Tuesday - June 23, 2009

SHEDDING A BIT MORE LIGHT ON THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914.

I’ve always had an interest in this subject, sad tho it is. 
The story of course isn’t new but the diary is and I think so is the cartoon.  Wish they’d publish all on line but I guess I’m happy with whatever they do give me here.

Anyone who is likewise interested in this period, I can’t recommend strongly enough a book published about five years ago, Paris, 1919 by Margaret McMillan.
Granddaughter of a former PM and a highly respected educator.  And one hell of a fine writer she is. 

And of course, The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman

Let’s call a truce: The diary extracts and cartoons that shed new light on the amazing events in No Man’s Land 95 years ago

By Daily Mail Reporter

It was one of the few tender moments of the Great War - the incredible coming together of British and German troops in the Christmas truce of 1914.

Troops famously put down their arms and handshakes replaced bullets on the shell ravaged battle ground of No Man’s land.

Now an extraordinary account of the remarkable exchange has been made public for the first time in the form of never before seen diary extracts and cartoons from a former army captain and officer.

Captain Robert Hamilton, of the 1st battalion Royal Warwickshire regiment, was present that morning when British Tommies rose warily out of their trenches and trudged over to meet the enemy, and his account of events has been presented by former history teacher Andrew Hamilton.

The tender moments have been immortalised forever as a moment of compassion amidst the senseless slaughter of the First World War, as British and German troops ate together, swapped gifts, buried the dead from both sides and even played football.

But not so widely known is the role Captain Hamilton played in paving the way for the truce on freezing Yuletide morning near the Belgian hamlet of St Yvon.

Writing in the small leather bound journal he kept with him, he recalls clamouring above the trench into the mud of No-Man’s Land and meeting a German officer halfway.

After the initial uneasiness, the pair shook hands, which signalled the start of hundreds of other battle-weary troops on both sides to leave their dug-in positions and join them.

In his original diary, dated December 25, 1914, Captain Hamilton writes: ‘A DAY UNIQUE IN THE WORLD’S HISTORY.

‘I met this officer and we arranged a local armistice for 48 hours - as far as I can gather this effort of our extended itself throughout the whole time, as far as we could hear.

‘A merry merry Christmas and a most extraordinary one but I doubled the sentries after midnight.’

On Boxing day he writes: ‘The truce continues; we talk with the Germans at half way - our guns opened fire on the German trenches, but not a rifle shot was fired all day.

‘I am told the general and staff are furious - but powerless to stop it.’

Accompanying Captain Hamilton was Bruce Bairnsfather, a celebrated cartoonist who captured the brief armistice in a series of illustrations.

The pair had known each other from days spent in their home town of Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire.

Andrew, 55, and historian Alan Reed, have collated more than 100 photographs, cartoons, maps and sketches to retell Captain Hamilton’s story and his involvement in the famous truce.

Captain Hamilton writes: ‘Xmas Day - I went out and found a Saxon officer of the 134th Saxon Corps, who was fully armed.

‘I pointed to his revolver and pouch. He smiled and said, seeing I was unarmed, “Alright now”.

‘We shook hands and said what we could in double dutch, arranged a local armistice for 48 hours and returned to our trenches. This was the signal for our respective soldiers to come out.

‘As far as I can make out, this effort of ours extended itself on either side for some considerable distance.

‘The soldiers on both sides met in their hundreds and exchanged greetings and gifts. We buried many Germans and they did the same to ours.’

Bairnsfather, officer in charge of the Battalion’s machine-gun section, painted an equally vivid picture of the truce in sketch form.

In one picture he depicted British soldiers exchanging buttons with their German counterparts.

In another sketch, a British tommy is seen poking his head above the trench that Christmas morning and surveying a deathly quiet battlefield, marked only with a bombed out barn and smouldering shell holes.

Andrew was inspired to share his grandfather’s extraordinary experiences after his daughter took the diary with her on a school trip to the battlefields of France and Belgium.

He explained: ‘That’s how myself and Alan met. He was leading my daughter, Alice, on a school trip around the trenches and she gave him the diary to look at.

‘We found we both shared a deep interest in the First World War and agreed to research my grandfather’s experiences.

‘For me it was a fascinating following my grandfather’s campaign footsteps and pinpointing the exact spot where he met a German Officer, two miles from the Belgian hamlet St Yvon on Christmas Day.’

During a trip to Belgium they visited villages the troops would have passed through - uncovering pictures and postcards from the time.

When his grandfather returned home to England in 1915, he typed up his diary which had been filled in using crayon and pencil.

Andrew said: ‘The diary was amazing in itself - not just for the information about the Christmas truce - but because it gives a great insight into life on the frontline.

‘It was really quite moving to find the Truce’s exact location and it was humbling to think that he had been involved in an event that has really captured the imagination of four generations and doubtless more in the future.

‘My grandfather obviously wanted to reach a wider audience with his diary account of his six months in France and Belgium and that’s why he took the time and trouble to type it up on his return to England.

‘For whatever reason his account never made it past the family so I’m pleased to have brought his experiences to a far wider audience than he could ever have imagined.

‘Robert was in no doubt about the importance of the event as he headlined his entry for Christmas Day in his original diary - ‘A Day Unique in the World’s History’.

‘His description highlights the courage and determination of the soldiers who took part in trench warfare and the incredible hardship and dangers they encountered.’

SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 06/23/2009 at 07:19 AM   
Filed Under: • History • UK • War-Stories •  
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