For the soldiers of the First World War, it was the first winter in the horror of the trenches. But the Christmas spirit nevertheless overcomes the mud and blood when, on December 25, 1914, a series of ceasefires occurred spontaneously and locally all along the Western Front. In some regions, the truce would even have extended until the New Year.
These episodes remain difficult to trace and authenticate. Despite everything, several testimonies from British soldiers, collected by the BBC in the 1960s, make it possible to reconstruct fragments of this story.
Christmas carols and football matches
On Christmas Eve 1914, Graham Williams of the 5th London Rifle Brigade was on guard duty and anxiously watching the enemy trenches when suddenly lights appeared along the German trench. “I thought it was a funny thing. And then the Germans started singing “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht” (quiet night, holy night). I jumped, and all the sentries woke up the others so that they could come and see what was happening,” he said. The familiar voices and carols of Christmas carried through the desolation of No Man's Land. “They finished their song, we applauded them and then we responded with “The First Noel”.”
For Colonel Scott Shepherd, a junior officer who fought near the town of Armentières in northern France, it all started almost by accident. At dawn on Christmas morning, No Man's Land was covered in thick fog. We decided to take advantage of this cover offered by time to repair the trenches which were collapsing. But as the soldiers struggle to fill sandbags and work on restoring their trenches, the fog dissipates with “astonishing” speed. “In front of us, we have…
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