A Christmas Truce

Christmas Truce [Wikipedia]

Wednesday 30th December 1914: News has filtered back from the Front of a spontaneous, unofficial truce which took place between the British and German armies. In a letter to his mother at Turvey Captain John Longuet-Higgins tells her that “the people in the trenches over Christmas reported many curious incidents. An informal Truce was arranged and men and officers from both sides got out of the trenches and exchanged news and souvenirs in the neutral ground in between. Not a shot was fired for 3 days and when we went in on the night of the 26th we found the truce still going on. Our present bit of trench is on the right of the Guards Brigade and they continued the truce even up to now, but we have not been allowed to do so. Frost and rain and snow have been our lot and on our first night we caught a German deserter who told us an attack was to be delivered at midnight. We had to stand to arms all night and our artillery pounded them well for an hour just round midnight. And there was no attack.”

Captain Longuet-Higgins describes the impact of weather conditions which meant they were “unable to work at the trenches … as a thaw set in on the next day the parapet began to crack and fall in. Then we got rain and the rain began to pour into the trenches off the surrounding land. Work as we could we could not cope with the rising water.” He asks for a new Burberry coat in “a large size but not too long in the skirt” and a new pair of gloves as “Aunt Florrie sent me a pair but I am afraid I dropped them in the trench and they sank so deep that I could not get them back. This last tour has meant wet feet absolutely cold for 3 days and nights without being able to take my boots and socks off. The result is swelled feet and now I have got my boots off I can’t put them on again.”  His company are now in a more comfortable billet and he hopes he may get leave next month.

Source: [HG12/10/126]