THE FORGOTTEN CHRISTMAS TRUCE

A tale of Christmas Goodwill on the Western Front of 1914

Dec 26, 2022

Peter Verplancke and Robin Schäfer and Philippe Oosterlinck

Even though we regularly hear of the spontaneous fraternisation which took place between German and British soldiers in Belgium and France over the Christmas period of 1914/15, this ‘Christmas Truce’ wasn’t limited to those sectors of the Western Front in which ‘Fritz’ and ‘Tommy’ faced one another across the barbed wire. Another exceptional and moving story of humanity in war is still remembered well in the Yser region in Belgium. In this feature Peter Verplancke, Curator of the Yser Tower Museum in Diksmuide and German military historian Robin Schäfer retell a rarely told, and moving story of a Belgian-German fraternisation along the banks of the Yser in December 1914.

Stalemate at the Yser

On 3 August 1914, Belgium found itself right in the middle of war which, after three generations of neutrality, most Belgians had thought impossible. Its army, though mobilised on 31 July, stood mostly unprepared in the face of the gigantic German military machine opposing it. One day later, around the time that German General Otto von Emmich’s Army of the Meuse forced its way into Belgium in the area of Liege, King Albert I of Belgium had announced Belgium’s entry into war before Parliament. Having decided not to violate Dutch neutrality, the German Armies were forced to take the Belgian forts of Liege quickly. By 16 August, due to the use of the latest, state of the art artillery, the Germans had succeeded to do so, yet much to the surprise of the invaders progress was much slower than expected. The Belgian Army, having been ordered to perform a fighting retreat instead of letting itself be annihilated, fell back upon Antwerp. In the south-east British and French troops were falling back after battling German forces at Mons and Charleroi. Belgian troops launched a series of sorties from Antwerp to harass German communication and supply lines. In response to this the German III. Reserve-Korps under General Hans von Beseler and a number of supporting divisions and brigades began laying siege to Antwerp on 28 September which finally fell on 6 October 1914. 26.000 men of the 80.000 strong garrison escaped to Holland, where they were interned while 4000 Belgian soldiers were taken prisoner by the Germans. Yet the main body of the Belgian Army managed to escape via pontoon bridges across the River Scheldt, retreating to western Flanders, where it formed up for a final stand along the banks of the river Yser.

What followed became known as the Battle of the Yser, the northernmost of a series of battles during the so-called ‘Race to the Sea’, battles which would define the ultimate location of the Western Front when the lines froze into deadlock in early September 1914. For the depleted Belgian field army it began inauspiciously, with heavy fighting along the 30 kilometre stretch along the river Yser between Nieuport and Diksmuide. The Belgians prevailed, using the low-lying region’s ancient system of sluices and canals to inundate the battlefield by opening the floodgates at Nieuport, effectively halting the German advance and ending the battle on 2 November 1914. Along the banks of the Yser, and elsewhere on the Western Front, the German and Allied armies dug in. The men of the Belgian Army, now only about 52000 men strong, were in a bad shape, now mostly cut off from their loved ones at home and lacking all kinds of resources and supplies. Germany occupied 95% of Belgian national territory, while in the largest exodus of the Low Countries, 1.5 million Belgians had fled the country. Yet by securing victory at the Yser, stubborn and hard-fighting Belgian soldiers had allowed their country to retain control of a tiny portion of territory, which not only turned King Albert into a national hero, but also sustained moral and bolstered national pride. Winter was coming fast, making living conditions in the newly dug defence lines even worse than before. Operations of both sides were limited to patrolling and minor skirmishes.

STILLE NACHT, HEILIGE NACHT

On Christmas Day 1914, German and Belgian troops still faced one another in the wet and cold positions along the banks of the Yser. In the area of the ruins of the ‘Hoge Brug’, the bridge that once spanned the river at the border of the towns of Kaaskerke and Diksmuide the German side was lined by the worn out and depleted elements of the German 13. Ersatz-Brigade which was subordinated to the 4. Ersatz-Division, a unit which had seen heavy fighting during the so-called ‘Race to the Sea’. On the Belgian side, the bank near the ruins of the bridge was defended by a company of the elite 1st Belgian Grenadier Regiment. During the night of 26 December, the 5th company of the Belgian 1st Regiment of Carabineers was on route to relief their Grenadier comrades the following morning. Already during their approach they heard the most unlikely rumours, which spread through their ranks like wildfire: ‘there is no more fighting at the Hoge Brug’, ‘..we heard singing from the trenches’. Impatiently the men waited for day break to find out if the rumours were true.

A ceasefire with the Germans? Fraternisation even? After what the German Army had done to Belgium and its people things like that would certainly be impossible!

Yet in less than half of a rifle bullet’s range from their position, German and Belgian soldiers had indeed ceased the firing and had left their trenches to meet and exchange gifts by climbing up the ruins of the Hoge Brug, where they were barely 30 feet away from one another.

What had happened on that day has been passed on in the memoirs of Jozef van Ryckeghem, the chaplain of the Church of Saint Nicolas in Diksmuide:

“A biting easterly wind whipped over the hard-frozen dykes of the Yser. In the sky, grey clouds, heavy with snow occasionally allowed the light of a pale moon to shine through. All was quiet, rifles and machine guns were silent, not a single gunshot could be heard. But suddenly there were voices! Singing voices, first wavering, then getting firmer, before swelling into a mighty Christmas Carol. And yes they came from the trenches across the Yser. From our side, silent at first, came general applause and then a Christmas Carol echoed from Flemish soldiers' breasts. Rejoicing from the German side! More singing. Jointly singing of ‘Silent Night’. Then a shout of ‘Christmas night! - The night of peace, don’t shoot’. One of us climbs onto the parapet, followed by another one, and more. There is fraternalism and cigars, chocolates and all kinds of trinkets are exchanged” Another witness of the events at the Hoge Brug was Belgian Carabinier Julien Smet who later remembered that suddenly a German shouted from the bank: ‘Is there a priest? We would like to present you with a memento”

Monstrance of the sisters of Saint Vincentius, Today located in the new IJzer Tower Museum, Diksmuide.

THE GOLDEN MONSTRANCE

Since May 1847, the monastic sisters of St. Vincent in Deftinge had been running the St. John’s Hospital (and from 1850 a girl’s orphanage) in Diksmuide. During the Battle of the Yser, the Hospital, under firm leadership of Superior Pauline, served as a Red Cross post, yet when German troops came close in October, the sisters were finally forced to flee to Izenberge and later to Cayeux sur Mer. Before they left, they had hidden all cumbersome possessions and valuables of the order as well as they could. One of them, a beautiful golden, neo-gothic monstrance was hidden under a heap of coal in the hospital cellar where it was discovered by German soldiers of Brigade-Ersatz-Bataillon Nr. 16 of the 13. Ersatz-Brigade in December. This battalion had been raised from elements of the 16. Infanterie-Brigade upon mobilisation in August 1914 and stood under command of a Prussian Major with an unusual name for a German, his name was John William Anderson.

JOHN WILLIAM ANDERSON

Born in Angermünde, Brandenburg in 1872, John William Anderson was a Prussian of Scottish descent. It is unclear if the first Andersons came to Prussia in the 18th century or earlier, or if they came as traders, clergymen or soldiers. We do know that by the time John William was born, his family operated a rather successful apothecary shop and that his father, just as his grandfather had been apothecaries. John William, though, decided to become a soldier, joining the army in 1891 and receiving his officer’s patent in 1893. Anderson saw its baptism of fire in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China, during which he served as Adjutant of II. Seebataillon, a formation of naval troops roughly equivalent to the British Royal Marine Light Infantry. In 1910 we find him serving in the rank of Hauptmann in Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 72 a line infantry regiment in which he ended his active army service in 1911. Transferred into the Reserve as a highly decorated veteran after over two decades of service, he was reactivated at the outbreak of war and promoted to take command of Brigade-Ersatz-Bataillon Nr. 16 of 4. Ersatz-Division. When Anderson was killed in 1916, he was acting as battalion commander in Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 362. The medal bar he wore before outbreak of the First World War still exists and consists of the Prussian Order of the Crown 4th Class with Swords, Officers Long Service Award, the China Medal with two battle clasps, the Prussian Centenary Medal of 1897 and the Honour Cross of the Oldenburg House and Merit Order 3rd Class with Swords. During the First World War he also won both Classes of the Iron Cross.

A GESTURE OF PEACE

On 26 December 1914, at about 2:30 pm, Major John William Anderson accompanied by an orderly, slowly walked up to the banks of the Yser where German and Belgian soldiers were busy sliding little trinkets over the thin ice to the other side, or just stood jovially talking and smoking. For a moment war was forgotten, and in stark contrast to the popular image of the typical Prussian officer, Anderson did not care about it. Only two days before he had sent a letter to his wife in which he stated: “We have been lying low for a few days under heavy fire. All the windows are broken and the cold is terrible. We have been sleeping in a cellar for eight days and tomorrow is Holy Night. Everyone is quiet and melancholic.” Now Anderson was determined to revive the spirit of Christmas, by returning the golden monstrance which one of his men had found in the cellars of the convent a few days before. The beautiful piece of ecclesiastical art, now wrapped into a linen bag and clutched tightly by Anderson’s orderly, was virtually undamaged, only the little golden cross on its top had disappeared. Having reached the bank Anderson addressed the Belgians opposite in French, calling over that he wanted to see a priest to hand over a memento to him. The request was relayed by Belgian soldiers and soon afterwards Kapitein-Commandant Guillaume Lemaire of the 1st Carabiniers and some Belgian officers appeared at the bank. After a brief exchange in which Anderson outlined his intentions, Lemaire called for Assistant Army Chaplain Sabinus Eduardus Vandermairen, who at this time was serving in a first aid post in a soap factory at the place where today the Yser Tower is situated. When Vandermairen arrived, a hemp cord was slid over frozen Yser, the monstrance in its bag was attached to the cord and carefully pulled over to the Belgian side where Vandermairen took possession of it. The gesture left the Belgians deeply impressed. The officers saluted and returned to their lines. Not long afterwards Lemaire was replaced, and the fighting continued.

“Christmas Night at the Yser”, painted in 1930 by Belgian veteran Samuel De Vriendt. He did not personally witness the event but was told about it shortly afterwards.

PEACE AT THE IJZER

"Christmas in the trenches. It must have been sad do you say? Well I am not sorry to have spent it there and the recollection of it will ever be one of imperishable beauty. At midnight a baritone stood up and in a rich resonant voice sang, "Minuit Chretiens." The cannonade ceased and when the hymn finished applause broke out from our side and from the German trenches! The Germans were celebrating Christmas too and we could hear them singing two hundred yards from us. Now I am going to tell you something which you will think incredible, but I will give you my word that it is true. At dawn the Germans displayed a placard over the trenches on which was written “Happy Christmas''. Then leaving their trenches unarmed, they advanced towards us singing and shouting "comrades!". No one fired. We also had left our trenches and separated from each other only by the half frozen Yser, we exchanged gifts. They gave us cigars and we threw them some chocolate. Thus almost fraternising, we passed the morning. Unlikely indeed, but true. I saw it but thought I was dreaming. They asked us to spend Christmas without firing and the whole day passed without any fighting. At eight o'clock in the evening we were relieved by other soldiers, and returned to the rear without being disturbed. Was it not splendid? Think you that we were wrong? We have been criticised here; it is said that we ought to have fired. But would it not have been dastardly? And then, why kill one another on such a festive day?"- Translated letter of a Belgian soldier published in the Dublin Evening News on 4 January 1915.

A sterographic image showing the destruction of Diksmuide, 1914.

Even though fraternisation took place all along the Yser, the story of the golden monstrance became quickly forgotten, many of those who witnessed it were killed during the war or died shortly afterwards. Belgian soldiers which had been only a few hundred metres away, like Grenadier Petrus de Man, never heard of it. De Man had been singing Christmas Carols and patriotic songs for and with the Germans, when one of his comrades stated that he had never seen a German and that now would be the best time to change this. Just like the golden monstrance the Belgian Grenadier was floated across the Yser on a scratch-built raft attached to a cord. Disembarking on the German side he stood, as de Man put it, ‘like a cock among the hens’ with the Germans for a long time, before being hauled back to the Belgian side, loaded up with German Christmas presents consisting of chocolates, alcohol and tobacco.
With the death of Major Anderson, who today is buried in the German Military Cemetery of Neuville St. Vaast in France, the story of the monstrance died as well. Yet he had described what had happened on Christmas 1914 in a letter to his wife and for decades the knowledge about what happened along the banks of the frozen Yser on that cold Christmas night, was limited to members of the Anderson family and the few Belgians who had participated in it. This ended, when about 60 years later, Anderson’s widow showed the letter to Pater Werenfried van Straaten, a catholic priest and founder of the international catholic charity “Aid to the Church in Need”. With this, the story returned into public knowledge. On the 60th anniversary of the Christmas Truce at the Yser, Hubertus Anderson, John William’s son, was invited to Diksmuide to symbolically hand over the monstrance to Belgian First World War veteran Rene Pil, in the presence of the brother of Guillaume Lemaire and Sabinus Vandermairen.

In 1974, on the 60th anniversary of the Christmas Truce at the Yser, Hubertus Anderson, John William’s son, symbolically hand over the monstrance to Belgian First World War veteran, Rene Pil, in the presence of the brothers of Guillaume Lemaire and Sabinus Vander Mairen in Diksmuide.

Since 1998, when the sisters of St. Vincent had been convinced that there was no better place to present it, the monstrance can be admired on the ground floor of the Yser Tower Museum in Diksmuide. A stone’s throw away from where Anderson once handed it back to his Belgian adversaries.

It is perhaps right to end this story with the words of Belgian Grenadier Petrus de Man, who when asked about what he thinks about the war, in a radio programme in 1973, replied:

“You realise quickly how little sense it all makes. Fight against somebody you have never seen before or to shoot someone. Is there something more stupid in the world? Having to shoot dead someone you have never even seen before? We should all live like the Flemish say: “Nooit meer oorlog!”, “No more war!