The Great War Christmas Truce

During the Great War of '14-'18 an unofficial truce took place near Ypres in Belgium.

On Christmas Eve 1914, German troops began decorating their trenches and singing carols, including Stille Nacht. The British in their trenches responded by singing English carols.
The two sides shouted Christmas greetings, and soon across "No man's land" gifts were exchanged, comrades buried, prayers said, and indeed a football match played.

In the 1970s Mike Harding wrote and sang a brilliant song called "Christmas 1914", well worth a listen to.
"Christmas Truce" by Malcolm Brown and Shirley Seaton is a superb book covering the subject.

The "Shot heard 'round the world"

Today, as we all know, is the anniversary of the assassination Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo by the young Bosnian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

This became the justification for events that led to the Great War of 1914-1918.

This was the single most catastrophic event to befall Europe, since the Bubonic Plague of the 14th century.

Strangely enough, there were huge ramifications, an end to empires, the greater emancipation of women, and of course the rise of the Labour Party.

It also puts me in mind of Henry Allingham who celebrated his 113th birthday a few weeks back. Mr Allingham is the oldest ever surviving member of any of the British Armed Forces and the oldest surviving veteran of the Great War.

And on the occasion of the first ever Armed Forces Day, our thoughts go to him and all those who served the nation.