Did you know that Christmas songs have the power to pause a war?
On 25th December 1914, British, Belgian, French and German soldiers fighting on the Western front put down their weapons and called a short truce to wish each other a Merry Christmas. The truce began when both sides started singing carols to each other from the trenches. Sometimes they would sing the same carol together, in their own languages.
The German soldiers came out of their trenches holding signs saying 'You no shoot, we no shoot'. Both sides spent the rest of the day exchanging Christmas gifts of cigarettes, food, buttons and hats. It also allowed for the soldiers to bury their fallen comrades who had died on 'no man's land'.
Some trenches were reported to have even played football matches, before returning to their trenches to continue fighting the war.
The soldiers sang 'Silent Night' and 'O Come, All Ye Faithful'.
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