Christmas in No-man's Land

It was the first World War. Such a conflict had never been seen before in human history. By the winter of the first year of the war (1914) the men in the trenches were miserable. And there was absolutely no way the troops would be able to return home for Christmas.
Then, on the very day of Christmas, a miracle happened.

All up and down the lines, a truce was called between the warring sides and the men climbed out of their trenches without their weapons.

The events that followed have been questioned by many historians as 'unrealistic', but hundreds of personal diaries and letters from the soldiers of either side state details about the day that are too similar to be fabricated.

The trigger of these events was the German high command sending miniature Christmas trees to their troops in hopes of raising their spirits. And it did. So much that the Germans decided that Christmas was too special not to share. They decorated the trees as well as they could and walked boldly into the area between the opposing trenches, accompanied by signs saying 'if you don't shoot us, we won't shoot you'. The English noticed and got the message.

And thus how the Christmas Truce of WW1 came to be.

Personal records and photographs tell us that not only were carols sung, but gifts exchanged, such as personal stories, cigarettes, candies, and even dinners, sharing rations from either side. 

Then they played what has been called the biggest football (soccer, for Americans) game between England and Germany in all history. 

One German officer, Kurt Zehmisch, recorded the event in his journal:

"A couple of Britons brought a ball along from their trenches, and a lively game began. How fantastically wonderful and strange... thanks to soccer and Christmas, the feast of love, deadly enemies briefly came together as friends."

As you can imagine, the mud in no-man's land was a serious problem, in heavy army boots. But that didn't mean that teams took advantage of each other. It is said that when a soldier fell into the deep, clinging mud, it was his enemy that would help him up.

And some friendships lasted longer than just that day. For the very next day, when the fighting resumed, soldiers up and down the lines refused to shoot at their enemies, the men they had played with and come to know and love as brothers.