Christmas 1915

On Christmas Eve in the year 1915 during World War 1, British and German soldiers were fighting each other in the trenches in No Man's Land (a term mainly used to describe the area of land between two enemy trenches) near the village of Laventie in France, when the British Army regiment of the Royal Welch Fusiliers heard the Germans singing Silent Night. In response, they sang another carol, Good King Wenceslas. The next day, Christmas Day, both British and German soldiers got out from their trenches and greeted each other. For the next half an hour or so, the war was forgotten and both sides played a friendly game of football. Bertie Felstead, the last survivor of that football match, died on 22nd July 2001, aged 106 years.

Isn't it amazing that even in the middle of a war, two opposing sides can find peace? May 2009 be a Happy and Peaceful new year for everyone.