110 years ago, enemy soldiers fraternized on Christmas Day

All the countries involved in this terrible conflict had a common conviction: the conflict would be short-lived. Some even spoke of an end to hostilities before Christmas. But by December 1914, it became clear that this would not be the case. We could not yet imagine the horrors and carnage that were to come.

Quickly, in Western Europe, the enemy camps were practically standing still. From Switzerland to the English Channel, hundreds of kilometers of trenches were dug. Fragments of land acquired at the cost of enormous human losses are lost in a short time.

It was relentless trench warfare that lasted for most of the conflict.

In December 1914, Canadian soldiers had not yet established a foothold in France; the first contingent of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (the name given to Canadian troops) arrived in January 1915. As for the United States, they would not arrive until the summer of 1917.

Different armed forces – French, British and Belgian – faced the German divisions. The spontaneous fraternization of December 25 took place in two places on this long front line: in the Artois region, in the northeast of France, and near Ypres, in Belgium.

Even if the episode was the subject of multitudes of writings, plays and films, it was largely unknown until the 1960s. After a war which left more than 20 million dead on the military and civilian side and a number just as many wounded, the time was perhaps not right to recall this moment of camaraderie between enemies.

An “extraordinary” show

About ten years ago, a letter from a British soldier written to his mother from the trenches recounting the events was made public. “I think I saw today [le jour de Noël] “one of the most extraordinary sights anyone has ever seen,” said Lieutenant Alfred Dougan Chater.

Looking over a low wall around 10 a.m., Chater said he saw a German soldier waving his arms. Two other fighters emerge from their trench and walk towards the British camp.

“We were going to shoot them when we saw they had no weapons. One of our men went to meet them and, within two minutes, the area between our two trench lines was filled with soldiers and officers from both sides, shaking hands and wishing each other Merry Christmas. – we read in the letter.

“We exchanged cigarettes. We took photos. Others took the opportunity to simply stretch without fear of machine gun fire for the first time in months. It was the miracle of Christmas, in full horror.”

Chater adds that he himself came out of his trench and shook hands with several German officers. Both sides took advantage of the respite to collect the corpses of their comrades and bury them. Then, a soccer ball appears.

Another British soldier who was there, Ernie William, said the balloon came out of nowhere, but he is convinced it came from the German camp. “Makeshift goals were set up. One of the guys stood in front of the goal and everyone started kicking the ball. I think there must have been about 200 who participated.”

Ernie William clarified that it was not a real match, but rather a scrimmage. There was no referee and no points were counted.

Other British soldiers told a slightly different story, with some specifying that after an hour of play, the British battalion commander realized what was happening and ordered his men back into the trenches.

The Germans would have won the game, 3 to 2. The same score was reported by a German soldier, Kurt Zehmisch, in his notebooks.

Legend or truth?

The story has become legendary and captured the imagination of many people. One hundred years later, in 2014, a re-enactment of the match took place in Ploegsteert, Belgium, where it is believed to have taken place.

We must use the conditional, because despite the testimonies that have reached us, doubt remains in the minds of certain historians. One of these goes so far as to say that there is “absolutely no firm, verifiable evidence of a match [de soccer]”. While photos testified to the fraternization, no photo of the party has reached us. .

Specialists raise the fact, for example, that the soil of this no man’s land was littered with corpses and too damaged by shells for such a match to take place. At best, according to one historian, soldiers would have kicked a ball here and there, but without a real match taking place.

For these historians, the idea of ​​a soccer game this Christmas between soldiers from enemy countries has been greatly exaggerated and idealized. The important thing, underlines another historian, is the moment of brotherhood, and not whether there were a few kicks or a real soccer match.

As noted, this brief pause in hostilities only occurred in two locations. Elsewhere on the front, fighting continued on December 25, and 80 British soldiers died that day.

No similar truce took place where French and Belgian troops faced German forces. Their context was very different from that of the British troops.

Indeed, Germany occupied parts of France and Belgium, and the soldiers of the latter two countries maintained great distrust, if not hatred, towards the enemy.

The day after Christmas, the war resumed its course. Military commanders completely disagreed with what had happened. During the other three Christmases during the war, troops were strictly forbidden from repeating this behavior.

But the simple thought that soldiers with a mission to kill the enemy were able to silence the guns for a few hours gives hope to the human race.

Type: Analysis, Story

Analysis: Content that reports the facts, although it incorporates the expertise of the author/producer and may offer interpretation and draw conclusions.

Story: This article contains news, opinions and analysis, all based on facts.

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