Imagine; if you can; you're up to your knees in the muck of a waterlogged fox hole. It is the evening of 24 December 1914 and you are on the dreaded Western Front.
Hunched over, you cautiously make your way over to a fellow soldier and take over the watch. You exchange pleasantries, briefly before your exhausted and mud-spattered colleague shuffles off towards his dug out for some much needed rest, if you can call it that. The horrors of war are making it increasingly harder to remain optimistic in your belief that in the New Year your nation's army will march towards a victory.
The pain in your frost bitten feet, snap you back from your glorious dream. You stamp your feet in a vain attempt to return feeling. All is quiet when jovial voices call out in both German and English. Then the men from both sides start singing carols and songs. Next come requests not to fire, and soon the unthinkable happens: you start to see the shadowy shapes of soldiers gathering together in no-man's land laughing, joking and sharing gifts.
Many have exchanged cigarettes, the lit ends of which burn brightly in the inky darkness. Plucking up your courage, you haul yourself up and out of the trench and walk towards the foe.
The meeting of enemies as friends in no-man's land was experienced by hundreds, if not thousands, of men on the Western Front during Christmas 1914. Today, 93 years after it occurred, the event is seen as a shining episode of sanity from among the many bloody chapters of War.
For the complete story visit http://www.firstworldwar.com/features/christmastruce.htm
Seasons Greetings,
Kenaz
