The song "Christmas In The Trenches" is one of the more popular songs from the pen of John McCutcheon. It appears in his 1984 album Winter Solstice and is told as a first person narrative of a fictional British soldier, Francis Tolliver, in 1914 during WWI. Although the soldier is fictional, the actual events of the song are true. On Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 1914, an unofficial Christmas Truce took place in "no man's land" between the opposing British and German trenches. Troops from both sides commingled between the lines to bury the dead, sing Christmas carols, exchange such gifts as they could (trinkets, buttons, cigarettes, and photos). Some cut each other's hair and some had their photographs taken. An impromptu soccer game was held between British and German teams (it was said that the match was won because the refs were Germans). The unusual truce continued through Christmas night in most sectors, but perhaps longer in other sectors.
John McCutcheon has often said that the lessons gleaned by the fictional Francis Tolliver related near the close of the song needed to be told and retold every day. That is "the question that haunted every man who lived through that wondrous night was ' whose family have I fixed within my sight' and how 'the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame - and on each end of the rifle we're the same'."
Here is a YouTube link of John McCutcheon performing "Christmas In The Trenches. Further historical treatment of the events told in the song on the History Channel at World War I - The Christmas Truce.
This blog was posted on the 100th year anniversary of the events of "Christmas In The Trenches."
John McCutcheon has often said that the lessons gleaned by the fictional Francis Tolliver related near the close of the song needed to be told and retold every day. That is "the question that haunted every man who lived through that wondrous night was ' whose family have I fixed within my sight' and how 'the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead and lame - and on each end of the rifle we're the same'."
Here is a YouTube link of John McCutcheon performing "Christmas In The Trenches. Further historical treatment of the events told in the song on the History Channel at World War I - The Christmas Truce.
This blog was posted on the 100th year anniversary of the events of "Christmas In The Trenches."