All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914

As the campfire burns, every soldier - I think was excitement more than anything that made me join up.

Far away Because we all thought the war would be over by Christmas.

We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas - During the winter of 1914 it was not unusual for little groups of men to gather in the front trench And there hold impromptu concerts, singing patriotic and sentimental songs.

It's a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know And on calm evenings, songs from one line floated to the trenches on the other side.

O tannenbaum, o tannenbaum In the middle of the war we had ourselves a merry Christmas.

All is calm - [Announcer] This program is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

A private corporation funded by the American people.

Will ye go to Flanders My Mally O?

Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally O?

There we'll get wine and brandy And sack and sugar-candy Will ye go to Flanders My Mally O?

Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally O?

And see the bonny sodjers, my Mally O They'll gie the pipes a blaw Wi' their plaids and kilts sae braw The fairest o' them a', My Mally O Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally O?

And see the chief commanders, my Mally O You'll see the bullets fly And the soldiers how they die And the ladies, how they cry My Mally O Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally O?

And join the bold hielanders My Mally O?

Ye'll hear the captains callin' And see the sergeants crawlin' And a' the sodjers fallin' My Mally O My Mally O My Mally O My Mally O My Mally O My Mally O Come on and join Come on and join Come on and join Lord Kitchener's Army Come on and join Come on and join Come on and join Lord Kitchener's Army 10 bob a week, plenty grub to eat Bloody great boots, make blisters on your feet Come on and join - Britons, Kitchener wants you!

Join your Country's Army.

God save the King!

- Your king and country need you!

A call to arms!

An addition of 100,000 men is immediately necessary for the present grave national emergency.

God save the King!

- Old Public School and University Men's Committee makes an urgent appeal to their fellow Public School and University men to enlist at once.

God save the King!

- Down with the Germans, down with them all!

O, army and navy be sure of their fall.

Spare not one, the deceitful spies.

Cut out their tongues!

Pull out their eyes; - [Men] Down, down, down with them all!

- Your army is still calling.

Fighting men, fall in!

God save our gracious king Long live our noble king God save the king; Send him victorious Happy and glorious Long to reign over us; God save the King - You can't imagine the war fever in those days.

Everyone thought we would beat the Germans.

The war would be over by Christmas.

I wanted to be a soldier - I wanted to fight for England.

So, I went with my friends to The Duke of York's Headquarters in Sloane Square and enlisted.

Dick Barron, 2nd London Mounted Brigade.

- I wished to goodness I were in the army.

I felt restless, excited, eager to do something desperate for the cause of England.

And then the impulse came, sending the blood tingling all over my body.

Why not join the army now?

A great and glorious suggestion.

I might not be too late.

Private W. T. Colyer, Artists' Rifles.

- I think it was excitement more than anything that made me join up.

I lived in the country, and there were not many boys my age, so I thought it would be nice to be with a lot of lads on something of a picnic, because we all thought the war'd be over by Christmas.

Robert Burns, 7th, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.

- [Men] I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty, King George the Fifth.

And that I will, as in duty bound, faithfully defend His Majesty against all enemies, and will observe and obey all orders of the generals and officers set over me.

So help me, God.

Brother Bertie went away To do his bit the other day With a smile on his lips And his Lieutenant' pips On his shoulders, bright and gay As the train moved out he said "Remember me to all the birds" Then he wagged his paw and went away to war Shouting out these pathetic words Goodbye-ee Goodbye-ee Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee Though it's hard to part I know How I know I'll be tickled to death to go Don't cry-ee, don't sigh-ee There's a silver lining in the sky-ee Bonsoir old thing, cheerio, chin-chin Nah-poo, toodle-oo, goodbye-ee - All the villages en route were out to welcome us and say farewell.

Among them was an old aunt of mine, my Aunt Eliza, who I was very pleased to see.

When the time came to march off, I threw my arms around her and said, "Goodbye, Aunt Eliza."

This is heard by my pals, and they all took up the cry.

- [Men] Goodbye, Aunt Eliza!

- The old lady was laughing, and crying.

She never forgot that farewell.

Tom MacDonald, Royal Sussex Regiment.

Don't cry-ee, don't sigh-ee There's a silver lining in the sky-ee Bonsoir old thing!

Cheerio, chin-chin!

Nah-poo, toodle-oo, goodbye-ee - The whole of the ship's company, from the top deck right down, including ourselves, suddenly burst into song.

It's a long way to Tipperary It's a long way to go It's a long way to Tipperary To the sweetest girl I know Goodbye Piccadilly Farewell Leicester Square It's a long long way to Tipperary But my heart's right there - Up to then the whole thing had been most enjoyable, but my heart stood still.

I suddenly realized that this was warfare - I may not return, you know.

It had been a field day up till then, I enjoyed everything.

But now we were on our way.

Dick Barron, 2nd London Mounted Brigade.

- Nothing could've been more romantic than our passing out into the open sea.

The moving boat left a visible track on the calm water, which seemed to stretch right back to the shore, as though to remind us we could never be entirely cutoff from the dear land of our birth.

Goodbye, good ol' England!

Goodbye!

Private W. T. Colyer, Artists' Rifles.

Farewell Leicester Square!

It's a long long way to Tipperary But my heart's right there singing "Les Godillots") - When we went up it was pouring with rain, I remember.

Raining hard.

We had no idea what we were going into, we were just on foot, marching, laden with all our equipment, all you could carry and suddenly you begin to see the sky lighting up, flashing, flashing, flashing... and you begin to hear the noise of the guns.

You know you're getting near.

Jack Rogers, Sherwood Foresters.

(men humming "Pack up Your Troubles In An Old Kit Bag") - Well, Dad, I have been in the trenches from last Friday until Tuesday and would've enjoyed it very much, only for the rain, which made us look like Mudlarks.

We had a few narrow escapes - last Sunday the Germans sent us a few presents from the Kaiser, they were shrapnel shells, or as we call them, Jack Johnsons.

They came very near our trench, but never hurt anybody.

(men laughing) And the boys were laughing every time one bursted.

There seems to be no fear in the old Lincolns.

No one seems to realize it is active service.

PS: We get a nice drop of rum every day.

Private Jack Sweeney, First Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment.

Pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag And smile, smile, smile While you've a lucifer to light your fag Smile, boys, that's the style What's the use of worrying It never was worthwhile So pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag And smile, smile, smile - There are the greatest rats in the trenches that you ever saw.

They are so tame they won't run away, but just toddle along in front of you just out of reach.

One of our men went up to one the other day and kicked it like a football.

2nd Lieutenant Geoffrey Lillywhite, Royal Engineers.

- I had a lice hunt this forenoon, and oh, my, I caught thousands - quite big fat ones, and wee fellows, they get into the folds of your kilt down the seems of your shirt, the devils, how they got there, I don't know - nothing kills them - powders, et cetera, have no effect.

The only way is to heave a few rum jars at them.

Private Peter McGregor, 14th Battalion Argyll and Sutherland, Highlanders.

So, pack up your troubles in your old kit-bag And smile, smile, smile If you want to find the sergeant-major I know where he is I know where he is I know where he is If you want to find the sergeant-major I know where he is Theivin' all the squaddies' rum I've seen him, I've seen him Theivin' all the squaddies' rum I seen him theivin' all the squaddies' rum If you want to find a buckshee private I know where he is I know where he is I know where is If you want to find a buckshee private I now where he is Buried in a deep shell hole I've seen him, I've seen him Buried in a deep shell hole I've seen him buried in a deep shell hole - At night we would be on sentry, head and shoulders above the trench, gazing into No Man's Land, which was lines of tangled barbed wire in front of our trench, and also in front of the Germans.

Only yards at times separated us.

In fact, so close you could hear a chap coughing.

Private Tom MacDonald, 9th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment.

- Five minutes ago I heard a sniper fire.

Why did he do it?

Starlight overhead - Blank stars.

I'm wide awake; and some chap's dead.

Siegfried Sassoon, Royal Welch Fusiliers.

If you want to find the whole battalion I know where they are I know where they are I know where they are If you want to find the whole battalion I know where they are Hangin' on the old barbed wire I've seen 'em, I've seen 'em Hanging on the old barbed wire I've seen 'em hanging on the old barbed wire - Joe and I, we were a pair of good pals.

We shared everything, down to the paper and pen we needed to write home with and the blacking to polish our buttons, We were like that.

It was long distance shelling that got him.

Joe had one fault, he was too careless, he stood up instead of keeping down in the trench, he stood up and a lump of shrapnel got him.

Poor Joe.

He moaned.

I wanted to attend to him, but I couldn't.

I just said that the stretcher bearers were coming they'd take him away.

He'd already gone over when they came.

(sniffs) I never touched anything he had, you know, to remember him by, I let it all go with him.

That was me pal gone (sniffs) and I was too full to speak to anybody after that.

I never palled up with anybody else, not after you got that feeling.

George Littlefair, Durham Light Infantry.

I want to go home I want to go home The whizzbangs and shrapnel around me do roar I don't want this old war anymore Take me far o'er the sea Where the Alleman cannot get me Oh, my, I don't want to die I want to go home - War broke and now the winter of the world with perishing great darkness closes in... For after spring had bloomed in early Greece and summer blazed her glory out with Rome.

And autumn softly fell, a harvest home...

But now, for us, wild winter and the need of sowings for new spring, And blood for seed.

'1914' by Wilfred Owen, Manchester Regiment.

Oh my, I don't want to die I want to go home I want to go home The war aint so bad if you're wearin' a star But bein' a private don't get you so far Take me far o'er the sea Where the snipers they can't get at me Oh my, I don't want to die I want to go home When this bloody war is over No more soldiering for me When I get my civvy clothes on Oh, how happy we shall be People said when we enlisted Fame and medals we would win But the fame is in the God-room And the medals made of tin - We were in the trenches on iron rations and were due to leave the line, when some bright spark at Divisional Headquarters said, "Oh, keep the men on iron rations "when they come out on rest."

And why was that?

Oh, it was to "Make the men hardy, don't you know."

Now this was winter, November, Well, the men didn't like this at all And they stuck a notice up, and it said, "No hot rations, no effing fight."

Andrew Bowie, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.

Grousing, grousing, grousing Always bloody well grousing Grousing at the rations And grousing at the pay - Dearest Mater, with a hey-ho, the wind and the rain, the rain it raineth every day.

Except when it's snowing.

Captain Harry Yoxall, King's Royal Rifle Corps.

Raining, raining, raining Always bloody well raining Raining all the morning And raining all the night - The heavy rain has almost flooded the trenches, particularly in the neighborhood of Ploegsteert.

The Germans are suffering as much as we are!

The men in the trenches say the Saxons call across to them and say they "have had enough of it!"

General Sir John French, British Expeditionary Force.

- During the winter of 1914 it was not unusual for little groups of men to gather in the front trench, and there hold impromptu concerts, singing patriotic and sentimental songs.

The Germans did much the same, and on calm evenings songs from one line floated to the trenches on the other side, and were there received with applause.

And sometimes calls for an encore.

Official History, 6 Gordon Highlander.

(singing "Deutschlandlied") - Bravo, Fritz!

Bravo!

Keep the home fires burning While your hearts are yearning Though your lads are far away They dream of home There's a silver lining Through the dark clouds shining Turn the dark cloud inside out 'Til the boys come home - Dear Son, Cheer up and look after your mother for Dad.

Say your prayers for me every night so Dad will come back to you.

Bless you and good night.

Dad.

- This is a red-letter day.

My parcel came this morning with a tin of peaches, loaf and butter, fish paste, tobacco, sleeping helmet, chocolate, a pair of socks and a towel.

Had peaches for sweet at dinner and fish paste for tea.

Grand.

Private Frank Bass, 9th Battalion Norfolk Regiment.

- I wish the sea were not so wide that parts me from my love, I wish that things men do below were known to God above.

I wish that I were back again in Glens of Donegal, They'll call me a coward if I return.

But a hero if I fall.

Patrick MacGill, London Irish Regiment.

- What would happen I wonder, if the armies suddenly and simultaneously went on strike and said some other method must be found of settling this dispute?

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, November 1914.

(men humming) - In the name of the Divinity, I beseech thee to cease the clang of arms while Christendom celebrates The Feast of the World's Redemption.

Pope Benedict XV.

December 7th, 1914.

- The German leaders accepted the Holy Father's appeal for a cease-fire at once, But the leaders of the Allied Forces did not.

The Pope's request for the signing of a Christmas Truce was arrogantly rejected.

- Friendly intercourse with the enemy, unofficial armistices and the exchange of tobacco and other comforts, however tempting and occasionally amusing they may be, are absolutely prohibited.

G.T.

Forrestier-Walker, Brigadier General.

December 1914.

- Dear mothers of England, your soldier sons send their fond love to you overseas this Christmas Day In the chorus we now unite in singing.

Seated 'round the campfire on a Christmas Day A band of British soldiers in a land so far away Are longing for their loved ones In the dear homeland To wish them Merry Christmas And take them by the hand As the campfire burns every soldier yearns For the dear ones far away God bless mother, father, sister, brother, At home on Christmas Day We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year - December 24th, 1914.

I have got a select little party together who, led by my stentorian voice, are going to take up position in our trenches where we are closest to the enemy, about 80 yards, And from 10:00 p.m. onwards we are going to give the enemy every conceivable song in harmony, from carols to 'Tipperary'... (chuckles) My fellows are most amused with the idea, And will make a rare noise when we get at it.

Our object will be to drown the now too-familiar strains of 'Deutschland Uber Alles' and the 'Wacht am Rhein' we hear from their trenches every evening.

Captain Sir Edward Hulse, Scots Guards.

(Singing "Wacht am Rein") - Frohe Weihnachten, Tommy!

- And a Happy Christmas to you, Fritz!

- But dinna' o'er eat yourself wi' they sausages!

- Hey, Tommy, Come over here!

- Come over here, yourself!

(men laughing) (singing "Wacht am Rhein") It was Christmas Day in the cookhouse The happiest day of the year Men's hearts were full of gladness And their bellies full of beer When in came Private Shorthouse His face as bold as brass - What'd he say?

Saying, "We don't want your Christmas pudding You can stick it up your - " Tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy O, tidings of comfort and joy It was Christmas day in the harem The eunuchs were standing 'round And hundreds of beautiful women Were stretched out on the ground (men whistling) When in come the lordly sultan Gazing on his mighty halls Saying, "What do you want for Christmas, boys?"

And the eunuchs answered - Tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy O, tidings of comfort and joy (singing "O Tannenbaum") - Midnight.

We arrive in single file, all quiet in line.

The Germans opposite are singing, The Christmas carol is cut up by rifle fire.

Poor little God of Love, born in this night, How could you ever have loved mankind?

Maurice Laurentin, commandant 6e compagnie.

(singing "O Tannenbaum") - Then at darkness we marched forward to the trenches like Father Christmas with parcels hanging from us.

All was quiet.

No shooting.

Little snow.

We placed a tiny Christmas tree in our dugout - The company commander, myself, the lieutenant, and the two orderlies.

We placed a second lighted tree on the parapet.

Hugo Klemm of the 133rd Saxon Regiment.

- Like the footlights of a theater, it was a beautiful moonlit night, frost on the ground, white almost everywhere; And there was a lot of commotion in the German trenches And then there were those lights - I don't know what they were.

And then they sang, "Stille Nacht".

(singing "Stille Nacht") I shall never forget it.

It was one of the highlights of my life.

Albert Moren of the 2nd Queen's Regiment.

(singing "Stille Nacht") - Looking out over the parapet, we could see that he had left his trench and was standing on the top bank, in the open and in full view.

He then walked towards us and stood in the middle of No Man's Land.

He either had full confidence in the Christian spirit of Christmas Day, or was completely 'round the twist but, whatever it was, we admired his guts.

(singing "Stille Nacht") - One of our company followed suit and went out to meet him and there they were, shaking hands like a couple of long lost school chums.

It was unbelievable.

In no time at all, a whole crowd of Germans had left their trench and gathered around the two of them, where eventually, the whole of my company assembled.

Sergeant G.H.

Morgan, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

- They came out of their trenches and walked across unarmed.

What were our men to do?

Shoot?

You could not shoot unarmed men.

Count Edward Gleichen, Brigadier General, 15th Brigade.

- Then one German took a chance and jumped up on top of the trench and shouted out, "Happy Christmas, Tommy!"

So, of course, our boys said, "If he can do it, we can do it."

And we all jumped up.

A sergeant-major shouted, "Get down!"

But we said, "Shut up, Sergeant.

It's Christmas time!"

(singing "Stille Nacht") Silent night Silent night Silent night Holy night Holy night Holy night All is calm All is bright 'Round yon virgin, mother and child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace Silent night Holy night (singing "Silent Night" in canon in English, German & French) Peace on earth to all Peace on earth to all All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is calm All is bright - Out of the darkness we could hear laughter and see lighted matches.

Where they couldn't talk the language they were making themselves understood by signs.

Here we were laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill.

- Very nice fellows to look at, they looked more like university students than soldiers, And one of them said, - We don't want to kill you, and you don't want to kill us.

So, why shoot?

- You are Anglo-Saxons; we are Saxons.

We not want to fight you.

- What about the Kaiser then old lad?

What do you think of the Kaiser, eh?

- Bring him here and we'll shoot him for you.

(laughing) - One German said to me, - Do you know where the Essex Road in London is?

- Yes, my uncle had a shoe-repairing shop there.

- That's funny.

There's a barbershop on the other side where I used to work.

- They could all speak very good English, because before the war Britain was 'invaded' by Germans.

Every pork butcher was German, every barber's shop was German, And they were all over here getting the lowdown on the country.

It's ironic when you think about it, that he must have shaved my uncle at times and yet my bullet might have found him and his bullet might have found me.

(singing "Er Is Een Kindeke Geboren") - Every sort of souvenir was exchanged, addresses given and received, photos of families shown, et cetera.

One of our fellows offered a German a cigarette; The German said... - Virginian?

- Aye straight cut.

- No, thanks.

I only smoke Turkish!

(laughs) - It gave us all a good laugh.

- I annexed a tin of raspberry from the sergeant's dugout and gave it to a stodgy and bespectacled Saxon.

In return, he gave me a leather case containing five cigars.

- In my mouth is a pipe presented by Princess Mary...

In the pipe is German tobacco.

"Ha, ha," you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured trench.

O, dear, no!

From a German soldier.

Yes a live German soldier from his own trench!

- The prize souvenir however was a German Regular's Dress Helmet, the celebrated Pickelhaube.

Our currency in this bartering was Bully Beef and Tickler's Plum and Apple, so-called jam.

They asked us for marmalade but we had not seen any ourselves since leaving England.

- One of the German officers took a photo of German and English soldiers arm-in-arm with exchanged caps and helmets.

They were really magnificent in the whole thing.

And jolly good sorts.

I have now a very different opinion of the Germans.

- We are having another truce on New Year's Day as the Germans want to see how the photos come out!

(laughing) - We all sang every song we could think of, a bonfire was lit and everyone walked about as though it were a picnic.

- The First Noel, O Tannenbaum, and Oh Come All Ye Faithful.

(chuckles) I thought this an extraordinary thing - two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.

Noel Noel Born is the King of Israel (singing "Ihr Kinderlein, kommet") Oh come to the manger in Bethlehem's stall (singing in canon) And see, with rejoicing this glorious sight Our father in heaven has sent us this night - Commanding Officer George Paynter arrived on the scene with a hearty... - Well, me lads, a merry Christmas to you!

This is damned comic, isn't it?

I brought you over something to celebrate this funny show with.

- And he produced from his pocket a large bottle of rum, not ration rum, but the proper stuff.

(men cheer) A large shout went up, he uncorked it, and in a heavy, ceremonious manner, drank our healths - in the name of his Kameraden.

A Wassail, a wassail, all over the town Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown Our bowl it is made from the white maple tree With the wassailing bowl we'll drink un-to thee And here's to our horse and to his right ear May God send our master a happy new year A happy new year as e'er he may see With the wassailing bowl we'll drink un-to thee And here's to Broad Mary and to her broad horn May God send our master a good crop of corn A good crop of corn, that we may all see With the wassailing bowl we'll drink unto thee And here is to Fill-pail and to her left ear Pray God send our master a happy new year A happy new year as e'er he did see With the wassailing bowl we'll drink un-to thee And here's to our mare and to her right eye God send our mistress a good Christmas pie A good Christmas pie as e'er she did see With the wassailing bowl we'll drink unto thee To thee Come butler, come fill us a bowl of the best We hope that your soul in heaven may rest But if you do draw us a bowl of the small Then down shall go butler, bowl and all A Wassail, a wassail, all over the town Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown Our bowl it is made from the white maple tree With the wassailing bowl we'll drink un-to thee A Wassail, a wassail, all over the town Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown Our bowl it is made from the white maple tree With the wassailing bowl we'll drink un-to thee We'll drink un-to thee Drink un-to thee Drink un-to thee (singing "Minuit chretiens") - And then a voice from across the trenches near Polygon Wood; it was Victor Granier of the Paris Opera.

The troops: English, French, German forgot to fire while listening to that wonderful tenor voice.

(singing "Minuit chretiens") - It was then possible to take note of many fallen comrades, both German and English who had lain between the two lines under a blanket of snow, the result of a battle of the previous November between Jager from our Corps and the English.

So, in the gray light of dawn our platoon commander, Lieutenant Grosse, met an English officer and agreed to bury the dead behind the two lines.

Hugo Klemm, of the 133rd Saxon Regiment.

Will ye go to Flanders, my Mally O And join the bold hielanders, my Mally O Ye'll, hear the captains callin' And see the sergeants crawlin' And a'the sodjers fallin' My Mally O - This officer kept on pointing to our dead and saying... - Les braves, c'est bien dommage.

- Those brave men, it's such a shame.

- Then in the lull of midnight, gentle arms Lifted him slowly down the slopes of death, Lest he should hear again the mad alarms Of battle, dying moans and painful breath.

And where the earth was soft for flowers we made a grave for him that he might better rest.

So, spring shall come and leave it sweet arrayed, and there the lark shall turn her dewy nest.

Francis Edward Ledwidge, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Artillery Wood Cemetery, Plat II, Row B, Grave Five.

(singing "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen") - An English lieutenant said there was a comrade who had been killed the previous afternoon, and they wish to bury this man.

I said, "Why not?

Of course you can do it."

And so they brought the dead man, laid him on the ground, and we all laid a handful of earth upon him.

Captain Joseph Seward, 17th Bavarian Regiment.

- And I'm not afraid to tell you when I was looking at his grave the tears was running down my face.

And I'm not afraid to say it.

'cos we were bosom pals and we never even said 'so long' to one another.

George Littlefair, Durham Light Infantry.

Oh, Flow'r whose fragrance tender With sweetness fills the air Dispel with glorious splendour The darkness everywhere True Man, yet very God From sin and death now save us And shed our every load - Burying the dead was awful, too awful to describe, so I won't attempt it, but the ceremony that followed was different.

We had a most wonderful joint burial service.

Our Padre arranged prayers and psalm.

They were read first in English by our Padre, and then in German by a boy who was studying for the ministry.

The Germans formed up on one side, the English on the other, the officers standing in front.

Every head bared.

Yes, I think it was a sight one will never see again.

Second Lieutenant Arthur Pelham-Burn of the 6 Gordon Highlanders.

- The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

(speaking German) - Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

(speaking German) - Later, a Scottish soldier appeared with a football, which seemed to come from nowhere.

(men laughing) And a few minutes later a real football match got underway.

The Scots marked their goalmouth with their strange hats and we did the same with ours.

It was far from easy to play on the frozen ground but we continued keeping rigorously to the rules.

Us Germans really roared when a gust of wind revealed that the Scots wore no drawers under their kilts!

(laughs) (whistling) And we hooted and whistled every time we caught an impudent glimpse of one posterior belonging to one of 'yesterday's enemies'.

But after an hour's play, when our commanding officer heard about it, he sent in orders that we must put a stop to it.

- Halt!

- A little later we drifted back to our trenches, and the fraternization ended.

The game finished with a score of three to two in favor of Fritz against Tommy.

Oberstleutnant Johannes Niemann, of the 133rd Royal Saxon Regiment.

- And so we had sung everything from 'Good King Wenceslas' down to the ordinary Tommie's songs.

And ended up with 'Auld Lang Syne,' which we all, English, Scots, Irish, Prussian, Wurtembergers joined in.

It was absolutely astounding, and if I had seen it in a cinematograph film I should've sworn that it was faked.

Captain Sir Edward Hulse, Scots Guards.

For auld lang syne, my dear For auld lang syne We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne We twa hae run about the braes And pou'd the gowans fine But we've wander'd mony a weary fit Sin auld lang syne - It was as if we had decided to end the fighting all by ourselves.

Could it really have happened like this?

If all the troops, all along the line had refused to fight on both sides, would the war have ended there and then?

If we had all walked away at that point, could the result had been a truce?

I doubt it, but it's a thought.

Sergeant G. H. Morgan, Royal Warwickshire Regiment.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere And gies a hand o' thine We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne For auld lang syne, my dear For auld lang syne We'll take a cup o' kindness yet For auld lang syne - There was general handshaking, arms were resumed, and everyone crawled back to his trench.

- Calvary corps!

The Commander-in-Chief views with grave displeasure the reports he has received on recent incidents of unauthorized intercourse with the enemy and directs that the officers concerned be so informed.

It appears that troops under an improper use of a flag of truce and on occasions without that formality have entered into communication with the enemy.

It is to be clearly understood that on no account will any officer or man take such action.

Lieutenant General C.F.N.

Macready, British Army, January 1st, 1915.

We're here because We're here because We're here because we're here We're here because We're here because We're here because we're here We're here because We're here because We're here because we're here - A German soldier was walking along his parapet carrying a bucket when one of the members of my company further up the line took deliberate aim and shot him.

Inevitable, perhaps.

Ordered?

Maybe.

But I felt unhappy that it was one of us who'd broken the unwritten trust.

The unfortunate man no sooner hit the ground when they hit us with everything they had, a rapid fire to exceed all previous firings.

The war was on again, and with a vengeance!

(men shouting over each other) (singing over each other) GOD SAVE THE KING - The men would hold to the same bit of earth for Christmas 1915, 1916, and 1917; however, the Christmas Truce was never to be repeated.

By the end of the war, 68 million men had been mobilized, More than nine million killed.

- Today, No Man's Land is home to cattle, sheep, hundreds of cemeteries, and thousands of unmarked graves.

From the air, the lines of the trenches are still visible.

Drawn by a shift in the color patterns of the crops growing below.

- In the small Belgian town of Ypres, World War I is remembered every single night of the year.

At 8: 00 p.m. people gather near the edge of town at the site of an old medieval gate which the troops marched through en route to the Western Front.

Each night of the year "The Last Post" is sounded.

And four words are spoken, "We will remember them."

(bugle plays "The Last Post") (men vocalizing) - For a single night, No Man's Land was Everyman's Land.

And we, the lowest of the ranks, achieved what the Pope himself could not: In the middle of the war we had ourselves a merry Christmas.

Sleep in heavenly peace Peace on earth to all Sleep in heavenly peace Peace on earth to all Sleep in heavenly peace (audience applauds) (audience cheers) In the middle of the war we had ourselves a merry Christmas.

Sleep in heavenly - All is Calm is a piece of music theater about the Christmas Truce of World War I.

And it's told through actual accounts from a variety of sources, and songs of the period.

But it's a musical telling of the remarkable truce that happened the first year of the war.

- The soldiers stopped fighting along the front and celebrated Christmas together across enemy lines.

- And they shared gifts, they had drinks together, they played football, they took a break from killing each other for a day and saw each other as human beings.

(singing "O Tannenbaum") - I believe music is why the truce happened, it's what laid the groundwork for the truce.

Music is what built trust with the enemy.

- And on calm evenings, songs from one line floated to the trenches on the other side, and were there received with applause.

And sometimes, cause for an encore.

- Bravo, Fritz!

Bravo!

- They could hear the other person sing, and night after night they would join in and sing together from the trenches.

Keep the home fires burning While your hearts are So, it was music that brought them together.

Though your lads are faraway They dream of home - The first person I approached about the project was Erick Lichte.

And Erick just completely signed up out of the gate.

After 10 minutes of conversation, he said, "Yes, I want to be a part of this."

- Initially, working with Peter, we were just trying figure out what is this piece going to be?

What does it want to be?

– And from 10: 00 p.m. onwards we are going to give the enemy every conceivable song, in harmony, from carols to "Tipperary."

- We knew singing was such a part of the actual historical Christmas Truce that we wanted to have that, but we weren't exactly sure how this was going to fit.

- So, I bought a plane ticket to Europe and just began my research, and I started in Brussels, and moved up to the Western Front, to Ypres, or "Eep", and then I want to London, and into Germany, and to Homburg, and Berlin, Dresden, and thought if I could tell the story entirely in the words of the men who were there, men who were there at the beginning of the war, who had been promised they would be home by Christmas.

- So, I thought it would be nice to be with a lot of lads on something of a picnic.

Because we all thought the war would be over by Christmas.

Robert Burns, 7th, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders.

- I thought if I could put all these together in a way and tell the story in their words it would have much more power than any fictitious characters I would create.

I pulled from gravestone inscriptions, old radio broadcasts, journals, letters, and this wide, wide range of sources.

I wish that I were back again in the Glens of Donegal.

They'll call me a coward if I return, but a hero if I fall.

Patrick MacGill, London Irish Regiment.

- It's really a sacred piece, I would say.

And we really take that to heart as we just try to be vessels for for the words of the men who were there who are no longer with us to speak for themselves.

Starlight overhead - Blank stars.

I'm wide awake and some chap's dead.

Siegfried Sassoon, Royal Welch Fusiliers.

But I also wanted it to be in the poetry of the time, their songs, their lyrics.

- So, we kind of created this collection of songs that we thought might end up into the show.

- Because I wanted to find a new form for this that there wasn't really a model I was looking to.

- There's certainly been docudramas.

I wasn't aware of any kind of docu-musicals that were using this found text as their source of primary dialogue.

And I thought, "Oh, what if it were actually a cappella?

What if there was no orchestra?"

- Let's take it from the very first bass.

So, one and two and three.

- [Peter] But that's what the singing would have been.

All is calm All is calm - Very good.

Having an a cappella musical offers a lot of opportunities.

But with opportunities always come challenges, as well.

Silent night Silent night Silent night Holy (laughs) Just do that.

(laughs) - The amount of focus that it takes to stay in pitch, to keep the blend going with nine other people, to get the timing right of your speech so that it matches the underscoring underneath, and then to come back in for the fully realized choral moments that we have, and then to quick, catch your breath, and then sing a solo, you have to be on your toes constantly.

But we've wander'd mony a weary fit Sin auld lang syne - There's a directness that happens with just the human voice and using that human voice as the orchestra in many ways for this show.

For auld lang syne, my dear For auld lang syne - Early on, we had decided what moments would be our concert moments, where the narrative could sit for a moment.

- So, in many ways we're dealing with a level of reality of singing, but then the goal was, like in most musicals, how do you then take the music and the lift the emotional moment like the way any opera aria does or any musical number does.

O, Flow'r whose fragrance tender With sweetness fills - [Erick] But then there's moments where you bring all of those vowels into uniformity as you would do in good choral music, and I think, at any rate, the piece then lifts in those moments, and the music sort of transcends emotionally what's going on.

True Man, yet very God - Durng the show, you feel like part of a greater whole.

It's a long way to Tipperary It's a long way to go - [Sasha] But at the same time, you also feel the pressure to make sure that you're giving the same amount of support that you're not letting anybody down because we function as a unit.

A big goal for us is to actually sound like a single instrument.

It's a long, long way to Tipperary But my heart's right there.

- And so, we have these moments of "Will You Go to Flanders" or "Silent Night," where the arrangements become a lot more sophisticated far more so than what maybe your average World War I soldier would have been harmonizing to.

Will you go to - Yes.

- Final one.

- Oh, yeah.

- On the final verse, you are.

- But the piece actually opens with a song that predated World War I, it's an old Celtic song called "Will You go to Flanders."

Will you go to Flanders The piece begins with men kind of coming out of the smoke as though their ghosts have arrived, or as they're being pulled up from the ashes.

My Mally O And I wanted it to feel like the men are coming out of the past.

Whether it's to teach us something or to remind us, but to tell the story.

Fairest o' them a My Mally O - We knew that "Silent Night" needed to be the focal point.

(singing "Stille Nacht") - [Peter] But it begins with one solitary voice, that story we often hear about the courageous German soldier who put down his rifle and emerged from the trenches singing "Stille Nacht," and then others joined in.

Silent night Silent night Silent night Holy night Holy night Holy night - [Erick] Then in the second verse, you hear "Silent Night" sung in German, French, and English simultaneously in three different keys in canon.

Silent night (singing "Silent Night" in canon) - I ended up writing a coda for the work and that's when you hear us singing all is calm, all is calm over and over again.

All is calm All is calm [Erick] It's a moment of elation.

It's also a moment of sadness.

And that ends with one large chord and then silence again.

(men vocalizing) - And I think in that moment I always take away from that is maybe music will never be heard again.

(singing "Les Godillots") - I think that's when theater's the best, when we trigger an imagination, that it's still a visceral, can be a beautiful overwhelming experience but the audience is responsible for completing the picture, where they have a role to play as well.

The production is very spare.

I love how just that body in space can tell a story.

And how bodies relate to each other can be profound.

And so, I try to create a poetic representation of this remarkable moment.

- I learned that all the men played multiple roles.

So, what became extremely important to the design was sort of creating this neutrality to the uniforms.

(men vocalizing) So, it really became about creating like a strong line and silhouette for the guys to sort of live in while they're these soldiers telling a story.

So, black really kind of creates a sense of loss, we're also in mourning for all these people.

Kind of what we're seeing on stage are these essences, these ghosts, these specters, of these men that all died in this conflict.

(singing "Les Godillots") - [Men] I swear by all mighty God, that I will be faithful and bear true- - The genesis of the lighting design was driven by two very different factors.

One is the aesthetic, the emotional content of the piece, and trying to recreate as much as possible the feeling of that vast desolation of No Man's Land.

And then there's the very practical side which always informs what designers do.

- At night we would be on sentry.

- [Marcus] You know, you see stars at times, you'll see the moon appear once in the production.

But otherwise, it's just a black void.

And in a lot of ways, that's a comment on what these men are experiencing emotionally, as well as physically.

- Only yards at times separated us.

- I had a lice hunt this forenoon, and oh, my, I caught thousands.

- I coach the actors on their voice and speech and how to sound like they're from somewhere else.

So, they're switching in and out of the different accents.

- Frohe Weihnachten, Tommy!

- And a happy Christmas to you, Fritz!

- But dinna' o'er eat yourself wi' they sausages!

- Not just for their monologues, that pop in and out really quickly, but then for all the music as well.

(singing "Deutschlandlied") - This is one of the interesting things about this particular piece, is that you are putting on and taking off characters in a very short period of time.

- Friendly intercourse with the enemy unofficial armistices and the exchange of tobacco and other comforts, however tempting and occasionally amusing they may be, are absolutely prohibited!

- We sit down and work on all the minutia of this vowel and this sound and this consonant for every song.

I want to go home [Keely] And so the accents give us this sense of who these people are.

They're from very different places or from different classes.

The war aint so bad if you're wearing a star But being a private don't get you so far (traffic bustling) (chuckling) (distant conversing) - So, we have those pauses between our bows, that's the same thing as in "Silent Night," we kind of take in the space, be in the room with the audience for those bows.

- [Woman] Five minutes, everyone.

We're at five minutes, please.

Five minutes.

Five minutes.

(actors conversing) - [Actor] Tuck them in.

Make it nice and tight.

(actors conversing) - So, before every single performance, a cast member will bring some sort of a passage as it relates to World War I or even in warfare in general, or its impact on a relative or a friend.

The passage reminds us of why we're doing this.

It reminds us of the toll that war can take.

- That was not written in 1914.

- Anyone who wants to can bring a poem, or a reading, or an article, or just some thoughts, observations, share it with the group, and then we'll just sing a couple of simple chords together, and just try to lock in the harmonies and it's sort of really quiet, and we just sort of huddle up.

(men vocalizing) [Andrew] It's pretty nice, it's a nice moment.

(men vocalizing) - It aligns us both vocally, mentally, and spiritually too.

(men vocalizing) - Tell the story, boys.

(actors vocalizing) (actors conversing) - All is Calm, day three, show four, take two.

- I shall never forget it.

It was one of the highlights of my life.

Albert Moren, of the 2nd Queens Regiment.

- These men are heroes, they're my heroes, and I want their names to be heard, I want their names to be said out loud, I want them to have their rightful place in history.

- I have now a very different opinion of the Germans.

- It's about brotherhood, and humanity, and I feel like the audience truly experiences something, some kind of transformation during this show.

And we feel it too, in the cast.

- I thought this an extraordinary thing.

Two nations both singing the same carol in the middle of a war.

Noel, noel - ALL IS CALM is a bit of a meditation on this idea of peace on earth and goodwill toward all.

- Hey, Tommy, come over here.

- Come over here, yourself!

(laughing) - I've been doing musical theater and opera for 30 plus years now and this is the most important piece I've ever worked on.

- They came out of their trenches and walked across unarmed.

What were our men to do, shoot?

You could not shoot unarmed men.

- They put a human face on the enemy, and that's what the story is about.

That if you can just get together with these people that are perceived enemies you might find your common ground and they will not be enemies anymore.

– And four words are spoken: we will remember them.

(bugle plays "The Last Post") - Those heroic soldiers exercised peace.

And in that moment, exercising peace took a lot more courage than exercising war.

- For a single night, No Man's Land was every-man's land.

And we, the lowest of the ranks, achieved what the Pope himself could not, in the middle of the war we had ourselves a merry Christmas.

(singing "Auld Lang Syne") - [Announcer] This program is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

A private corporation funded by the American people.