BLUF
In 1914 an unofficial Christmas Truce occurred between German and British soldiers. They met in no man's land, exchanged gifts and wished each other a Merry Christmas—the high command disapproved, and such a truce never happened again.Summary
Naina Bajekal writing in Time Magazine, makes the following points:
- The truce began with carol singing on Christmas Eve.
- Troops exchanged cigarettes, food, buttons and hats and allowed those killed in “no man’s land” to be buried.
- British commanders had prohibited any “friendly intercourse with the enemy” as a threat to morale, but many troops ignored this.
References
- MILITARY HISTORY: INDEX of PAGES AND COLLECTIONS ON THE RAAF RUNWAY
- The Real Story of the Christmas Truce-Imperial War Museum
- DEC 2011 The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce-Smithsonian Magazine
Source Information:
- Article Source: TIME | Current & Breaking News | National & World Updates
- Media Check: Time Magazine - Media Bias/Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)
- RAAF RUNWAY: RATIONALE, GUIDELINES, DIRECTIONS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)
- LINKS TO PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDUCATION (PME) WEB PAGES | The Runway (airforce.gov.au)