Free All Things Christmas by E. G. Lewis Page B

message for peace addressed “To the Women of Germany and Austria.” On December 7 th , 1914 Pope Benedict XV issued an appeal for an official truce between the warring parties. He asked this so “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang.” This attempt was officially rebuffed.
    The men in the field felt isolated and lonely as Christmas drew closer. The soldiers could hear their counterparts singing familiar carols in the evenings. Eventually, some of the German and British soldiers began exchanging seasonal greetings across no man’s land. Soon the tension between them ebbed and the men began crossing no man’s land to barter or exchange small gifts…tobacco, a sweet or other food items. Exchanging buttons from their field jackets became common.
    One thing led to another and before long the men started holding carol sings and joint burial ceremonies. These friendships reached the point where no man’s land was converted into a playing field where men from the opposing armies staged football games. A truce of sorts had been declared not by the leaders, but by the combatants themselves. One can’t help but be reminded of that famous, “What if they held a war and nobody came?”
    Though there was never an official truce, about 100,000 British and German troops were involved in unofficial cessations of fighting along the length of the Western Front. The first of these truces started on Christmas Eve, 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium. The Germans placed Christmas trees along the rim of their trenches and added candles The British responded in kind and artillery in the region fell silent. However, the fraternization carried risks. On some occasions soldiers were shot by opposing forces. Despite these breakdowns in trust, the truce lasted through Christmas night and in some sectors even continued until New Year's Day.
    Eyewitness Accounts
    Bruce Bairnsfather , who served in the war, described it this way, “I wouldn't have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything. I spotted a German officer, some sort of lieutenant I should think, and being a bit of a collector, I intimated to him that I had taken a fancy to some of his buttons. I brought out my wire clippers and, with a few deft snips, removed a couple of his buttons and put them in my pocket. I then gave him two of mine in exchange. The last thing I saw was one of my machine gunners, who was a bit of an amateur hairdresser in civilian life, cutting the unnaturally long hair of a docile Boche , who was patiently kneeling on the ground whilst the automatic clippers crept up the back of his neck.”
    An account by Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, another eyewitness to this impromptu truce, says that after a night of exchanging carols, dawn on Christmas Day saw a “rush of men from both sides and a feverish exchange of souvenirs” before the men were called back by their officers. There were offers of a ceasefire for the day and a football match, but the brigade commander insisted they resume firing in the afternoon.
    The high command was aghast when they heard about what was going on in the field. Both sides quickly issued strict orders against friendly communication with the enemy. All fraternization was forbidden. Interestingly, unlike most of the fighting men, a young corporal in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry strongly opposed the tr uce. His name was Adolf Hitler.
    Later Unsanctioned Truces
    Tentative feelers were put out in the following years by the Germans proposing a Christmas truce, but the British rebuffed them. Still unofficial truces did occur at scattered locations. Evidence of a Christmas truce in 1916 was found in a letter home by a 23-year-old Private, Ronald MacKinnon. He writes of German and Canadian soldiers reaching across the battle lines near Vimy Ridge to share Christmas greetings and trade presents. “Here we are again as the song says.