The Christmas Truce

It had been nearly seven months since the war began. Seven months since Charlie, a young lad, left his newly wedded wife Rosie to serve in the fight against the Germans. Everyone had said it'd end by Christmas, but December 1914 had never looked so bleak to him. Crouched in a trench, with his breath visible between his lips, it was Christmas Eve. He was on the front lines again, with the Germans a mere 300 meters away from them. He was grateful to have been uninjured in the crossfire yesterday, and now, as he slowly unwrapped the parchment paper from the post he had received, he could feel the numbness in his fingers slowly starting to creep in.

"Merry Christmas, darling. Waiting for you back home. Love, Rosie", said the letter. Charlie smiled, for not only had she sent her love, she had sent a pack of Rowntree's chocolate. It was to end by Christmas. Now, it seemed he'd have to spend his dodging bullets in the freezing slush and cold. It was nighttime now. Slowly, the other soldiers started putting their guns aside and tried to get comfortable for the night in the trench they had now learned to call their home.

The stars were out; it was Christmas Eve. Charlie was lost in his thoughts when he heard the distant sound of a melody. A tune he had heard as a child, yet different, as though it was foreign to his ears. Slowly, the music became apparent, and the voices of the Germans singing Silent Night was the last thing the army men expected. Soon, the British trench joined the Germans in harmony, with the language ceasing to be a barrier and everyone hoping to 'sleep in heavenly peace". And so, Charlie succumbed to his dreams with a small smile still etched on his face.

He awoke the following day with a start. The cold had been too much to be comfortable when the memories of the previous night came rushing to his head. Slowly and tentatively, he raised his bare arms high, where it could be seen from 300 meters away. The Germans were hesitant. Slowly but steadily, Charlie traversed the snow-covered no-man's land, which seemed to go on and on. A young German Saxon was walking toward him from the other side, his arms outstretched. As Charlie's regiment walked up behind him and the Germans behind his, the dreary sky above and the desolate ground beneath him seemed to shift and flutter, as if transcending into an ethereal memory.

The men met in the centre of the no-man's land, not as army men serving their countries or enemies but as men looking for a glimmer of peace in times of heavy loss and anguish. The following circumstances were nothing short of a Christmas miracle, an event history will remember but never see again. What happened was the proof of love and compassion, which is the essence of Christmas itself. The inherent qualities of empathy and trust embedded in humanity took over that day to give rise to a momentous occasion that no one will ever forget. The British and the Germans shook hands and mingled in the middle of one of the most gruesome wars of the 20th century in the light of Christmas day. They exchanged cigars and drinks among each other, offered to shave and played an uplifting game of football. The soldiers were carolling and laughing with those they were trying to kill only a few days prior. 

A few days later, when Charlie had the time to frame a letter to his Rosie, he wrote:

"My dear Rosie. I miss you every single day here. The chocolate improved my Christmas, but that's not the end! My love, you won't believe it. It's a miracle. We spent the day chatting with Germans! They had given us their cigarettes and …… "

#miscellaneous #christmas #war