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| 1914 Christmas Truce Memorial |
By Christmas 1914 the Western Front had stagnated into a line of trenches stretching from the Swiss Border to the English Channel. Soldiers on both sides would be spending Christmas in their trenches. On 24th December 1914 an unofficial truce developed. The German soldiers began to sing carols on Christmas Eve, the British responding across no mans land.
The following morning the combatants of both sides left their trenches to greet each other in no mans land, exchanging gifts and souvenirs. The opportunity was taken to bury the dead, both British and German. A football was produced, a pitch constructed by filling in shell holes, goal posts marked from clothing, and the game began.
The final score form the German official account; “Das Spiel endete 3:2 fur Fritz.”
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| German Lines - No Mans Land - British Lines |
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| German Lines - No Mans Land - British Lines |
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| German Lines looking towards British position |
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| German and British Soldiers meet in No Mans Land |
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| Football Memorial Ploegstreet |
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British Trench
Charing Cross 105 miles - Victoria Cross 20 yards |
