S1M2 Christmas at the Front

Men all across the Western Front were sitting in muddy, cold trenches wishing they could be back home for Christmas. The Canadians spent their first Christmas of WWI in the wet, snowy lines that were drawn across Belgium and France. Despite the no fraternization rule that had been cemented the year before, many still hoped for a holiday truce like there was in 1914. Others hung their cleanest socks on the barbed wire hoping Old St. Nick would stop by.

Sources

Aldershot News. Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://wartimecanada.ca/sites/default/files/documents/Aldershot%20News%202.9.pdf

Clifford, S. (2014). Christmas at the Front – The Listening Post. Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://militaryandfamilyhistory.blog/2014/12/20/christmas-at-the-front-the-listening-post/

Falcon, K. (2016). Christmas in the Trenches: the Canadian Frontline Press and the Meaning of the Season | Canadian Military History. Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://canadianmilitaryhistory.ca/christmas-in-the-trenches-the-canadian-frontline-press-and-the-meaning-of-the-season/

Goffin, P. (2016). Canadian memories of First World War’s forgotten Christmas truces. Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/12/22/canadian-memories-of-first-world-wars-forgotten-christmas-truces.html

Hutchinson, B. (2015). Christmas, bloody Christmas: The holiday armistice that wasn't for Canadian soldiers | National Post. Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://nationalpost.com/news/christmas-bloody-christmas-the-holiday-armistice-that-wasnt-for-canadian-soldiers

Jewish Canadian service in the Second World War - Veterans Affairs Canada. Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/people-and-stories/jewish-canadian-service

N0. 2 Canadian Divisional Supply Column Third Annual Concert & Dinner In the Field Christmas 1917. (1917). Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://wartimecanada.ca/sites/default/files/documents/2nd%20Div%20Sup%20Col%20Xmas.pdf

When the fighting paused for Christmas during the First World War | CBC Archives. (2021). Retrieved 15 December 2021, from https://www.cbc.ca/archives/1916-truce-fpc-1.5829314

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