‘The most extraordinary event of the whole war’: the Christmas Truce of 1914

On Christmas Eve 1914 temperatures all along the Western Front – from the North Sea to the Swiss border – dropped below freezing. In some places snow fell. Unusual lights began to appear along the German front line. British troops assumed it heralded a German attack.

The Regimental History of 13th London Regiment (‘The Kensingtons’), a Territorial Army battalion, sets the scene: “From behind the lines came voices crying ‘English soldiers, English soldiers, Happy Christmas! Where are your Christmas trees?’ and faint but clear songs of the season.

"We were a little embarrassed by this sudden comradeship and, as a lasting joke against us, let it be said that the order was given to stand to arms [i.e. prepare to repel an attack]. But we did not fire, for the battalion on our right, the Royal Irish Rifles... answered the enemy’s salutations with songs and jokes and made appointments in No Man’s Land for Christmas Day.”

The Germans promised men of 1st Royal Irish Rifles, “If you English come out and talk to us – we won’t fire.” At Levantie, south of Armentières, on Christmas Day soldiers of 1st Royal Irish Rifles did indeed emerge from their trenches.

The German assumed that the Ulstermen were English. Elsewhere, Germans irritated Scottish troops by calling them English too, prompting one member of the 2nd Cameronians to respond in broad Scots: “Same to you Fritz , but dinna’ o’er eat yourself wi’ they sausages!”

The Ulstermen met the enemy halfway between the lines. The fact that a good many of the Germans spoke English well eased the tension. Comparatively few British soldiers could speak German but many Germans had a good command of English, having worked as waiters, barbers and taxi drivers in various British cities before the war. Some Germans even acquired their English further afield - in Canada or the United States.

Kensingtons’ officers eyed members of the Rifles suspiciously as they greeted the enemy “in the friendliest possible manner”. Nervous Rifles’ officers reported their “soldier’s truce” to Brigade Headquarters. Some British units were still of the opinion that the Germans were “priming themselves for a big attack”.

On Christmas Day 1914 Second Lieutenant Dougan Chater of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders wrote to his mother: “I am writing this in the trenches in my ‘dug out’ – with a wood fire going and plenty of straw.

"It is rather cosy although it is freezing hard and real Christmas weather. I think I have seen one of the most extraordinary sights today that anyone has ever seen. About 10 o’clock this morning I was peeping over the parapet when I saw a German waving his arms, and presently two of them got out of their trenches and came towards ours.

"We were just going to fire on them when we saw they had no rifles so one of our men went out to meet them and in about two minutes the ground between the two lines of trenches was swarming with men and officers of both sides, shaking hands and wishing each other a happy Christmas.

"This continued for about half an hour when most of the men were ordered back to the trenches.”

British and German soldiers gossiped and exchanged cigarettes. In some places they played football. Opposite Ploegsteert Wood, ‘A’ Company of the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers, for example, were beaten 3-2 by the Saxons. British and German troops met again on Boxing Day.

At midday on Boxing Day Second Lieutenant John Wedderburn-Maxwell of the Royal Field Artillery visited the battalion headquarters of the Royal Irish Rifles to have lunch with the Colonel.

Miffed at having missed the truce on Christmas Day, Wedderburn-Maxwell noted that "our people [the Irish Rifles] and theirs still seemed quite friendly”. He decided that, if at all possible, he would “hold a conversation with a Boche”.

“Taking a tin of cigarettes...I made my way through the barbed wire in front of our trenches and when about halfway across waved to some of them to come over, upon which two came to meet us and four more rolled up later.

"One was a German-American who could talk fair English. I gave them cigarettes and was given a box of tobacco which I will send home as a souvenir of what is probably the most extraordinary event of the whole war – a soldier’s truce without any higher sanction by officers and generals, with firing going on to the right and rather further away to the left.

"We strolled up and down for half an hour, shook hands, said goodbye, saluted and returned to our lines.”

As Wedderburn-Maxwell’s account indicates, the truce of Christmas 1914 was not universally observed but it did extend to as much as two-thirds of British front line.

Virtually everywhere the Germans initiated the truce. The Germans initiating the truce were very often Saxons – and they almost invariably said disparaging things about the Prussians and their militarism.

Most British generals were appalled by the Christmas truce. After a strong rebuke from headquarters, firing gradually started again. However, in some places the truce survived into the new year.

Apart from a very localised truce in 1915 between Fauquissart and Neuve Chapelle, there was no repetition of the events of 1914 during the remainder of the war.

Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton in their marvellous book, 'Christmas Truce', described the events of Christmas 1914 as “perhaps the best and most heartening story of modern times”.

It would be churlish to disagree. Certainly, as fellow historian Piers Brendon observed, Brown and Seaton "captured a moment of humanity in a time of carnage”.