On 24 December 1914, Christmas Eve, the firing died down along parts of the Western Front as German soldiers lit up their trenches and sang carols and British soldiers sang back. In some sectors an unofficial Christmas truce began that night, in others on Christmas Day. It was never general, and senior officers disapproved.1
Full story · ~9 min readThe Christmas Truce of 1914Carols, candles and kickabouts in no man's land, and what really happened.Read the full story ›
Christmas Eve in the trenches
On Christmas Eve 1914, along parts of the Western Front, the German soldiers facing the British lines lit candles and lights on their trenches and began to sing. Lieutenant Colonel Schoolbred, quoted by the National Army Museum, wrote that “our friends opposite us began to blow bugles and set up candle illuminations on the top of their trenches”. Carols carried across no man's land from both sides.2
Some truces began that night, others on Christmas Day, when men from both armies climbed out and met in no man's land.3
What happened next
Where the truce held, soldiers talked and exchanged souvenirs and small gifts, and in some places they used the pause to collect and bury their dead. In a few places a football appeared and men played together. The truce was never general. In other sectors the fighting went on, and senior officers disapproved of fraternizing, but some stretches of the line stayed quiet until after New Year's Day.4
Nothing like it happened again on the same scale during the war. Christmas Day and the famous football are covered in our full article, The Christmas Truce of 1914, which also weighs the evidence for an organized match.5
Battle of Czarnowo, 1806: Napoleon's night crossing of the Wkra
24 December 1806 · 219 years ago
French troops of Davout's III Corps, watched by Napoleon, forced a night crossing of the Wkra against Russian forces under Ostermann-Tolstoy at Czarnowo, north of Warsaw, in the War of the Fourth Coalition. After fighting all night the Russians withdrew eastward.
Read the full story of Battle of Czarnowo, 1806: Napoleon's night crossing of the Wkra ›
