When World War 1 stopped over Christmas for a football match

World War One broke out in the summer of 1914 and, by December, hundreds of thousands of people had been killed in bloody warfare, the like of which history had never seen before. Troops on the British side had entered the war in high spirits, hoping to be home by Christmas, but they soon realised that the reality would be entirely different. Despite the war not yet having seen its most terrible atrocities, with both Passchendaele and Ypres months away, fighting was happening on a previously unimaginable scale and the conditions the soldiers had to deal with on a daily basis was a world away from the idealised version if life they were sold before joining.

In the lead-up to the festive period, the Germans had been sent Christmas trees by Emperor William II in an effort from the leader which they lined the trenches with and soldiers could be heard singing Christmas carols on a night, prompting the Allied Forces to do the same in response. Pope Benedict XV had publicly declared a want for a ceasefire over Christmas, saying “that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang”, however the political leaders of the two sides were not keen on ordering that to their army commanders, who did not call for a stop to the conflict. Despite this, there had been periodic breaks of gunfire along on 48-kilometre front in the week before Christmas, and on Christmas Eve some soldiers were told not to fire unless fired upon, in a move known as “Live and Let Live”.

On Christmas day, German soldiers emerged from their muddy hell holes waving their arms, showing the Allied Forces that they were no threat. The enemy responded, climbing out of their trenches and crossing the 50-yards of No Man’s Land to talk to the soldiers and exchange gifts, such as cigarettes and various souvenirs.

And, in the middle of it all, was a football match. On the frozen surface of the turnip field, the two sides played the beautiful game. Captain Bruce Bairnsfather recorded that “at about noon a football match was suggested, someone had evidently received a deflated football as a Christmas present.”

German Lieutenant Kurt Zehmisch told that “a couple of English brought a football out of their trench and a vigorous football match began. This was all so marvellous and strange. The English officers thought so too; towards evening the officers asked whether a big football match could be held on the following day between the two positions.”

The British troops wrote home to their loved ones describing the surreal feeling of playing football with the enemy, sharing gifts, food and being in generally high spirits. The two sides conducted joint burials and carried out work to reinforce their trenches while the Christmas Day ceasefire took place.

The ceasefire was controversial, and many people expressed their opposition to the idea. One of those was Adolf Hitler, then a young Dispatch Runner, who is reported to have said “have you no German sense of honour?”

The day after, the fighting resumed between the two sides and there were no other Christmas truces took place in the following years. Overall, 10 million people died in the conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918.