Christmas 1914

[Bryn Mawr]

My name is Francis Tolliver, in Liverpool I dwell

Each Christmas come since World War I, I've learned its lessons well

That the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame

And on each end of the rifle we're the same

A true story :-

Christmas Eve 1914 by Mike Harding



Christmas Eve, 1914, stars were burning, burning bright

And all along the Western Front the guns were lying still and quiet.

And men lay dozing in the trenches, in the cold and in the dark,

And far away behind the lines, a village dog began to bark.

Some lay thinking of their families, some sang songs and others were quiet

Rolling fags and playing Brag, to pass away that Christmas night.

But as they watched the German trenches, something moved in no-man's land

And from far away there came a soldier, carrying a white flag in his hand.

Then from both sides, the men came running, crossing into no-man's land

Through the barbed wire, mud and shell-holes; shyly stood there shaking hands

Fritz brought out cigars and brandy, Tommy brought corned beef and fags

Stood there laughing, crying, singing, as the moon shone down on no-man's land

On Christmas day we all played football, in the mud of no-man's land

Tommy brought a Christmas pudding, Fritz brought out a German band

And when they beat us at the football, web shared out all the grub and drink

And Fritz showed me a faded photo of a dark-haired girl back in Berlin

For four days after, no one fired. Not one shell disturbed the night

For old Fritz and Tommy Atkins, they'd both lost the will to fight.

So they withdrew us from the trenches, sent us far behind the lines,

Sent fresh troops to take our places- ordered guns; "Prepare to fire".

And next night, in 1914, flares were burning, burning bright.

The message came, "Prepare offensive, over the top we're going tonight!"

And men stood waiting in the trenches, in the cold and in the dark,

All along the Western Front the Christmas guns began to bark.

[Richard Bell]

There is a very fine French film (Joyeux Noel) about this famous incident that was recently released on DVD. It's a wonderful movie.

It pulls at your heartstrings, and you are almost tempted to write it off as emotionally over the top, then you stop and realise; it actually happened, over 90 years ago.

[Bryn Mawr]

Richard Bell;492744 wrote: There is a very fine French film (Joyeux Noel) about this famous incident that was recently released on DVD. It's a wonderful movie.

It pulls at your heartstrings, and you are almost tempted to write it off as emotionally over the top, then you stop and realise; it actually happened, over 90 years ago.


And was considered to be a great embarrisment by the powers that be - soldiers who refused to fight their war for them!

[theia]

Thank you for posting that, Bryn...it is very moving.