After researching Christmas Stamps and the names on the War Memorial this weeks reflection is on the 1914 Christmas Truce on the Western Front.
In 2014 to commemorate this, a few countries produced special sets of stamps including Tuvalu (formerly the Ellice Islands) in the Pacific and S. Tome & Principe (islands off the coast of Gabon).
On Christmas Eve, 1914, German and British soldiers emerged from the horrors of World War One trench warfare to greet each other, exchange food and gifts, and to wish each other a Merry Christmas.
What we remember now as the “Christmas Truce” began with soldiers singing Christmas carols together from in the trenches. Eventually the two sides climbed out of the trenches and met in person. In the course of this two-day truce, which lasted until Dec. 26, 1914, the two sides also exchanged prisoners, buried their dead and even played soccer with each other.
It is amazing to think the celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace could bring a brief pause in one of the most destructive wars in history. How sad that it was not to last.
Remember the Church of Scotland Used Stamp Appeal, see here for more information.