View the photo on Flickr

Life in the trenches was not a single, uniform experience for Allied troops in France, nor was it a strictly British experience; it was also not one long and relentless barrage of shells, grenades, snipers, and gasses from the enemy until one was wounded or killed. As Downton Abbey’s second season opens, we see Matthew in the thick of the Somme Offensive (July-Nov 1916), and later battles touched upon include the Battle of Arras (Apr-May 1917), the Battle of Passchendaele (July-Nov 1917), and the Spring Offensive (Mar-Jul 1918) and Hundred Days (Aug-Nov 1918).

The following image gives a visual of the Western Front and its important battles (h/t to the Downton Abbey Discussion Forum & RPG):

When war was declared in August, many believed it would be over by Christmas, and thousands of idealistic and patriotic young men rushed to recruiting stations determined to smash the Huns and restore peace and order to the world. Unfortunately, despite numerous warnings and warmongering over the past twenty years as Germany armed itself, little had been done to prepare for a war of any length. Yes, Richard Haldane had modernized the Army and Winston Churchill did the same for the Navy, but the course of bureaucracy was slow, and the appointment of Sir John French of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and Field Marshall Lord Kitchener as Secretary State of War–venerated veterans of 19th century battles–were both largely “romantic choices.” French, a believer in the “‘cavalry spirit’, in which all was achieved by dash and the terrifying effect of a charge with lance and sabre” had a “distrust in new weapons and new methods of war”, whereas Kitchener did foresee a long, arduous war, but was secretive, autocratic, and overall difficult to deal with. And it was under the command of these two men that the first wave of troops journeyed to the Western Front.
Read the rest of this entry »

Christmas Eve, darkness fell at about 7 pm on a long line of trenches held, on the one side, by a body of Saxon troops, on the other by the Leicestershire Regiment, the London Rifle Brigade, and some other British units. With it came a sudden calm. The German snipers seemed to have disappeared, and then, the sound of carol-singing rose from the trenches, and at that the British snipers in turn ceased firing. The Germans invited the English out, and very soon, fires and candles were burning along the parapets hitherto guarded with ceaseless vigilance, and the men were fraternizing in a crowd between them, exchanging gifts and experiences, and agreeing that the truce should continue ’til midnight of Christmas Day. Christmas Day passed in burying the dead, whose bodies lay in scores between the trenches; in carol-singing, each side cheering for the other; and in a football match, which the Saxons won.

Further Reading:
Silent Night: The story of the World War One Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub
The Christmas Truce
The Christmas Truce of 1914
Foes in Trenches Swap Pies for Wines (NYT)
Letters written by participants in the truce
Listen online – The Story of the Unofficial Christmas Truce of WW I – The American Storyteller Radio Journal
Letters to The Times from participants in 1914 truce
The Heritage Of The Great War article: Demystifying the Christmas Truce
Christmas Truce 90th Anniversary article
Chap.8 of Bullets & Billets