Last allied witness of WWI Christmas truce dies

Yahoo News ^ | 11/21/05 | By Peter Graff

[SmoothTalker]

LONDON (Reuters) - The last known surviving allied veteran of the Christmas Truce that saw German and British soldiers shake hands between the trenches in World War One died Monday at 109, his parish priest said.

Alfred Anderson was the oldest man in Scotland and the last known surviving Scottish veteran of the war.

"I remember the silence, the eerie sound of silence," he was quoted as saying in the Observer newspaper last year, describing the day-long Christmas Truce of 1914, which began spontaneously when German soldiers sang carols in the trenches, and British soldiers responded in English.

"All I'd heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking and whining of bullets in flight, machinegun fire and distant German voices. But there was a dead silence that morning across the land as far as you could see.

"We shouted 'Merry Christmas' even though nobody felt merry. The silence ended early in the afternoon and the killing started again."

Troops in the trenches swapped cigarettes, uniform buttons and addresses and even played football in one of the most extraordinary episodes of the war.

Parish priest Neil Gardner of Anderson's Alyth Parish Church in Scotland said he had died in his sleep and was survived by a large family, including 18 great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.

"He was a wonderful old man: he was gracious, gentle, he had a great sense of humor and a fine sense of wisdom from his experience spanning three centuries," said Gardner, who also served as chaplain to Anderson's regiment, the Black Watch.

Anderson also served briefly as a member of the household staff of Queen Elizabeth's uncle, Fergus Bowes-Lyon.

With Anderson's death, fewer than 10 British veterans of the war remain alive, of whom only three or four were veterans of trench warfare on the Western Front.

Attention has turned to the last survivors in recent weeks, with filmmakers bringing out documentaries in time for this month's Armistice Day holiday, marking the day the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

Very interesting bit of history.

[Snowyman]

My name is Francis Tolliver, I come from Liverpool.


I know that song and the best rendition of it , I think , is done by a Canadian singer , John Mcdermott . I had hope to find a clip of "Christmas in the Trenches" for you . I could not . But I found this.

For all the good things that bind our countries together, I offer you this instead ,

May God bless all of us who believe ,

http://www.clermontyellow.accountsupport.com/flash/UntilThen.swf


http://www.johnmcdermott.com/

[wolficatZ]

The FR thread was about a page that used pics from this link.

http://www.greatwar.nl

[mware]

I have the CD by McDermott singing Christmas in The Trenches. The title of the CD is called BATTLEFIELDS OF GREEN. Tis very well done. I love his rendition of, The Minstrel Boy.

[mware]

Thank you so much for the link. I had trouble seeing some of it through the tears but everyone should be seeing it during this season of Thanksgiving.

[jjm2111]

They didn't ignore you. They took your idea and produced a show. I do forget the name, but I believe it was the history channel.

[SunkenCiv]

Last survivor of 'Christmas truce' tells of his sorrow (1914 - 1942 - 2004)
observer | Sunday December 19, 2004 | Lorna Martin, Scotland editor
Posted on 12/24/2004 3:03:46 AM PST by Truth666
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1307843/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

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[SunkenCiv]

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[mware]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTXhZ4uR6rs

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from the FRchives and probably years past. Adding to the GGG catalog.

• Christmas on the Battlefield - The 1914 Christmas truce. [2001]
• 'No shoot' on Christmas Eve, 1914 [2001]
• Christmastime 1914: Soldiers Halted War for Day of No Hate [2002]
• WWI - THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE, 1914 [2002]
• The Christmas Truce [2003]
• Last survivor of 'Christmas truce' tells of his sorrow [2004]
• Last survivor of 'Christmas truce' tells of his sorrow (1914 - 1942 - 2004) [2004]
• The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Christmas Truce of 1914 [2004]
• Peace Breaks Out on Christmas Eve [2005]
• THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE OF 1914 [2005]
• Joyeux No"l (A Movie about the WWI Christmas Truce) [2006]
• The Christmas Truce of 1914 [2008]
• This Week in History: The Christmas Truce of 1914 [2011]
• How English and German soldiers bonded during WWI Christmas Day Truce by telling jokes about the [2014]
• The Spirit of the 1914 Christmas Truce [2014]
• 'I shall never forget it': 100 years since WWI Christmas truce [2014]
• PHOTOS: Soldiers in Afghanistan play soccer in memory of World War One truce [2014]
• FReeper Canteen ~ The Christmas Truce ~ 02 January 2017 [2017]
• Christmas in the Trenches, The True Story [2017]