Christmas Truce 1914

'Not all Englishmen are brutes!': Unseen accounts from WWI reveal the German perspective of famous Christmas Truce in 1914 - where troops exchanged food and tobacco and agreed to 'aim high' when shooting resumed

• The accounts were unearthed in German newspapers by Robin Schaefer 

After months of bloody fighting, the unprecedented Christmas Truce of 1914 represented a moment of common humanity amidst the horrors of war.  

Traumatised Allied and German troops climbed out of their trenches to exchange makeshift gifts and express hope that the mass slaughter would soon be at an end.

But whilst British accounts of the temporary peace in the First World War are well documented, the German perspective has largely been unknown to readers in the UK - until now. 

Respected German historian Robin Schaefer has found and translated a trove of around two dozen contemporary truce accounts, giving an insight into the perspective of the 'enemy'.

In one, an inantryman delightedly tells his family: 'Not all Englishmen are brutes!'  

Another movingly describes the extraordinary joint burial of 100 troops, telling how Scottish troops attended in their 'short skirts and knee-high stockings'.

German troops are seen posing with a Christmas Tree at the front in 1914. Respected German historian Robin Schaefer has found and translated a trove of around two dozen contemporary accounts of the Christmas Truce

After months of bloody fighting, the unprecedented Christmas Truce of 1914 represented a moment of common humanity amidst the horrors of war. Above: British and German troops pose together during the Christmas Truce

In a third, the writer tells how they were asked by English and Indian troops to 'always aim high' when shooting, and adds: 'Which they wanted to do as well'. 

The writer, a German theology student, tells his parents how it is 'hard to believe' that 'we are at peace with the English.'

Mr Schaefer told MailOnline: 'What took place at Christmas 1914 were compassionate gestures of humanity, born of common suffering, a longing for home and a desire for peace.' 

'In those few days between Christmas 1914 and January 1915, decency prevailed in many parts of the Western and Eastern fronts. And that, in the end, is the most important lesson.'

In late December 1914, a directive from German high command ruled that all unauthorised approaches to the enemy would be treated as high treason.

It meant that very few private accounts of the Christmas Truce were published in German newspapers.

In the Westphalian press in western Germany, there was a window of around two weeks where letters from the front that contained truce accounts were published without fear of consequence. Above: One of the accounts in the German press 

Whilst British accounts of the temporary peace in the First World War are well documented, the German perspective has largely been unknown to readers in the UK - until now. Above: German troops sitting with a Christmas Tree in 1914

German soldiers pose for a photo in their trench during the Christmas period in 1914. In the background is a Christmas Tree

However, in the Westphalian press in western Germany, there was a window of around two weeks where letters from the front that contained truce accounts were published without fear of consequence.

Mr Schaefer spent months searching through these records to bring them to public attention for the first time. 

He said: The most important truth about the truce is that it was, as the American historian Jay Winter put it, "a testament to the common decency of ordinary men"

'Here were ordinary men from Britain, France, Belgium, Germany and even India, men from similar and totally different cultural backgrounds, who shared the same idea of common decency and assumed it in their enemy.'

The joint burial of 100 troops saw German soldiers of the 15th Infantry Regiment form up on one side of the grave pit. 

On the other, British troops - mostly of the Gordon Highlanders and Scots Guards - were led by the Reverend John Esslemont Adams, minister at the West United Free Church on Belmont Street in Aberdeen.

The letter describing the ceremony was published on January 6, 1915.

The theology student writes: 'We all climbed out of the trenches, which were only about 80 metres apart, greeted each other and buried the dead. 

'An English pastor soon arrived and, with the help of a comrade who understood English well, he suggested a joint funeral service, which our Major very much agreed to.'

He goes on to describe a joint recitation of the Bible's 23rd Psalm.

'After all the dead had been buried, we gathered together, on one side the English, i.e. the Highlanders (Scottish Guards), with their short skirts and knee-high stockings, and opposite them the Field Greys, with the English pastor and myself in the centre. 

'He read the 23rd Psalm, I said it in German.' 

The soldier reveals that he sent his parents a copy of the prayer. 

Most of the German press did not print accounts of the Christmas Truce, due to an order stating that. Above: Another of the papers containing write-ups of letters from the trenches

German troops pose for a picture with their Christmas decorations in 1914

He tells them movingly: 'Please keep the English prayer, as the English priest wrote it down for me, as a memento of this memorable Christmas Day. 

'It is a pity that two peoples who can pray together to the heavenly Father should fight each other so bloodily.'  

The English vicar then said a prayer for the dead which was repeated in German by the student. 

The letter continues: 'Now an almost friendly dialogue developed between the two trenches. 

'People stood together in groups in the centre of no man's land, chatting and exchanging all sorts of things. 

'The English, or Scots, gave us tins of corned beef, tinned food and military cap badges, while we gave them cigars and so on. 

'At first we didn't really trust them, but in fact they didn't shoot. That was Christmas in the trenches, unforgettable for all of us!'

Another soldier, writing to his parents on December 27, describes the English troops as being 'dirtier' then him and his comrades and tells of how they too exchanged gifts.

He says: 'And then the unbelievable happened: The English came right up to our wire entanglement. 

'Our men approached them, the Englishmen shook their hands from afar and wished everyone "a merry Christmas". 

'They exchanged gifts, the English always giving more than our men. 

'Ours didn't have anything other than tobacco to give away either. 

'The English brought tinned food, jam, cheese, biscuits, pudding, tinned meat, alcohol, whole quantities of cigarettes and cigarette tobacco, for which they gladly took our coarse cut, pipes, scarves, pulse warmers and more. 

'It was Regiment 13 London; all big, healthy blokes. They were dirtier than us and told us that their trench was very damp.'

Other accounts revealed how the enmity felt between the two sides faded away when they came face to face.

One says: 'On the holidays, when there is supposed to be 'peace on earth', we here, friend and foe, have been on friendly terms, squeezing each other's hands and wishing each other a merry Christmas -- here the Christmas message has become reality, even if only for a few days.'  

Another reads: 'Then we sang Christmas carols and thought of our dear homeland. Many a soldier thought of his wife and child, many a tear stole from the serious warrior's eye and fell as a silent plea before the throne of God. 

'I was terribly homesick on Christmas Eve and my heart wanted to break with pain. 

German troops, who are believed to have been in Lille, pose for a photo during Christmas in 1914

Staff of the 236th Reserve Infantry Regiment sit with their Christmas decorations in 1915

Bavarian troops are seen on the Western Front during Christmas in 1915

German troops are seen at Christmas time in 1914, sitting with a little bit of festive decoration on the wall 

'We all have just one Christmas wish and that is: peace, peace! Hopefully the good Lord will soon hear the pleas of so many warriors in enemy territory.'

A third - a soldier in the 16th Infantry Regiment - says: 'The English shouted "Merry Christmas" or something like that, we shouted back "Frohe Weihnachten" and while the right wing of the company began to sing "Silent Night Holy Night", lit Christmas trees appeared at various points along the English trench. 

'Now and then a shot rang out, but all the old hatred was blown away. I tell you, you have to experience something like that.' 

Another account tells how there were renditions of familiar Christmas carols, including Silent Night, Holy Night, which translates as 'Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht'. 

The letter concludes: 'Yesterday hateful enemies, today like comrades… Everyone who has the good fortune to emerge safely from this conflict will remember it for all time, the Christmas of 1914.'