But these lulls began to be used as ways to send signals to the other side. As the British historian Tony Ashworth writes in his book “Trench Warfare 1914-18,” ritualizing these pauses made it possible to communicate through contrasting behavior. So the soldiers would make a point not just of shooting less frequently during dinner: They would let the guns thunder until the stroke of 6 p.m. and then go utterly silent until 7 p.m., every day. And if the other side started doing the same, they had essentially negotiated a narrow truce: no fighting during dinner. Similar truces evolved from lulls in fighting during horrible weather, when everyone’s priority became avoiding hypothermia.
Link to wsj article... may be a paywall?
Yes I pay for the paper, if blocked try google, sometimes that will get you in.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-spirit-of-the-1914-christmas-truce-1419006906
Don’t mess with me when I’m eating! *growl*
Thanks for sharing more history.