{"id":652273,"date":"2025-12-24T00:12:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T05:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/?p=652273"},"modified":"2025-12-23T09:16:14","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T14:16:14","slug":"the-christmas-when-the-fighting-stopped-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2025\/12\/24\/the-christmas-when-the-fighting-stopped-13\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas when the fighting stopped"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Editor’s note: This a reprint of a commentary I post every Christmas.)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Has there ever been a Christmas when there was no war, no fighting in any corner of our planet? \u00a0 It\u2019s difficult to imagine since the world\u2019s history has been a series of conquests and defenses.<\/p>\n

But there was once a Christmas when the fighting did stop, when enemies shook hands and laughed and even sang Christmas carols together.<\/p>\n

The First World War had been underway just a few months in December 1914, but it was clear a long, bloody fight was ahead.\u00a0 The Germans and the English were dug in their muddy trenches, separated sometimes by just 60 yards.<\/p>\n

Between them was a No-Man\u2019s land of mud, debris and the casualties of both sides, left unburied for weeks.<\/p>\n

But something remarkable happened along the battle lines on Christmas 111 years ago; the German and British soldiers stopped fighting.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that they were afraid to fight. The trenches of both sides were filled with brave men who faced death each day.\u00a0 No, the peace began as an informal truce casually agreed to by the officers in the field, but not the generals safely in the rear.<\/p>\n

At night the English first saw the lights of Christmas decorations in the German trenches and then heard the sounds of the German soldiers singing Christmas carols.\u00a0 The British soldiers responded in kind.<\/p>\n

All along the Western Front the scene repeated itself.\u00a0 The impromptu truce spread.\u00a0 In some places along the lines the warring soldiers emerged from their trenches, leaving their guns behind, and met in No-Man\u2019s land where they exchanged food and conversed as best they could. \u00a0 One group of soldiers played a game of soccer.<\/p>\n

Percy Jones of the Queen\u2019s Westminster Regiment said, \u201cAltogether we had a great day with our enemies and parted with much hand-shaking and mutual goodwill.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 Corporal John Ferguson of the Seaforth Highlanders remarked, \u201cHere we were, laughing and chatting to men whom only a few hours before we were trying to kill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well behind the trenches the British High Command was distressed, fearing it might not be able to get the men to start fighting again.\u00a0 The war might grind to a halt. Headquarters issued a statement blaming the lack of fighting at the front on \u201cstormy weather.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, the soldiers at the front drifted back to their positions.\u00a0 At some locations along the front the Christmas Spirit carried to the New Year before fighting resumed. \u00a0 The fighting, of course, did start again and continued for nearly four more bloody years.<\/p>\n

This Christmas as we search for good news in a troubled world, we can remember that Christmas 111 years ago when the spirit of peace on earth and goodwill toward men was strong enough to\u2014for a time at least\u2014stop a war.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Editor’s note: This a reprint of a commentary I post every Christmas.)\u00a0 Has there ever been a Christmas when there was no war, no fighting in any corner of our planet? \u00a0 It\u2019s difficult to imagine since the world\u2019s history has been a series of conquests and defenses. But there was once a Christmas when<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-hoppys-commentary"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Christmas when the fighting stopped - WV MetroNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2025\/12\/24\/the-christmas-when-the-fighting-stopped-13\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Christmas when the fighting stopped - WV MetroNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Editor’s note: This a reprint of a commentary I post every Christmas.)\u00a0 Has there ever been a Christmas when there was no war, no fighting in any corner of our planet? \u00a0 It\u2019s difficult to imagine since the world\u2019s history has been a series of conquests and defenses. 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