A/N: A christmas truce entry for everyone!
Ludwig Beilschmidt.
Flanders, Belgien
25th December 1914.
Dear Diary,
Well, today was interesting to say the least. It is Christmas day and so... We stopped fighting. Some of the men started singing 'Silent Night' and... For once, it felt almost peaceful. There was no gunfire, no shelling...
I could hear the Brits singing carols across No Mans Land and it felt like it was almost a Christmas union... Perhaps a union of peace. But then, there was the most amazing thing. One of ours went over the top, with a white flag. I tried to stop him, but... No one shot. And then, a Brit came over the top, arms raised in surrender and it... It was amazing. So, we all started to go over the top and shook hands. I met Arthur and he challenged me to a game of football. Well, I was more than happy to oblige. We played for hours, laughing as we kicked around this makeshift ball, with jackets as goalposts. We won, of course and Arthur didn't even look that upset. Men exchanged photos and cigarettes. Arthur even gave me a little bit of British tea and I gave him some Schokolade. It felt... Nice. Nice not to fight, nice to actually talk with people. But it was over too soon. The superiors told us we had to get back to fighting and so we headed back to our trenches. But, there's only been shelling this evening. No one wants to pick up their guns again, not after this. Not after the peace. I know we will have to tomorrow, but still. Peace and goodwill to all men certainly applied to us, here, in the freezing fields of Belgium.
