The Christmas Truce
Staying with the military theme, with Christmas coming up, the centenary of the event and because of Sainsbury's Christmas advert, I thought this would be a well suited article for this week.
Shown below is the Sainsbury's advert.
Shown below is the Sainsbury's advert.
I don't want to just write an article on an advert, so I will make this part short. Whether you believe Sainsbury's should be able to make the advert or not you have to admire how beautiful and how well made the advert actually is.
This is my opinion on the advert, as seen on the RootsChat thread about it, which you will have to be a member to read the whole thread.
I actually found the advert very good and is certainly up there with Monty The Penguin as the best advert this Christmas. The Royal British Legion must have been happy with it as they are in partnership with them and they even tweeted about the advert.
But we do have to remember it is the centenary of when the Christmas Truce happened which did create joy for the soldiers and extinguish some of the fear of being killed. But it also brings out one of the true meanings of Christmas that Christmas is for sharing with other people and being happy.
So in my opinion, it is a great Christmas advert and is one of two that stand out so far this year. The chocolate bar looks very realistic for the time - I might have to go and get one seeming that the profits for it go to the legion as well.
The first idea of the truce came from Pope Benedict XV on the 7 December 1914, who called for an official truce asking, "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang". However it was never an official truce and fighting still took part in some places.
It started on Christmas Eve, when the Germans started decorating their trenches in Ypres and in Saint-Yvon and singing carols like Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British subsequently responded by singing carols of their own.
They then started to shout to each other and begin conversations, like this one written in the Norfolk Chronicle, via a letter from Private H Scrutton, from the Essex Regiment:
From out trenches: "Good morning Fritz." (No answer).
"Good morning Fritz." (Still no answer).
"GOOD MORNING FRITZ."
From German trenches: "Good morning."
From our trench: "How are you?"
"All right."
"Come over here, Fritz."
"No. If I come I get shot."
"No you won't. Come on."
"No fear."
"Come and get some fags, Fritz."
"No. You come half way and I meet you."
"All right."
One of our fellows thereupon stuffed his pocket with fags and got over the trench.. The German got over his trench, and right enough they met half way and shook hands, Fritz taking the fags and giving cheese in exchange."
It is also known that there was a football match, although due to the scale of the French-German boarder there was probably more than one. There would not have been a referee, with over a hundred on each side. But there were also reports that they also were able to bury their dead soldiers.
The amount of time the truce occurs vary along the line from a few hours on Christmas Day to the week between Christmas and New Year.
In the following year there was a ceasefire but it was a lot less widespread than in 1914. In 1916, after the battles at Somme and Verndun there was no known truce. However in one letter from Private Ronald Mackinnon there was a truce between the German and Canadian soldiers in 1916 but little is known about this.
Published: 20 November 2014
This is my opinion on the advert, as seen on the RootsChat thread about it, which you will have to be a member to read the whole thread.
I actually found the advert very good and is certainly up there with Monty The Penguin as the best advert this Christmas. The Royal British Legion must have been happy with it as they are in partnership with them and they even tweeted about the advert.
But we do have to remember it is the centenary of when the Christmas Truce happened which did create joy for the soldiers and extinguish some of the fear of being killed. But it also brings out one of the true meanings of Christmas that Christmas is for sharing with other people and being happy.
So in my opinion, it is a great Christmas advert and is one of two that stand out so far this year. The chocolate bar looks very realistic for the time - I might have to go and get one seeming that the profits for it go to the legion as well.
The first idea of the truce came from Pope Benedict XV on the 7 December 1914, who called for an official truce asking, "that the guns may fall silent at least upon the night the angels sang". However it was never an official truce and fighting still took part in some places.
It started on Christmas Eve, when the Germans started decorating their trenches in Ypres and in Saint-Yvon and singing carols like Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The British subsequently responded by singing carols of their own.
They then started to shout to each other and begin conversations, like this one written in the Norfolk Chronicle, via a letter from Private H Scrutton, from the Essex Regiment:
From out trenches: "Good morning Fritz." (No answer).
"Good morning Fritz." (Still no answer).
"GOOD MORNING FRITZ."
From German trenches: "Good morning."
From our trench: "How are you?"
"All right."
"Come over here, Fritz."
"No. If I come I get shot."
"No you won't. Come on."
"No fear."
"Come and get some fags, Fritz."
"No. You come half way and I meet you."
"All right."
One of our fellows thereupon stuffed his pocket with fags and got over the trench.. The German got over his trench, and right enough they met half way and shook hands, Fritz taking the fags and giving cheese in exchange."
It is also known that there was a football match, although due to the scale of the French-German boarder there was probably more than one. There would not have been a referee, with over a hundred on each side. But there were also reports that they also were able to bury their dead soldiers.
The amount of time the truce occurs vary along the line from a few hours on Christmas Day to the week between Christmas and New Year.
In the following year there was a ceasefire but it was a lot less widespread than in 1914. In 1916, after the battles at Somme and Verndun there was no known truce. However in one letter from Private Ronald Mackinnon there was a truce between the German and Canadian soldiers in 1916 but little is known about this.
Published: 20 November 2014
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*Note - No copyright infringement was intended. If there is a breach in copyright contact me through the 'Contact' section so it can be removed. All photos are Copyright © 2014 Harry Clarke. All Rights Reserved. The video is courtesy of Sainsbury's via YouTube. The photo on the 'Home' page for this article is courtesy of State Of The Game.