Christmas at the Front

1. Press ‘ESC’ at any time to stop the presentation Christmas at the Front Des Quinn and Martin Williams

2. One of the most famous events of World War One was the Truce of December 25th 1914. This event, although it did not happen across the whole of the Western Front, summed up the spirit of Christmas for the soldiers who were, just hours earlier, shooting at each other across No-Mans-Land. As one soldier told his family: “…while you were eating your turkey I was out talking with the very men I had been trying to kill a few hours before.” On this daymany soldiers exchanged gifts such as tobacco, plum puddings and alcohol, as well as messages of good will. This was however, not the only time that a Christmas truce was called along parts of the Western Front during World War One.

3. It is important to remember that many soldiers on both sides spent up to five Christmas’ away from their homes and loved ones. The following accounts and images will hopefully give you an idea of how soldiers were feeling and how Christmas was celebrated in the trenches during the period 1914 - 1919. Christmas 1914 and 1915 WrittenSources Christmas Images Pictorial Sources

4. 1. 2. 3. 6. 4. 5. Click on a Christmas Card that you would like to know more about.

5. What are the Three Kings taking to the German trenches? Click here for help. Card courtesy of Des Quinn

6. What are the Three Kings taking to the German trenches? Click here for help. Leibniz were, and still are, a brand of biscuits! Card courtesy of Des Quinn

7. Pick out as many images connected with warfare as you can. What have the soldiers received in their Christmas parcels? Card courtesy of Des Quinn

8. What do you think is meant by Weihnacht? Why do you think that there is a red cross opposite the German Iron Cross at the bottom of the card? Card courtesy of Des Quinn

9. How is the Commonwealth soldier portrayed in this image? Card courtesy of Des Quinn

10. What does this postcard show? Pick out some Christmas and trench imagery. Card courtesy of Des Quinn

11. Why do you find this such a strange Christmas card to be sent home from the Front? What does it tell you about the conditions that soldiers had to live and fight in from very early on in the war? Card courtesy of M. Williams

12. Positive Experiences Negative Experiences Photograph courtesy of Torfaen Museum Trust

13. The Christmas Truce, where it did take place, started at different times in different places. This caused a fair amount of confusion and could explain why so many soldiers were shot by accident. Captain C.I. Stockwell of the 2nd Royal Welsh Fusiliers recalled how the truce of 1914 started after dinner along the length of no-mans-land near Houplines. “I ran out into the trench and found that all the men were holding their rifles at the ready on the parapet, and that the Saxons (Germans) were shouting, ‘Don’t shoot. We don’t want to fight today. We will send you some beer’. We did not like to fire as they were all unarmed…Our men were all chattering and saying, ‘The Captain’s going to speak to them.’ We met and formally saluted. He introduced himself as Count Something-or-other, and seemed a very decent fellow.” Captain C.I. Stockwell, quoted in Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton (Pan, 1984)

14. “The Germans exchange cigars and pieces of sausage, and sauerkraut and concentrated coffee for cigarettes and bully beef and ration biscuits and tobacco. They express mutual admiration by pointing and signs. It is our leather waistcoats and trench coats that attract their attention; it is their trench overalls, made of coarse canvas that attract ours. We shout ‘Hullo, Fritz!’ ‘Good Morning Fritz!’ ‘Merry Christmas!’ ‘Happy Christmas!’ ‘How’s your father?’ ‘Come over and call!’ ‘Come and have breakfast’, and the like, amid roars of laughter…” German officers asked to take photographs of the British troops and when the request was refused they announced that their artillery would open fire in five minutes, which it did. Yet, for a period of twenty-four hours, which included much of Christmas Day, 1915, the soldiers of each side did not fire a shot at each other. Wilfred Ewart, 1st Scots Guards, quoted in Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton (Pan, 1984)

15. The 2 / Mons (2nd Monmouthshires) lost two men on Christmas Day 1914 to German snipers. As a result, the men of this regiment would not remember Christmas Day 1914 as a time of peace and friendship between enemies. The circumstances in which the men were shot added to the anger. Private Ernest Palfrey, a former miner aged twenty-one, was shot while returning from the task of burying dead comrades. The South Wales Echo reported on this incident, as well as the death of a sergeant from the same regiment. Newspaper comments on the death of these two men can be seen on the next slide.

16. “A truce was supposed to be prevailing, but Private Palfrey received a bullet in the back of his neck which killed him instantly.” The South Wales Echo Sergeant ‘Blackwood’ Jones, who had played football for Pontypool before the war commented on the death of a fellow officer in the South Wales Weekly. “I took some tobacco and jam to the Germans. But, never no more. Another sergeant, a pal of mine from Monmouth, did the same, but when he was coming back to the trench they shot him through the back and killed him. He fell down and said ‘My God, I’m done.’ They are dirty cowards, after giving them tobacco.” The South Wales Echo Newspaper comments taken from Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton (Pan 1984)