ON November 11th 2008 a plaque to the Christmas Truce was unveiled in the French village of Frelinghien. It is the first official memorial to this remarkable event.
At the event was the French Prime Minister's wife.
Mrs Margaret Holmes whose father, was Frank Richards (Old Soldiers Never Die).
Joachim Frhr von Sinner and Miles Stockwell who are both decended from participants who were at the truce in 1914.
It was a day I will never forget and it was good to meet up with my old friend Dr Krijnen without whom this event would not have been possible.
To hear recordings of Frank Richards interview click the link to the BBC website below. It contains 3 recordings of Frank's interview given in 1954. The site also contains a wealth of information regarding the Great War.
Below Pete Knight "Old Contemptible" portrays a British Tommy on the front cover of the special limited edition re-issued Old Soldiers Never Die written by Frank Richards DCM,MM. MY Grandfather George Richard Knight MM is featured in the book and was involved in the heavy fighting at Red Dragon Crater.
This revised work contains previously unseen photographs of many characters in the book whom Frank used nicknames for, when writing about them. It has been painstakingly researched and already thought of as a classic of it's time this new edition adds so much more for the serious Great War Historian.
This photo shows men of the Saxon Infantry Regiment Nr 134 in their Trench in front of Frelinghien, on Christmas Eve 1914. The next day, these men would be meeting the Old Contemptibles, men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers in No Man's Land
The following is an extract from Old Soldiers Never Die, Frank Richards DCM MM ( Annotated by Dr H.J Krijnen and D.E. Langley)
To listen to Frank Richards description of the Christmas Truce click on the picture above. Real-player is required
THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914
The famous (infamous, seen through the eyes of higher authority) Christmas Truce of 1914 involved 2nd RWF in a principal rôle in the line opposite Frélinghien, east of Armentières. We have two excellent eyewitness accounts in addition to Frank Richards’s, one, by Captain C.I. Stockwell (“Buffalo Bill”) in the public domain, and that of Second Lieutenant M.S. Richardson, hitherto probably unpublished.
The report by Second Lieutenant M.S. Richardson, dated 31 December 1914, was filed in the Public Record Office with the Battalion War Diary:
‘I will tell you of the extraordinary day we spent on Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we had a sing-song with the men in the trenches, (this all applies to our company, A). We put up a sheet of canvas, with a large ‘Merry Christmas’, and a portrait of the Kaiser painted on it, on the parapet. The next morning there was a thick fog, and when it lifted about 12, the Germans (Saxons) who were only about 150 yards in front of us saw it, they began to shout across, and beckoning to our men to come half way and exchange gifts. They then came out of their trenches, and gave our men cigars and cigarettes, and 2 barrels of beer, in exchange for tins of bully beef. The situation was so absurd, that another officer of ours and myself went out, and met seven of their officers, and arranged that we should keep our men in their respective trenches, and that we should have an armistice until the next morning, when we would lower our Christmas card, and hostilities would continue. One of them presented me with the packet of cigarettes I sent you, and we gave them a plum pudding, and then we shook hands with them, and saluted each other, and returned to our respective trenches. Not a shot was fired all day, and the next morning we pulled our card down, and they put one up with ‘thank you’ on it’.
‘I think I have spent one of the most curious Xmas days I or anyone in the Coy has ever spent. It froze hard last night and the ground was white with frost and there was a ground fog. We had put up a notice over our trench in huge letters ‘Merry Christmas’ facing the Saxons opposite. I think I told you they had been shouting across at us. Well about 1 PM the fog cleared and I suppose they saw the placard. Anyway the Saxons began shouting “Don’t shoot, we will bring you some beer if you will come over”. Whereupon some of our men showed above the parapet and waved their hands.
Then the Saxons climbed over the parapet and trundled a barrel of beer to us. Then lots of them appeared without arms and of course our men showed themselves. Then though we had been warned that the Germans would attack us, two of our men broke out of trench and fetched the barrel. Then another broke out and brought back a lot of cigars. All the Saxons then came out of their trenches and called out to us to come across. Things were now getting to a pretty pass as our men were sharing our rations out to them which the Germans who seemed very badly fed were eager to get. So as discipline was breaking down I shouted out to them in German to send an officer out into the centre to speak to us and I clambered out over the parapet pursued by cheers of my Coy and shouts of “The Captain is going to talk to them”.
A German officer (a Captain) came out of his trench and we met in the middle and saluted and shook hands. Then five other officers came out- one could talk a little English but not so much as our German. So there we stood in the middle the Saxons hurrahing on one side and our chaps on the other. Their Captain seemed an excellent and most gentlemanly chap. I said to him “My orders are to my men in my trench and that there is no armistice”. I said I thought it was dangerous that his men should be running about in the open in front of us in case someone else along the line fired and then there might be trouble. He quite agreed and said his orders were the same but could we not have a peace at least for the day. He said they did not want to shoot, did we? I said “No, certainly I did not want to shoot but I had my orders to obey” and he agreed. So I suggested we should both return to our trenches and not shoot until tomorrow morning when we arranged we should signal with a flag that war was to begin again. I then had a brainwave. I did not know what to offer them for their courtesy but suddenly I thought of a plum pudding and hoped the officers would accept. I then went off to get it and the Saxon got his men back to the trenches. When I returned I gave him the pudding. He then produced two bottles of beer and a glass. I drank his health first (cheers from both sides) then they drank my health (more cheers). Then I talked a little and asked after the German officers I knew in China. Then we had a ceremonial farewell, many salutes, and bows and returned to the trenches. I wish I had a camera. The Saxons said the same.
Later. Boxing Day. Very fine, a hard frost. Not a shot all night. Men had sing-songs, ditto the enemy. He played the game and never tried to touch the wire entanglements or anything. At 8.30 I fired 3 shots in the air and stood on the parapet. He appeared on his. We waved our ‘Merry Christmas’ sign and he put up a sheet with ‘Thank you’ on it. He then bowed, saluted and got down, and our flags were lowered. Then they fired two shots in the air and we did ditto to shew war was on. But we have not fired since. My only regret is that I was not more fluent’.
The Stockwell account in the Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers agrees in most cases and adds that he was in a goatskin coat.
