On The Battlefield At Christmas

On The Battlefield At Christmas
By Paul McCann

 

Ian and Danny were only 14 years of age when they enlisted in the army . They were able to disclose their ages to get in to the army because they wanted to go TO THE Western Front to fight in the war . Because of their age the commanding officer gave them a job to collect personal belongs from the soldiers lying on the battlefield who had been killed . It was a hard task but one the two young lads said they could do . So once a day their was a ceasefire that allowed the collection of personal belongings to be collected from both sides of the killing field’s / These then would be sent back to the families of the soldiers who had been killed as so they would have some keepsake of their lost loved one . Some of the items collected were jewellery , dog tags , letters or photographs .

On Christmas Eve night Danny and Ian were sitting in the trenches sharing stories about Christmas time at home and what their families would be doing . This was overheard by some of the other soldiers who also began talking about their wives and children back home There was a moment of silence and one of the soldiers started singing Silent Night .

Other soldiers laid down their weapons and joined hands and sang along and a feeling of peace came down among them

 .
It was just one day to Christmas and there were heartaches and a tears shed .

Spending Christmas in a war zone wasn’t much fun for anyone .

Danny and Ian had always been happy go lucky lads and tried to raise the spirits of the other soldiers .

Ian said ,

“I hope that there might be an end to the hostility tonight . How can Sanat even land his sleigh on the battlefield with everybody shooting and sending mortars .“

Danny replied ,

“Why don’t we just go over to the enemy and tell them to keep the noise down as we need some peace and quiet to sing a few Christmas carols. ”

 

One of the soldiers over heard and asked the commanding officer if it would be possible for the troops in the trench’s to all join in singing a few songs in an effort to bolster the soldiers moral and add a little touch of the Christmas spirit around the trenches . Permission was granted and that evening the troops in their dug outs began to call out for a few songs .

As one or two voices started the sing song with Jingle Bells and White Christmas , more and more troops joined in with some of their own favourites .

Although it wasn’t confirmed the rumour was that the officer in charge had a top secret mission for two soldiers in the trench’s . They had to go into town to a place where a few bottles of whiskey  and some Christmas decorations had been delivered along with a Santa suit complete with a false wig and beard .

This Christmas surprise had been planned weeks before by the army and Danny and Ian were the two soldiers selected for the job . Operation Wet Whistle was a surprise move from headquarters in an effort to bring Christmas home into the trenches .

Danny and Ian were sent out on their first covert operation into a storehouse in town where

days before everything had been delivered to carry out the operation .

So off went the two young bucks just out of school with a driver of the first aid vehicle to collect the items for Operation Wet Whistle .

On the way to the secret storehouse in town they began sharing a few jokes and sharing stories about being home for Christmas . The first aid vehicle made its way into the town under a blanket of surveillance to ensure the operation went smoothly .

The little homes in the streets that once had people living inside were now silent empty shells with no sign of life . On top of the hill watching over the city streets was an old ammunition factory that had been bombed and left in ruins . Nearby was the storage shed that had the  items Ian and Danny were sent to collect .

The first aid van came to a stop outside the shed . 

There was a silence everywhere  as if the infantry on both sides stopped  fighting for Christmas  .

Suddenly the silence  was broken by the sound of aircraft over head . The sound of the aircraft’s  drone determined it was the enemy . Ian grabbed the radio and switched it on and began transmission . 

“ QC QC Operation Wet Whistle  .

Code serial number 54 reporting from night watch hill . Enemy aircraft about ten minutes away from your position . Do you read me . I repeat enemy aircraft about ten minutes away. Over . “

The response came back .

“ QC QC , Wet Whistle this is Trench Town Head Quarters 

How many aircraft can you see there . Over “

“QC QC. Head Quarters . This is Wet Whistle . Hard to say but there is a large number of enemy aircraft . Take cover . Over “

“QC QC . Wet Whistle . Head quarters here. Copy that . Over and out “

Not knowing what would happen, the entire regiment in the trenches were in immediate danger . Too late to evacuate the trenches now and they had no anti aircraft weapons they could use . 

By the time the message was send the planes were already directly over head . But there was no sound of bombs of gunfire heard . 

Ian and Danny looked from the hill using their binoculars and were very surprised to see what looked like food parcels and gifts being dropped all over trench town .

This action was completely out of the ordinary . Then in the sky Christmas Carols were played through speakers in the aircraft .

The message was loud and clear . The enemy had offered a truce for Christmas .

 Ian and Danny went into the shed and took all the boxes that had been left there to be collected and they put them into the first aid van and made their way back through the deserted town to the trenches .

When they arrived they couldn’t believe their eyes .

The enemy were engaging in friendly conversation with the infantry in trench town .

Ian being big and heavy set so was elected to wear the Santa suit . With a big sack of presents that had previously been wrapped he went around the battlefield handing out the gifts to both the enemy and his own comrades . Everyone sat together and were happy to be there .

They all had a few drinks and sang a few songs and the war had been completely forgotten .

There was peace and good will on Christmas day and everything was just the way it used to be .

There were smiles and handshakes and the party went on until Christmas was over and 

some had said it was a Christmas miracle .  No bloodshed been occurred on Christmas and enemies became friends .

Ian and Danny were returned home the following day due to information that was passed on regarding the lads real age .

What a Christmas those two young lads had . One they would eventually share with family and friends and even their own

children one day  .

 

The End