When did enemy soldiers stop fighting a war and celebrate Christmas together?

sequoianoir

On Christmas Day, 1914, only 5 months into World War I, German, British, and French soldiers, already sick and tired of the senseless killing, disobeyed their superiors and fraternized with 'the enemy' along two-thirds of the Western Front (in times of war, a crime punishable by death). German troops held Christmas trees up out of the trenches with signs, 'Merry Christmas.' 'You no shoot, we no shoot.' Thousands of troops streamed across a no-man's land strewn with rotting corpses. They sang Christmas carols, exchanged photographs of loved ones back home, shared rations, played football, even roasted some pigs. Soldiers embraced men they had been trying to kill a few short hours before. They agreed to warn each other if the top brass forced them to fire their weapons, and to aim high. Dec 19 02, 4:58 PM

observer

Try www.fylde.demon.co.uk/welcome.htm {;} www.worldwar1.com/heritage/xmast.htm {;} www.pbs.org/greatwar/interviews {;} news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/10/98/world_war_i Dec 21 02, 2:03 AM

McGruff

A lovely song by John McCutcheon about this WWI incident is called Christmas In The Trenches. Here are the lyrics. http://www.worldwar1.com/sfcitt.htm Dec 21 02, 10:33 AM

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