Source: File: German
soldiers were the first to emerge.jpg. The Importance Of The December 1914
Christmas Truce. German soldiers were the first to emerge from their trenches
and approach Allied lines, calling out “Merry Christmas” in English. [online]
Available at:<https://www.popularresistance.org/the-importance-of-the-december-1914-christmas-truce/>
Accessed: 24 December 2014].
Thus after five months,
Came established lines
Of resistance made by trench -
A system of stalemate.
The need to dig in had begun,
With either side not wanting
To budge – in a continual ditch,
From the north to the south,
From Lorraine to the channel.
Concealed half underground,
Thousand of troops waited,
As the summer war became
A winter war - a call for a truce
By the Vatican came and went,
So they sat and shot, with no end
In sight along a stale western front.
Perhaps the Popes wishes
Had not been not quite forgotten,
As men of opposites, that fought
Each other found themselves
Sometimes only yards apart -
Giving, between bouts of fighting,
Raised shouts of conversations.
A barrage that began, could
End with Tommy calling out
To Fritz ‘missed!’ or ‘left abit.’
Black humour was characteristic,
To make it through a day -
And such banter was to effect,
A particular celebratory day.
In December’s war, rain
Had fallen for most of the month
Rain and rain upon wet mud,
Soon turned to sludge, perhaps
The time of Christmas days,
Was to pass as dank and drizzly,
In needs of shelter to stay dry.
Then the final element came,
With a drop in the temperature,
That brought the opening of eve
Of Christmas – in hour of stand to
The allied men emerged -
To a deep frosted landscape.
Underfoot came solid ground,
Baked crisp, iced with frost -
The silent night turned
To dawn of white, under limpid
Skies – each man shivered
With breathy clouds between
Smoking of cigarettes.
Chatter of voices, with chatter
Of cold – a day made sharper
With coats and balaclava -
And cigarettes lit close together.
Between the march of sentries
Quietness hung above coldness
As upon Ploegstreet near Ypres.
The day of 24 December,
Marked the last day of advent,
For German calendar, a special day
Back home - families would gather,
To share a grand meal and father
Christmas would then appear,
In delivery of gifts - as a
reminder
Of home - the German soldier
Would share this with their enemy.
In the daily morning shouts,
Perhaps calls of ‘morning Fritz
Are you cold over there?’
‘Yah, might have been a reply.
‘We are very frosty here
We can smell your cookery
Of bacon and sausages.’
‘Expect you're jealous
Of our sausages, aye Fritz.
Maybe we should throw
One or two over to you.’
‘Ha your English sausages
Are nothing compared to ours.’
The calling out had begun -
In two days of unofficial truce,
While some sectors fought
Across certain parts of line -
The calling out continued:
‘Hay Tommy are you there.’
‘Here Fritz, not gone anywhere.’
‘Happy Christmas pudding.’
‘Happy pudding to you to.’
Then came the singing
A group of broken English
The result of much grinning
As they listened to the song
‘Do you know this one Fritz?’
‘While shepherds watch
Watch their flocks by night..’
Clapped hands followed,
By the request for cigarettes.
One lad shouts ‘Come over
Here Fritz.’ ‘No I get shot.’
‘No you wont - I’ve got
Some fags for you.’
‘No – I meet you halfway.’
Despite others warnings
The lad grabbed his mates
Cigarettes and clambered
From the trench – he stopped.
It would be odd to be on the top.
He looked about across a space -
The face of earth, being crisp white
He took a step forward on the ice,
Another Tommy followed - in time
They shared a look face to face.
One smiled at the others fear.
‘Come on lets go and see Fritz.’
Almost with a flinch such men
Turned around in the frosty mist
Vulnerable above trench level.
Seemingly they were all alone -
The deep frost made a picture
Of an absent white Christmas
Against which a dark figure
Stood in the shape of a Hun.
He waved and started to walk
Forward - in leaving their guns,
The two British stepped across -
The three met between a roll
Of broken wire - the three looked
At each other and they stood,
To shake each other’s hand.
In regard of their opposing
Uniforms - one grey one khaki,
They saw each other blurred
By scarves, gloves and beard -
Still shivering, in what had
Been a farmers field - now
A land, which man avoided.
Cigarettes were offered,
And in gratitude exchanged
For cheese – one allied man,
Produced a postcard and asked
The German for his address
And name, by way of souvenir.
He explained he had been a waiter
In London, before any hint of war.
Aware that they were no longer
Alone –for others had come,
To appear from holes in the ground.
Slowly at first both sides
stepped
Into the cold air, their sharpness
Of breath given by each exhale.
Each side regarded the other -
A nod and slight smile to
follow
The lead of those first three
To meet in land of death –
About them the Germans
Came forth to find an 'Englisher'
Reaching out to shake his hand.
‘I think we may have started
something,'
Said the ex-waiter to the ex-clerk.
‘I think we jolly well have.’ As men
Gathered round them - now talking,
Now exchanging some humble
items -
Beer for cigarettes, cheese for
bread.
One tall German came up and said,
‘It is Grismas – if you do not shoot,
We do not shoot today or tomorrow.
Is this to be agreed? ‘ All those
about
Did so and shook hands on
that.
by Jamie Mann.
Source:
File: Christmas Truce 1914 Operation Plum Puddings: A general overview. [online] Available
at: < http://www.christmastruce.co.uk/article.html> Accessed: 24 December 2014].
Mann, J., 2014. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal
communication, 24 December 2014).
#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #ww1centenary
#worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered
No comments:
Post a Comment