A Christian charity’s organising carol services with the hymn Silent Night in churches and sports stadia across the country, commemorating one hundred years since the Christmas truce between British and German soldiers.
HOPE together’s picked the hymn because British and German soldiers are said to have sung it together on Christmas Eve as part of the truce. They also famously played a football match together on Christmas Day.
Fans at Stoke City Football Club will be singing Silent Night with a 400-piece choir, when they take on Chelsea Football Club later this month.
Roy Crowne, the Director of HOPE together, told Premier’s Inspirational Breakfast: “On Christmas Eve on the German side, there was a song that was sung… The English recognised the tune and recognised it was Silent Night… and because of the significance… everyone realised it was Christmas Day the following day.
“They went as whole groups from parts of our country and I’m sure parts of Germany, and I think in the light of that, and the horrific war that it was, this was a moment where they just thought: ‘it’s Christmas’.
“And I think, the significance of Christmas they still remembered, and said: ‘how can we shoot each other on Christmas Day’?
“Isn’t it amazing that the Gospel and a Saviour coming into the world to bring peace, reconciliation, was born on that day: ‘surely we should try to remember’? And they did.”
The carol events come as Staffordshire County Council has published a war general’s letter from one hundred years ago, providing new details on the famous truce between British and German soldiers over Christmas in 1914.
The letter says a German shouted for a truce, and offered to leave his trench as long as a British soldier did as well.
A British soldier carefully left, and seeing a German was doing the same others followed from both sides, the letter says.
It also says soldiers shared cigars, sung songs and walked on No Man’s Land together.
General Walter Congreve VC, who wrote the letter to his wife, said he was invited to leave the trench as well, but chose not to “as I thought they might not be able to resist a general.”
Source and Original Content by Premier Christian Radio