25th December 1914

[John_Hartley]

Stockport’s Cheshires at Christmas 1914

The 1/6th Cheshires were in front line trenches near Wulverghem. The night of Christmas Eve was very still and cold. It was so cold that Private William Seed’s left foot froze hard in the mud and he ripped his ligaments as he tried to pull it out. Later he was invalided home.

The Battalion stood to just before dawn and, at 7am, the German trenches were shelled without reply. From time to time Germans were seen trying to get out of their trenches and the Cheshires opened fire on them without reply.

“Soon after daylight arrived someone in our lines began to play “Christians, awake!” on a mouth organ, and the thoughts of the men in the trenches immediately turned to the folks at home, who they knew were living under better conditions than they were. It was, says one who was there, nothing but mud, mud, mud, a parapet and two strands of wire between us and the Boche, who was 200 yards away. After “Christians, awake!” the Boche responded with the popular melody “Come over here!” and lo! we saw the Boche coming out of his trenches and we wondered whether it was an attack.~ The Germans were waving their arms.” Sergeant Major Bob Morton was suspicious and ordered his men not to leave their trenches but, one by one, they left their rifles behind and clamboured out to shake hands with the Germans in the middle of No Man’s Land.

The men exchanged gifts and the Cheshires received sausages, cigars and cigarettes. The Germans greatly admired their equipment and asked for jack-knives in return. They were members of the 134th Infantry Regiment from Plaven in Saxony. They were not eager to fight a “Prussian” war. A junior officer of the Cheshires wrote “By breakfast time nearly all our men were on the ground between the trenches and were the greatest of pals.” Photos were exchanged and then the Germans produced a small football which was kicked round in a loose game which consisted of several scores of men on each side.

One of the Cheshires, Ernie Williams, recounted the story in a TV interview in the 60s “The ball appeared from somewhere, I don’t know where, but it came from their side – it wasn’t our side that the ball came. They made up some goals and one fellow went in goal and then it was just a general kickabout. I should think there were a couple of hundred taking part. I had a go at the ball. I was pretty good then at nineteen. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was no sort of ill will between us. There was no referee, and no score, no tally at all. It was simply a melee.”

However it was not all goodwill. One of the Stockport men and a German squared up to each other after an argument as to which side had been the most barbaric.

CSM Morton and an officer went with their service revolvers to try and shoot one of the chickens which still lived around “Stinking Farm” but, despite several shots, the chickens escaped unharmed. A hare appeared and was chased round by both sides. Then an old sow was found and shot, cut up and cooked between the trenches and then shared out.

The bodies of several French soldiers were buried. The Battalion History records “So ended our first Christmas in the line. The Boche, and we also, thought the war would soon be over. On the 2nd September, 1918, in our attack from Locre, we re-took the trenches in which we spent Christmas Day, 1914.”

Since landing in France, the Battalion had lost 7 men by Christmas Day. Another 579 would follow.

(Sources – Battalion History; Stockport Lads Together by David Kelsall; Christmas Truce by Malcolm Brown & Shirley Seaton; )

John

[KONDOA]

A nice piece John. Very interesting.

Roop

[Frank_East]

Ernie William's account of his experience of the Christmas Truce 1914 is recorded for posterity in The Sound Archive,Imperial War Museum.

As Enrie relates,but we didn't form a team,it wasn't a team game in any sense of the word....it was like how I learnt my football in Hillgate streets,it was a kickabout -everybody was having a go.

(I don't suppose they worried about the offside rule)

Regards

Frank East

[John_Hartley]

Frank

Thanks for that - I'll have a listen.

The Hillgate area is part of "inner Stockport" (after the road of the same name). It wasa rich recruiting ground for the 6th Battalion and not far from the drill hall at the Armoury (just the other side of the A6).

John