Published in Windlesora 30 (2014)
© WLHG
By the end of January 1915, reports of the 1914 Christmas Day truce had reached Windsor, and the Windsor Express published several letters from local men who had spent Christmas in the trenches. On 23rd January a letter was published from a soldier in the 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment describing how the Germans had initiated the temporary ceasefire on Christmas Eve:
At about 6 pm, the firing on both sides was very desultory and the Huns put some lights and lighted up Christmas trees up on the parapet of the trench, which was about 200 yards from the trench of the corps on our left. After a few minutes, they shouted ‘English, Merry Christmas’ to which our chaps replied, ‘Same to you. Want some duff?’ Then a German said, ‘Yes; come halfway’ to which our people replied ‘Right oh!’ Firing seemed to cease all along the line, and then a couple advanced from each side, met in the centre, shook hands and exchanged gifts. All that they could give was rotten black bread and cigars for our bully and Christmas duff. My position was roughly 400 yards from where this took place. Soon afterwards there was shouting to the right and left of me. It was freezing hard at the time and so you can tell that sound carried well. Some of our chaps sang the National Anthem, and the Germans cheered and clapped and then sang theirs and were suitably applauded. Nearly all night both sides were singing carols. I don’t think any of this took place in my battalion.
The next morning… I saw all the Germans on top of their trenches. Naturally enough we did the same and shouted greetings to } one another. Several Germans came over to our lines and stopped about 20 yards from our wire entanglements, and several officers of ‘ours’ met them. The Germans stood to attention and British and German soldiers Christmas 1914 saluted, and then shook hands.
Anyone away from the firing line could not imagine such a thing. All day long they were walking backwards and forwards. Heaps of our chaps shook hands with them, but I did not get a chance myself. From one source and the other, we learnt that they were tired of the war and they said that they would not shoot if we didn’t… The state of friendliness existed for several days, but now we are at the old sniping business, or I should say that they snipe while we take no notice of them…
A similar story was told by a soldier of the 2nd Battalion Scots Guards, writing to a friend at the Ship Hotel, Windsor.
I am going to relate to you what happened to us on Christmas morning. Of course, it hardly seems real, but at about 8.30 on Christmas morning we were in the trenches, when I heard someone saying something about a football match between us and the Germans. I thought they had gone mad when I heard it, but it was right. I happened to look over our trenches and saw about forty of my Company talking to the Germans in between their trenches and ours, which are about 80 yards apart, so I thought I would go over too. When I got over, a German held his hand out to me, wishing me a merry Christmas in broken English, and handed me his cigar box to take one, which I did. Then one of our officers came over, and the Germans sang one of their hymns in their language. Then our lot started singing ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’, all of us smoking cigars and cigarettes. They also gave us sweets, etc; one of them gave me one of their coins for an English penny. We had a jolly time with them for over an hour; then we both went back to our trenches again, and went over to them in the afternoon. When you read this you will think I am mad, but it is quite true; if I had not been there I would not believe it. They say they are ‘fed up’ with it. They are wishing for peace. We are back in the trenches firing on one another again.
A private in the 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, however, had quite a different story to tell and described how his battalion had fought off an enemy attack on Christmas Eve. In a letter to a friend, published on 23rd January, he wrote:
…We had a very rough Christmas. I have read letters in the papers about Christmas in the trenches… All I can say is that if what they say is true it was very different to our part of the line. Talk about shaking hands with the Germans. I can tell you that the boys in No 4 Company of the 2nd Coldstream Guards are not so fond of them… About December 22nd we received orders to advance as the Germans had broken through the French lines. At dawn we let them have it, and drove them back and took their advance trenches. They were reinforced, and a terrible fight commenced and lasted till Christmas night. We were told that it was important that we should hold their advance trenches, and hold them we did, although God knows how. They had something up their sleeve. As it was getting dark on the 23rd and they found they could not drive us out with bombs, etc, they broke a great dyke and tried to drown us out. But they found that it took more than cold-streams to beat the Coldstreams. The water was about four feet deep in our trenches, and they started an all-night attack, thinking that we should never stick the night in four feet of water and freezing very hard. But our boys didn’t half let them have it. Their cries were terrible. They tried for about four hours, and then retired beaten…
From Windsor in the Great War by
Derek Hunt and Dr. Brigitte Mitchell
Windsor Local History Group 