Christmas in Flanders Fields, 1914
World War I began July 28, 1914. Five months into the war something amazing happened. An unofficial truce took place between German and British soldiers in an area of Belgium known as Flanders. On December 25, 1914, at many places along the British front, German and British soldiers could be seen walking around in the open amongst each other. The area between the two trenches was called “no man’s land.” It is here that soldiers from opposite sides of the war met together to bury their dead and ended up shaking hands and wishing each other a “Merry Christmas.” This “fraternizing” with the enemy didn’t last long, though, as those in higher command got word of what was happening.
Interestingly,Six months later a poem would be written about the area of Flanders. It wouldn’t be published until December of the next year.
In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
~ John McCrae
~Just-a-Thought~ 