An unexpected discovery in Messines
Turning into the main square of Messines, a town a few kilometres to the south of Ypres and just a short distance from Passchendaele, I was met by an eye-catching sculpture titled, ‘Christmas Truce 1914’. I had no idea it was here, and this remains one of my most treasured, unexpected discoveries of my ride along the Western Front.
Of all the heart-rending memorials I was to find on that journey, this one questioned more directly than many others the purpose and cost of the huge loss of life wrought by the Great War.
The destruction of the desires, opportunities, and aspirations of so many young men who had no argument with soldiers of the other ‘side’ that they had been ordered to kill, is so perfectly captured. Arms outstretched, hands delicately poised, they are ready to greet each other almost as friends or brothers, yet are kept just a few millimetres apart by the circumstances of war.
The Great War Christmas Truce memorial at Messines, Belgium. The sculpture was designed by Andrew Edwards and cast at the Castle Fine Arts Foundry, Powys, Wales (© Nigel Bruce 2022)
My drawing of the Christmas Truce
The sculpture was created in bronze by Andrew (Andy) Edwards from Stoke-on-Trent in England and cast at The Castle Fine Arts Foundry, near Oswestry in Powys, Wales. Both Andrew Edwards and Chris Butler, representing the Foundry, were present at the unveiling in Messines in December 2014.
They explained their own motivations for creating this remarkable work. This is what Andy Edwards had to say about his design:
“We’ve created this piece of sculpture for the love of peace. To end violence in the world, we all have to do something however small, to extend our sharing and start learning that all friends were once strangers. [Andrew Edwards, Sculptor]
A symbol of peace and other copies of Christmas Truce
Chris Butler from the Castle Foundry spoke about the symbolism of the sculpture for peace, and the mission to produce copies.
Copy of the Andy Edwards’ sculpture at St Luke’s Church, Liverpool
“We hope through our wider project to raise funding for two copies of the statue, one for Britain and the other for Germany. Our hope is that the ‘Truce statue’ will stand as a symbol of peace and reconciliation, as well as a monument to a moment of bravery which still resonates in our minds 100 years on.” [Chris Butler, Castle Foundry]
I’ve seen one copy of the ‘Christmas Truce’ standing outside the ruined St Luke’s church in Liverpool.
I have yet to find whether the German copy has been created, and if so where it is sited. Do please let me know if you have found it.
One of many fleeting moments of friendship between ‘enemies’
The football game commemorated in the square at Messines is one of the more celebrated and remarkable events of the so-called Christmas Truce of 1914. But this was just one example of the spontaneous expressions of good-will that took place between the opposing armies, not just at Christmas that year and not only around Messines.
The fact that the opposing trenches in many parts of the Western Front were so close made it relatively easy for soldiers to talk and arrange truces. Making these arrangements was aided by the fact of many German soldiers having lived in England and being able to speak some English. And this had happened before when armies spent time in close proximity, including in the Crimean War and the Napoleonic War in Spain. Pope Benedict XV had called for an official truce on 7th December, but none of the belligerent countries responded.
The ‘Christmas Truce’ Memorial at the old Ramskapelle Station in Flanders, on the line of the Western Front
These periods of non-aggression during the Great War took many forms, from a tacit agreement not to shoot while the dead were collected, through to the very amicable episodes of singing carols and other songs to tease each other, playing football, and exchanging newspapers and gifts such as tobacco, jam, buttons from each other’s uniforms, and other souvenirs. It is also said that some took the opportunities provided by a truce to conduct reconnaissance of the enemy’s positions.
This so-called ‘fraternisation’ was sporadic and quite localised, however, occurring mostly in the area around Ypres. It was less common between French and German soldiers, although some incidents are recorded, as they are also from the Eastern Front. There was some reporting of the truces, including with photos, in the British press, but less so in the French newspapers which were more tightly controlled by censorship.
A threat to ‘fighting spirit’
Not surprisingly, the senior officers saw fraternisation as having the potential to seriously undermine fighting spirit and made strenuous efforts to stop it. Episodes continued through 1915 but became less common as the orders prohibiting ceasefires and truces bit, and the brutality of the war hardened attitudes, including as a result of the use of poisonous gas at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915.
I have read that the fraternisation of Christmas 1914 involved around 100,000 soldiers. Under the circumstances, this shows the extraordinary strength of the desire of ordinary people to be good and kind to each other, to want peace and to share their lives. The football game memorial at Messines captures that perfectly, and seems to leave an unspoken question hanging in the air: “Why did our leaders drag people like us, who have no quarrel, into this terrible war?”
If you go to Messines, and spend a while watching those two British and German officers with their football, you may hear that question echoing around the square, caught on the wind that blows across the old battlefields on the ridge. And probably, like me, you will struggle to find an answer.
My next drawing is of the Canadian National Memorial at Vimy Ridge.
