Hey guys!
So today is Veterans Day in the U.S., it's also known by its original name, Armistice or Remembrance Day, which marks the end of the First World War.
And I thought to celebrate and since Christmas is coming up, it would be good to recreate one of the most memorable moments of World War I, the Christmas truce of 1914…
Christmas Eve, 1914, somewhere in Eastern France
It was the start of what people call the "The war to end all wars" or "The Great War", but there was nothing great about this war…
It has been months since the German armies tried to quickly take Paris by moving through neutral Belgium, moving deep into France, hoping to get the war over with before Christmas and the snow fell. However… The French army and the quick arrival of the British army slowed down the German advance and halted them just short of Paris in the Battle of the Marne.
Now, both sides were at a stalemate, as they dug in, creating a line of trenches from the border of Switzerland all the way to where the land touches the English Channel. This form of trench warfare was gruesome and took a great toll on the lives of the soldiers.
The trenches themselves had machine gun emplacements, with supporting soldiers with rifles as well, ready to cut down the human waves the opposing side would launch to overwhelm the enemy trenches, often resulting in great piles of bodies, with little or no ground taken at all. Behind the trenches were the many artillery guns, where bombardments of the opposing side would take place for days, to weaken the enemy trenches so it would be easier to take, this would often drive the soldiers into madness, creating something called, "shellshock", known as PTSD today.
In between the trenches was "No Man's Land", where nothing grew or lived there, all that there was, was a barren landscape, filled with the rotting dead bodies of the human waves of soldiers. And in the trenches themselves, soldiers lived in the most terrible conditions, disease and poor food, while being under constant barrage, taking its toll on the soldiers as all they could do was huddle down and hope to live.
However, despite all this misery and suffering, there is always a light in the darkness…
On the British side of the trenches, was a Blue macaw soldier named Blu. It was Christmas Eve, late at night, and he, along with all his other comrades were spending it in the coldness of the trench. They couldn't light fires in the trenches for fear of enemy artillery targeting them, all they could do was wrap themselves as best as they could and hope that they didn't freeze to death.
Blu was about to eat dinner with his friends, if you could even call it dinner… Food was mostly hardtack, even they were lucky some form of meat, but tonight there was a hot stew cooking, perfect for a cool winter's night.
As Blu sat down, rubbing his wings together to warm them up, he was about to take a bite of the stew with his spoon, only to hear something unusual… it wasn't the sound of incoming artillery rounds or the sharp crack of a sharpshooter's rifle… it was the sound of singing… And it wasn't coming from his side of the trenches, rather it was coming from the German trenches.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon Virgin Mother and Child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Blu and the other British soldiers all stopped what they were doing and listened to this tranquil sound of thousands of men singing. It was so different, so new to their ears after being used to the sounds of war. As Blu and the other British soldiers listened, a few of them started singing along, until eventually all the British soldiers were singing, in harmony with their German enemies.
Silent night, holy night
Shepherds, quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar
Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ the Savior is Born
Christ the Savior is born
As the singing continued, all quiet fell on the western front as the sounds of war completely disappeared and replaced with merry singing through the cold night. All the soldiers' spirits were refreshed and they felt warmer then ever, maybe not physical warmth, but their emotional warmth was so full as they sang. As every soldier sang the last lines, they all felt it was truly a happy Christmas.
Silent night, holy night
Son of God love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face
With dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus Lord, at thy birth
Everyone seemed to stop at the same time as silence fell, everyone, both sides, went back to what they were doing before. Blu returned to his, what would be considered a most comfortable meal in the trenches, his small portion of the hot stew. As Blu ate and felt his stomach being appeased, he thought about the singing. He decided to do something unthinkable.
Christmas morning came, still no sounds of war being raged in France. On both sides, soldiers woke up, freezing of course in the winter air, saying merry Christmas to each other, but that was it for there was hardly anything to be merry about in the trenches. That is until Blu, walking up to the side of the trench, took a deep breath and climbed up one of the ladders. He held a small white piece of cloth on a stick in one wing, holding it up for the Germans to see. As Blu climbed up, his comrades looked at him, shocked and scared for Blu, but he continued on.
On the German side, a Scarlet macaw soldier was putting on his boots when he was alerted by one of the other German soldiers who spotted Blu, who was now out of the trench and on the ground. Several German soldiers held their rifles at Blu, ready to shoot, only for the present officer to order them to drop their weapons , since he noticed Blu's white piece of cloth, the universal sign of a surrender or a truce.
The Scarlet soldier, impressed by Blu's fearlessness, decided to do the same. Slowly coming out of the trench, he started walking to meet Blu halfway, his German comrades put down their rifles and one by one followed him, the British soldiers doing likewise, following Blu to meet the Germans.
Soon enough both sides met each other in the middle, shaking wings with each other and wishing each other merry Christmas. Blu met the Scarlet soldier and shook his wing, both of them smiling.
"My name is Blu." Blu said, with a British accent. "Merry Christmas."
"My name is Alex." The Scarlet said, with a German accent and with his best English. "And merry Christmas to you too Blu."
Blu was carrying a chocolate bar in his pocket, saving it for later, but he decided to give it to Alex as a present. Taking it out, he held it to give to the German.
"Here, just a little something that I have." Blu smiled as Alex took it gratefully.
"Thank you." Alex smiled back as he reached into his pocket, taking out a pack of cigars he had. "And for you."
"Thank you." Blu replied. "Want to see my wife and kids?"
"Sure." Alex answered and got closer to Blu as he took out a small picture he had of his wife and three kids, back home in England. "You sure do have a good family." And Alex reached for his pocket, taking out his own small picture of his family.
"Wow, you have a pretty wife and kids." Blu commented, as Alex's wife was a Blue macaw and his two hybrid children.
All the British and German soldiers did similar things as Blu and Alex were doing, exchanging little gifts with each other, having laughs, and even taking pictures with each other, with both British and German soldiers, smiling and laughing.
One of the British soldiers had a little soccer ball with him and he decided that it would be fun to play some games with the Germans. He kicked the ball and pretty soon everyone got into it, either playing or watching. No one was angry when his team lost, it was all in good spirit, what mattered was that everyone had fun and not trying to kill each other.
The day wore on and night was coming, both sides starting to go back to their side of the trenches, happy for the day. Blu and Alex said their goodbyes to each other, holding each other's wings for a good long minute.
"Goodbye Alex, it was great meeting you." Blu said.
"It was great meeting you too Blu, I hope we are still alive after all this mess so we can celebrate Christmas with our families." Alex replied. "Maybe we can even visit each other."
"I would like that very much as well." Blu replied as he let go of Alex's wing, walking back to his trench, Alex doing likewise.
As Alex got back to his trench, he took out the chocolate bar Blu gave him and just smiled as he looked at the blue wrapping. He decided to share it with his friends on the German side, everyone who ate it thought it wad the best chocolate they had so far in the war. As Alex ate his piece, he thought a lot about his enemy, how the leaders pictured them as empire hungry barbarians, but that wasn't true, they were just as much man as he was.
As Blu got back in his trench on the British side, he took out the pack of cigars Alex gave him and smiled as well as he shared them with his friends. All of them saying it was the best smoke they had since the beginning of the war. Like Alex, as Blu smoked his cigar, he thought a lot about the Germans, how the leaders pictured them like huns and such, but again, that wasn't true, the German had just as much a heart as any British soldier.
And so, that is how two soldiers, two sides, spent Christmas on the Western front.
The Christmas Truce of 1914 actually did happen. It was a great moment of humanity where soldiers decided to put down their rifles and come together to celebrate a common holiday. They talked, laughed, sang with each other, engaged in friendly sports and exchanged little gifts that they had, like a family would on such a merry holiday…
Sadly… The war would resume around New Year's Day and the bloodshed would still continue, millions more men to die in No Man's Land and the suffering life in the trenches would still be present, along with dangers of being killed at any second.
Even more sadly, next Christmas, 1915, what happened the year before would not happen at all, for both the Allied and German commands didn't want their troops to repeat the practice since they didn't want information to leak out to the other side.
However… The Christmas Truce of 1914 shows the humanity soldiers can show to each other, that they not only kill each other mercilessly, but can put their differences aside if they share something in common and even become friends, and not enemies.