On Christmas Day 1914, English and German soldiers decided not to fight each other. That is how De Telegraaf and the NRC write about that year. The men shared chocolate and cigarettes. "The cannon didn't shut up over Christmas, but on the western front the guns didn't go off here and there anyway."
An English soldier wrote home on Christmas Day that he and his comrades had sung to the Germans on Christmas Eve. "First we wished each other a happy Christmas. After a while they cried, "Englishmen, sing for us!" We pulled out our hymnals and sang 'Lead, kindly light', 'Abide with me' and 'While shepherds watched their flocks by night'. They shouted hurrah for us three times, and then we asked if they would sing for us. They did. Some of our guys climbed out of the trenches, went up to the wire barrier, and spoke to some Germans. So we agreed not to shoot on Christmas Day. The agreement was not violated. We could walk to the trenches without fear of being blown over.” Another English soldier writes:“They weren't bad guys by any means. You could hardly believe that we had been at each other's throats a few hours before.'
A third say the truce lasted all through Christmas Day, until midnight. Early in the morning the Germans began to appear over the trenches. Two came forward, waved a bottle and asked us to come closer. After a while I went to them with another, we had a box of chocolate with us. We shook hands and immediately there was cheers and clapping of hands from the trenches on both sides. We smoked and drank together, and gave them our chocolate. Soon numerous troupes were talking to each other. But in the distance we heard a fierce fight on both sides.'
A fourth writes:“We even took pictures of each other. The English played with a football. Before darkness fell, both sides withdrew to their “salons,” promising not to shoot each other during the holiday season. The French who were further away and who did not participate in the armistice were under fire all day. Everyone else roamed free all day. It is a pity that this day of peace in the war was not the final one.”