The trenches near the French town of Frelinghien were spare benches, military jackets were tripods, and until half an hour ago the players were looking at each other through the sights.
Christmas time is reserved for one of the the most incredible storiesmatches in “no man’s” land played by German and British soldiers in the middle of the war. It is about an event that is Gave Christmas a special charman event that is a symbol of humanity and proof that togetherness can prevent and end war, at least for a short while.
Officially, there was no truce at Christmas 1914. No records and diaries from that time say otherwise. Even UEFA marked the 100th anniversary of the Christmas truce, in which soldiers voluntarily ended the war on Christmas Eve and played football.
In front of Wembley is i a monument to that incredible match which went down in history.
By the summer of 1914, Europe was was obsessed with football.
He was the champion in England Blackburnhe won the championship in Germany Fürth. Woolwich Arsenal have changed their name to just Arsenaland in Zagreb the biggest derby was in between HAŠK and Concordia. Britain already had 5,000 professional footballers, and when the First World War began, many of the British they took the balls with them. They thought the war would end quickly, but they were wrong, they write 24 Hours.
By December 1914, British and German soldiers they were buried in trenches from the North Sea to the French-Swiss border. They lasted near the town of Frelinghien in the north of France fierce and merciless fighting. Although it sounds like a script for a Hollywood movie, numerous records and photos from several sources show that the “Christmas game” was really played.
We came out of the trenches and saw a German soldier kicking a ball. We didn’t even manage and we were all already playing footballhe revealed in a military diary Johannes Niemanncommander of the 133rd British Saxon Regiment.
German soldiers on Christmas Eve started decorate the trenches with improvised decorations they made from materials they received in consignments from their homes. In the lull of the gunfire they sang Christmas carols. As the trenches in some places were not even 100 meters away, the British soldiers heard this. So they sang too.
Hey! Where are you from?one asked German soldier British people.
Come and seecame the reply from the British trench.
And so it began. Spontaneously and with a joke, they found themselves in the neutral zone. It was the day football and Christmas won the warbut not for long. Bloody battles continued the very next day.
This was revealed by the captain of the Royal Warwickshire Battalion Robert Hamilton whose entire battalion perished four months after the Christmas game in a German chemical attack.
Who won? The Germans claim that they are, the British, of course, disagree. Allegedly, several games were played that day. Both sides had one professional.
Sergeant James Coyle he played for Scottish Albion, he survived the war. The Germans had Albert Schmidt who played for the third division Fussballclub 02 Schedewitz. He died two years later…
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