There has been much made of the so-called 1914 Christmas Day Truce recently, in particular a 'claimed' football match between German and British troops. But what actually ended the truce?
No - to be honest I've never come across any evidence to confirm that such a match actually took place.
My grandfather was there and I can distinctly remember him telling me there were no gemrans involved - so, no....
I read somewhere that the game was between German and Scottish troops. The match ended when the English generals ordered the shelling of the players - and they didn't mind which side they hit.
The only 'eye-witness' reports I've come across that mention a game as having been played suggest that it was a kick about between British troops only. So, no - that's not the answer either. As a clue, the answer I'm looking for was unearthed by a group of kids from a Scottish Academy, when they were researching war casualties from their particular area.
I think the truce finished on Jan 3rd because the high command didn't approve - the officers of both sides met and arranged for a recommencement of hostilities after an hours notice.(Maybe they should have shot their officers instead !)
Not all the soldiers stopped. Some of the Saschen troopers stopped but Prussian did not. Also I think some of the troops had to be replaced as they did not start shooting again afterwards. The answer is the soldiers were ordered to start again.
I think I'll award this one to AK as he was close... A group of Scottish schoolkids were researching WWI casualties from their particular village and came across the story of 20 year-old Rifleman Walter Smith. During the truce, he was shot by a sniper - initially thought to be a German, but the Germans apologised and also pointed out the real culprit, a Prussian further down the frontline. That act ended the truce and saw hostilities recommence. Over to AK
Ok. a quickie until AK. returns. Which is the smallest town in England (by population) to have had a football club in the top tier of English football ?
