Foley Recording

The Christmas Truce

The Christmas Truce has become one of the most famous and mythologised events of the First World War. But what was the real story behind the truce? Why did it happen and did British and German soldiers really play football in no-man's land?

Late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) heard Germans troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. Messages began to be shouted between the trenches. The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man's land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man's land dwindled out.

The truce was not observed everywhere along the Western Front. Elsewhere the fighting continued and casualties did occur on Christmas Day. Some officers were unhappy at the truce and worried that it would undermine fighting spirit.

After 1914, the High Commands on both sides tried to prevent any truces on a similar scale happening again. Despite this, there were some isolated incidents of soldiers holding brief truces later in the war, and not only at Christmas. In what was known as the 'Live and Let Live' system, in quiet sectors of the front line, brief pauses in the hostilities were sometimes tacitly agreed, allowing both sides to repair their trenches or gather their dead.

Podcast 9: The Christmas Truce

Jamie's Dream School | Rankin's Guide to Posing

Is Jamie's Dream School a success?
Teachers give their verdict on the first episode of Jamie Oliver's new venture, getting accomplished public figures to teach young people who have given up on education.
To read more, click here.

Sainsbury's OFFICIAL Christmas 2014 Ad

David Bailey: this is what 100 looks like

Fauja Singh gave up marathon running last year – at 102. Eileen Symonds, 100, only stopped driving two years ago. And Michael Klanga had wine with every meal until he was 106. David Bailey photographs nine British centenarians

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Geordie's video on idioms.

How many of these idioms can you remember?

How Nigeria beat its Ebola outbreak

We watched this video last Monday, October 27.


You can read the transcript. Click here.

CNN: Ebola researcher on rush for a vaccine

Here is the video you saw with Geordie.

CNN

What not to do at a job interview.

In today's tough jobs market, job hunters have to go the extra mile if they want to catch the recruiter's attention and have any chance of being successful.
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ROOM 111

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War Brides
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