Second World War.

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islander · « **Reply #15 on:** December 18, 2012, 10:52:48 PM »

After the war Mr Anderson married Susan Iddison, a nanny from Ripon, North Yorks, and moved to Scotland where he took over his father's building and joinery business in Newtyle.

They celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary before she died, aged 83, in 1979.

Fiercely proud of his Army service, his Black Watch cap hung over the door of the family home in Alyth, Perthshire, where he lived until September this year.

Two years ago he was visited by the Prince of Wales after it emerged that he had served as batman to Capt Fergus Bowes-Lyon, brother of the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.

Mr Anderson is survived by four children, 10 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

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islander · « **Reply #16 on:** December 18, 2012, 11:05:00 PM »

a reenactment of the christmas truce in that horrific trench war:

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Lorenzo · « **Reply #17 on:** December 18, 2012, 11:23:57 PM »

Such a beautiful, beautiful story. Isn't it amazing how the Birth of Christ can make even the staunchest of enemies make peace to celebrate that day? Truly, the Lord is Good.

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islander · « **Reply #18 on:** December 19, 2012, 03:32:39 AM »

The animal-friendly version:

a reenactment of the christmas truce in that horrific trench war

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Author Topic: Christmas Truce, 1914 (Read 5063 times)

Lorenzo

Christmas Truce, 1914

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