Christmas Truce 1914
H. W. Bryce
blogged dec 23, is reblog from (2017?)
“It’ll all be over by Christmas,” was the optimistic
Cry as the young Brits marched off to war.
But come December that year of ’14, it was
Very clear, it would not be. Then came
Christmas Eve and Winter set in, as had the war!
Too many bloody deaths already, too tight the
Jaws. Too many bullet-ridden bodies lay about
The scarred battleground, carved into halves with
The front lines marked by face-to-face trenches.
Helmet facing helmet, the men knew, as did their
Leaders, that the land had to be cleared, and taken.
Both sides received Christmas boxes on the eve of the day.
Worried mothers and sisters and little brothers thinking
Of “Our boys overseas.” The boys in the trenches shivered
As the winter painted that barren, pock tainted landscape
With patterns of icy cold frost.
And indeed, the winter frost sparkled as various
Lights struck it. And something struck a light in some hearts.
Christmas day and a lone German stood up, like a target,
And sang, a Christmas song.
And spontaneously, a head here and a head there popped up
From the trenches, followed by their tentative bodies
On the German side. Then one by one, two, three by
Twos and threes on the other, meeting in the middle of
No Man’s Land, in the middle of the horrible war, that war
Declared to end all war. Slowly, in unison, they sang, and
All the Christmas songs that ever were floated above
That war in spontaneous Peace.
Finally, like any church choir, in one unified voice,
These soldiers, sworn to kill the enemy, yes, both sides,
Spontaneously sang the universal hymn of peace
SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT.
ALL IS CALM, ALL IS BRIGHT…
Then the two sides mingled, traded souvenirs, buried
The hatchet as they buried their dead, held a sacred moment
Over a single grave, as if in Amen.
And then, somebody produced a football and the game was on.
Brits vs Germans, in great gaiety, in the spirit of
The game. In the spirit of peace and of brotherhood,
And of sanity. It is written that the Germans won: 3–2.
But this truce on this patch of good will to all men
Was cut short by orders from the higher ups
That any repeat of such treason would be prosecuted.
The trenches once again filled with hatred, real or
Enforced, giving nerve to follow orders, to kill…
And we are left to wonder: If fighting men can drop their armaments
In the middle of a war to play football and sing carols together,
Why in the name of God can’t we do the same in the time of “Peace?”
Eh? And hold on to it.
Amen.
— —
Enjoy your Christmas.
Please, pass the Peace.
