Page 37 - All About History - Issue 59-17

The temporary truce saw the The Secret History of Christmas
British and the Germans venturing
into no-man’s-land, swapping
cigarettes and even having a
carol sing-off

Thatcher’s
unusual
royal gift

When Margaret Thatcher visited Queen
Elizabeth II at her Balmoral residence,
she was shocked to witness Her
The ChrisTmas Day TruCe hands. To solve this, Thatcher sent
Majesty washing up with her bare
the Queen a pair of rubber
gloves as a Christmas
A temporary festive reprieve on the front line present.

On Christmas Eve 1914, British troops were Whether the famous football match between that the war would be over by Christmas, it
holed up their trenches when they overheard the Germans and the British took place has been was soon clear that this was not to be. The
the Germans singing ‘Silent Night’ and other debated but there were certainly ‘kick-abouts’ initial enthusiasm of the troops had worn off
carols. They responded with their own festive between the two sides. It was a brief period of as they became exhausted with the toil of war.
songs, sparking a sing-off between the two peace for those far away from home at a time By November 1914, there were small, informal
sides. The next day, 25 December, some of the when family was supposed to come together. truces along the Front in which soldiers from
soldiers made their way into no-man’s-land to Although a heartwarming story, the same both sides agreed to quiet periods with no
exchange gifts and take photos with the enemy. could not be said for the entire Western Front. gunfire and a chance to recover the bodies of
Battles were still fought on Christmas Day and those who had fallen.
those who did manage to venture into no- When reports reached the high command of
man’s-land safely were faced with the grim the British Army of these little ‘truces’, they were
task of recovering the dead and retrieving the angry. The troops were fraternising with the
wounded. It was also not the only enemy and putting the task at hand in jeopardy.
truce to have occurred along In 1915, an order was issued that anyone found
the Western Front in 1914. initiating any such truces would be punished
Despite expectations and they never happened again.

“It was a brief period

of peace for those far

away from home”