How many of us look to the next match to break up the stresses of our week? Sure it often creates its own frustrations but at the end of the day we leave it knowing that against the sometimes harsh realities of our daily lives, football matters but fortunately not that much. This board of ours serves the same purposes doesn't it? So with that in mind, I thought Christmas Day's an appropriate time for us to reflect on what must go down as one of the greatest games of football ever played. Caught a feature on 5-Live yesterday about someone whoâd found a letter from a WW1 ancestor in the family documents chest in his attic. The letter referred to the famous Christmas Day football match between Brits and Germans during an unofficial ceasefire agreed between the frontline troops in those Godawful trenches. Very much doubt the donkeys supping brandy 40 miles behind the lines would've approved, but there you go. The authorâs account went something like this. A message was passed between the opposing trenches to say itâs Christmas, if you donât fire then neither will we - and we can use the time to collect our dead. It wasnât clear which side sent the original message. Anyway, at first light one of the German soldiers (very bravely) stuck his head above the parapet - and for once nothing happened. Then a Brit did likewise and same thing. The Brit then cautiously clambered up and out into no-manâs land, nervously followed by a few others and they all set about the sombre task of bringing some of the bodies back. The Germans did the same. Then someone from the British trenches threw a football out and wasn't long before a match ensued between the grays and khakis. Whilst the author didnât go into detail about how many a side, scoreline etc., what he did add was that the game encouraged talk between the opposing troops. According to him the Germans were in a pretty bad way and some agreed to being taken prisoner, thus ending their part in the atrocious stalemate. Unfortunately, I didnât catch the date of the letter home, and it didnât identify the units involved, nor out of what must have been a 100 mile front, what sector they were in. However, the letter written by an ordinary infantryman at the time, certainly puts paid to the sceptics who suggest the story of a Christmas Day football match on no-manâs land couldnât have happened; their reasoning being the churned up and cratered nature of the land between the trenches, as well as the understandable hostility and grudges between the troops after months of conflict. Other accounts suggest that once the football had eased the tension, troops began swapping goodies: cigarettes, cigars, brandy, chocolate etc.. Whilst thereâs plenty of debate online (Google it) about what if anything, happened exactly and to what extent, the fact that this letter was written by someone at the time and without agenda, is music to the ears of anyone who , like me, is moved by moments of mass humanity amidst such madness. Bit like finding out there is a Santa after all⦠even if only within the spirit of the more conscious and caring of our species. It's in the game! Happy Christmas all.
Well timed and poignant post, Brix. Nations must defend themselves against aggression, but can there be a war that has ended, without the question lingering - for what?
Nice post Brix, was always hugely moved by what little of that story I knew - will read further. Happy Christmas mate.
Fantastic post Brix. The real tragedy was that the same young men were being made to shoot and kill each other just a few hours later. Lest we forget .
I remember being taught about that incident in school. Apparently the Generals (and politicians) were apoplectic with rage when they heard of it. I wonder how many wars would there be if the politicians of the belligerent Nations had to send at least one of their children to the front line to do their bit? I'm betting that the sabre-rattlers would quickly be thinking of more diplomatic ways to solve such problems. Was there a single US Senator's son that went to War in Iraq?
Xmas? Fuggedabaatit Christians killed John Lennon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_David_Chapman [video=youtube;DCX3ZNDZAwY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCX3ZNDZAwY[/video]
This world is rotten and yet a candle always burns . News stories of deaths on roads make headlines today but won't when the whole bloody world goes back to work on Thursday Fantastic post by Brixton what am I doing on here ?
Probably not. In the long-term, however, this situation is relative recent. During antiquity,the medieval period, and even more recently, the nobility (that is, the ruling class or elite comparable, in some senses, to the modern US senate) regularly sent their sons to war. It was, in fact, seen as their duty and even function in society: they saw themselves as the 'natural' leaders of society, including leadership in war and responsibility for its promulgation. It is, perhaps, partly the legacy of these ideals that continues to help perpetuate warfare amongst the so-called 'civilised' western nations, even though many of us find these 'liberation' exercises repugnant.
...and what about the idea of football being the universal language and alternative to war? Is a good sing, no?
I would rate Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao and any number of Nazis and a bit higher than Blair in the war criminal stakes bruv.
What was his take on it then? I know it'd be a hand-me-down, but what's your understanding? Be interesting to read.
