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Sunday, December 25, 2011

Listening To The Pipes Of Peace

When I was much younger I saw a video that stuck with me even after all these years.  I always remembered the story but I never could remember the name of the song.  It was sung by Paul McCartney but other than the story that played out in the video I couldn't remember anything else.



This year I decided to look around to see if I could find it and after a quick Google search it popped right up, along several other pages about the historic Christmas Truce of 1914.

As the first year of the Great War drew to a close, thousands of British and German soldiers along the Western Front engaged in an unofficial ceasefire.  Rifles set aside, soldiers from both sides sing Christmas carols across No-Man's Land and in some stretches of the Front they even exchanged gifts and souvenirs.

British and German soldiers meeting in No Man's Land during the Christmas Truce

High command on both sides were furious when they heard about this happening and issued strict orders forbidding friendly communication with enemy troops.  Though a few units disobeyed these orders later in the War, it was never on the massive scale that occurred that first Christmas.  Even so it's good to know that during one of the most brutal conflicts in the history of man people were able to set aside their differences for even just one day in celebration of the season.

Happy Holidays to you and yours, and we hope that all of you have a joyous and safe holiday season.


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