25DEC1914: Just a few months into the First World War, something beautiful happened. Amidst the chaos, death and destruction, soldiers from opposing sides made time to celebrate Christmas. With no formal ceasefire declared, the soldiers in the trenches took it up on themselves. They began singing to one another and before long had exited the trenches to share gifts with their adversaries. The unofficial truce lasted in some places a day, in others into the new year but not everyone was happy. Many higher headquarters, upon learning of the fraternization put a quick stop to it and even ordered Christmas offensives in follow on years to prevent such a thing from happening again. The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the bright lights in the First World War, a sign of humanity amidst the horrible backdrop of war.

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