christmas in the trenches

christmas in the trenches

” christmas in the trenches ” is a ballad from John McCutcheon ‘s 1984 album Winter Solstice. It tells the story of the 1914 Christmas Truce between the British and German lines on the Western Front during the Great War from the perspective of a fictional British soldier. On Christmas Eve, the British soldiers heard the Germans singing Stille Nacht and joined in. Spontaneously, soldiers on both sides climbed out of their trenches and met in between the lines, sharing small gifts, food, and drink. They played a game of soccer. Then they went back to their trenches. The next day, the shooting resumed. At the first light of dawn on Christmas Day, some German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ Legendary folk musician John McCutcheon presents the world’s most famous song about the Truce of 1914, “Christmas in the Trenches,” as part of his Christmas .