The Christmas Truce

[infrogmation]

90 years ago, during the Great War, on Christmas, 1914, troops on both sides disobeyed orders from their superiors. They stopped killing eachother. They sang songs, came out of the trenches on to no-man's land and helped eachother bury the corpses that had been lying there for months. They exchanged small gifts, and shared their food, drink, and

Comments

[iayork]

The colonel said "These bodies stink, won't someone come and drag them away."
We try to clean them up but they mow us down
and the English colonel looks the other way.
Oh the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
Well I ran for the trench but I had no time to speak
Well my heart said yes but my head said no
When the English colonel said "it's time to go."

He said "What's a few men?"
He said "What's a few men?"
He said "What's a few men?"

The colonel's job is never done
so he declares timeout on Christmas Day.
We held the enemy in our arms
and we ploughed each other's dead into the clay.
Well the Lord said death will be no longer
and all of these things will pass away.
There will be no sorrow and there will be no pain
and we'll swap cigarettes on Christmas Day.

Well my heart said yes but my head said no
when the English colonel said "it's time to go."

He said "What's a few men?"
He said "What's a few men?"
He said "What's a few men?"

--Hunters and Collecters, "What's a Few Men"

[benzai_ten]

I've heard this story before, but not in this much detail. Thank you for sharing this!