4 December 2014 - Soldiers sharing cigars, singing songs and walking together in no-man's-land on Christmas Day 1914 are some of the scenes described in a letter uncovered in a council's archives.
The letter was written by a general who was based in Northern France during World War One.
It was given to Staffordshire County Council by the general's family in the 1960s but was only unearthed, among hundreds of other documents, this year.
It will now go on public display.
'Cigars and songs'
The letter, written by General Walter Congreve to his wife on Christmas Day, details how the famous truce came about.
Gen Congreve, who led the Rifles Brigade and was positioned at British Headquarters near Neuve Chapelle, says it was the Germans who initiated the suspension in hostilities.
He describes the ceasefire as "an extraordinary state of affairs".
"A German shouted out that they wanted a day's truce and would one come out if he did," the general wrote. read more>>>
1 comment:
Love thiis
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