Christmas Truce 1914

[jacey]

I have a theory, and it’s only a theory, so accept it or not as you wish. My granddad, Lance Corporal Tommy Bennett of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry took part in the Christmas Truce in 1914. It wasn’t one isolated incident, meetings took place up and down the lines where English and German troops faced each other across No Man’s Land.

Some years ago I was talking to my German friend, Gunnar Wiegand, about this and he told me that the unofficial truce on Christmas Eve 1914 wasn’t something that was known about in Germany, however there were stories of troops in earlier wars (Napoleonic times) meeting up at Christmas to share festivities. Indeed in the days when wars were fought hand-to-hand the troops would sometimes trade across the lines when battles were not raging – without permission from their officers, of course.

My theory is that the 1914 Christmas truce was not a one-off, but it is very probably notable for being the last Christmas truce between opposing armies. As wars became less personal, and more reliant on artillery and air raids to kill from a distance, common soldiers lost the opportunity and the wish, to meet their opposite number in peace.

Grandpa didn’t talk much about his time in the trenches, except in very general terms, but Mum told me the story some years later, after he’d died. I wish I’d been able to question him about it, but I was too late. The story always resonated with me, and some years later, as part of Artisan, I recorded Mike Harding’s song about Christmas Eve 1914. Here it is: http://artisan-harmony.com/Soundfiles%20fullsongs/artisan-christmaseve1914.mp3

Reblogged from my Wordpress blog

 

 

 

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[jacey]

Grandpa came out of WW1 a Lance Corporal. He was too old for the regular army by the time WW2 came around but because of his experience in WW1 he was in charge of firearms training in his section of the Home Guard. I think he was quite proud of this in his own quiet way. In WW2 Dad drove a tank across the Western desert and then through Italy. He ended up a company sergeant.